An Over view of The Show

The 23rd Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony was held on Friday, February 9th, 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea. NBC network aired the ceremony, and is set to air the entirety of the games. The ceremonies aired at 8 PM EST.  Mike Tirico, a Newhouse alumni, and Katie Couric hosted the Opening games. The event was streamed live to the network, but was aired on tape-delay with commentary from the hosts.

The ceremony opened with a showcase of the popular U.S. Olympic team members, Lindsey Vonn and Shawn White. It went into the stories from the towns across the U.S. and across the world. This was to showcase to the viewers that the athletes were normal people, competing in the competition of their lives. It showcased snapshots of their stories.

There was a political presence at the opening ceremony. Mike Pence was in attendance to lead the U.S. with guest Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier, the student imprisoned for months in North Korea. Kim Yo-Jong, Kim Jong-Un’s sister, was also in attendance, the first member of the family to visit South Korea.

Those Who Stole the Show

South Korean gold medalist figure skater, Yuna Kim, lit the Olympic Cauldron to start of the ceremony.

The Parade of Nations alway takes over the show. Each nation came out with flag in hand and a display of the population number and number of athletes competing.  

Something that stole the show was when North and South Korea walked out during the Parade of Nations as a group.

Imagine by John Lennon was performed was performed by 4 popular Korean musicians with the outline of a dove being created by candles.

There was also the use of augmented reality during the ceremony that only the viewers at home were able to see. There was a dome of constellations and added elements to events that added a visual effect that those watching at home were only able to see. Virtual reality was also incorporated into the ceremony to display the advancing technology that is taking over the world. Drones were also used to depict the olympic rings, a snowboarder and the follow athletes down the mountain. This was sponsored by intel and it was the first use of drones at the games.

The popular Tonga flag bearer was back during for this ceremony, which was a fan favorite during the previous Olympics.

Portions of the show were pre-recorded to ensure that that the weather conditions were good for the showcase at the opening ceremony.

The Ratings and the Competition

The opening ceremony at the Winter Olympics adjusted up from its initial ratings Friday, pulling in strong numbers. While strong, it wasn’t as strong as the 2014 Winter Games.

NBC’s broadcast adjusted its initial numbers up 0.8 in the 18-49 group, changing to a 6.5 rating. It also brought in  27.84 million viewers, which is off 24 percent among the 18-49 demographic and 12 percent overall from 2014. While this is true, the ceremony did beat the total viewer figure, 26.7 million, for the 2016 Summer Olympics opening.

The viewership peaked between 9:00-9:15 PM. This was when the U.S. olympic team entered  the arena. The top local markets for the broadcast were: Salt Lake City, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, and Buffalo

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies went up against various shows throughout the three hour time slot it took up. From 8-9 PM, the ceremonies was up against Big Brother: Celebrity Edition on CBS, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on ABC, Who Shot Biggie and Tupac? on FOX, and Crazy Ex Girlfriend on the CW.  From 9-10pm there was Child Support on ABC and Jane the Virgin on the CW. from 10-11pm there was 20/20 on ABC and Bull on CBS.

Social Media

#PyeongChang2018, #WinterOlympics, #OpeningCeremony and #Olympics were all popular Twitter hashtags on Friday night, with viewers tweeting their favorite moments, funny moments, and notable moments.

There was a political outbreak that followed the ceremony on social media. People are also reacting now on social media towards Mike Pence not standing during the opening ceremony. People are tweeting about how Pence sat during the Korean entrance during the Parade of Nations. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted about how Pence had made statements about kneeling during NFL games, yet sat during the entrance of Korea.

Advertising and Sponsorship

NBC showcased less advertisements during the opening ceremony this year, changing up the normal advertisement model. Dan Lovinger, evp of ad sales, NBC Sports Group, explained that the decision to feature 30 percent less than the Rio telecast did: “It’s not because of the feedback specifically, but because we wanted to create a more continuous viewing opportunity, and we thought it was important,” said Lovinger. While there was a cut back in advertisements, NBC took in over $900 million in sales for the games.

The opening ceremony was sponsored to the viewers by Carnival, Peloton, the 15.17 to Paris (film), Chevrolet, 23andMe, Google, Toyota, McDonald’s.  Xfinity also brought the the NBC coverage to the viewers. There is also a exclusive partnership between Toyota and the Olympics during the 6 second ads.

Throughout the ceremony, advertisements filed with athletic themes aired. Some examples of this was Samsung, Oreos, Dunkin Donuts, Snapchat, Peloton, Apple, Visa, Comcast and . NBC also took advantage of their broadcast to promote their programs. There were advertisements for their new shows Rise, Good Girls, and the next season of their hit show The Voice.