Online Streaming Gives Cable Networks a Sporting Chance

NBC's ratings for the London Olympics were gold-medal worthy. But a more remarkable feat for the Comcast-owned network may have been its apparent success streaming the event to digital devices.

Pay-TV customers registered 9.9 million devices on NBCOlympics.com or on the NBCOlympics Live Extra app for mobile devices—believed to be the most ever for a single, "TV Everywhere" event, according to NBC Sports. This allowed pay-TV customers to watch all the games live on digital devices before select events were broadcast on primetime TV. The games' strong ratings backed up NBC's decision to pursue this strategy, despite worries it would cannibalize primetime TV viewership and therefore ad revenue. NBC's experience also demonstrated the rising importance of online streaming to paying cable subscribers as a way of retaining customers in the face of so-called cord cutting.