The way we watch TV is changing, and that fact was glaringly apparent at this year’s Winter Olympics, which went down in history as the lowest-rated Games ever.
One-time figure skating gold medalist and current commentator Scott Hamilton joined Cheddar to discuss the numbers.
“How they’re measuring viewership is different now,” he told Cheddar Tuesday. “How do we know how many people are actually watching and being impacted by the Olympics? If it’s a second screen, if it’s internet viewing, it’s different.”
Ratings for the 2018 PyeongChang OIympics were down more than seven percent from the 2014 Sochi Games, according to [one report](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/more-tv-news/2018-winter-olympics-ratings-are-down-but-nbc-is-still-happy/). The events averaged just over 22 million viewers this year, versus more than 23 million last time.
But Hamilton, who was relegated from NBC’s primetime figure skating coverage to its Sports Network’s “Olympic Ice” show, says the network was happy with the viewership overall.
“From where I was, and I was there in PyeongChang, they were happy,” he told Cheddar during the interview. “In the show that I did, the ratings for that particular time were quintuple what they received before.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/living-a-life-of-gold).
Former NBA commissioner David Stern, who died on New Year's Day, carved out his professional legacy by turning the league, and the sport of basketball, into a massive commercial success. But the hard-nosed executive also left behind lasting social impact with the decisions he made over the course of his three-decade tenure at the top, remembers David Levy, former president of the Brooklyn Nets and a friend of Stern.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said the company was looking to achieve three objectives: acquire SBTech, raise capital to fund launching in new states for sports betting, and go public.
A look back on the decade.
Professional hockey has recently been facing difficult questions about diversity and the treatment of its players. Commissioner Gary Bettman talked to Cheddar about the work the NHL is doing to reverse its problems.
Michelle McKenna, the NFL's first chief information officer, joined Cheddar to discuss sports, technology, and breaking glass ceilings in male-dominated industries.
Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman's VC, Thirty Five Ventures, has joined the strategic advisory board of cannabis-focused venture capital firm Canopy Rivers.
Jerry Jones and his storied football franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, are giving to the needy through the Salvation Army over the holidays, and hoping the team gets going in its traditional Thanksgiving Day game.
Sam's Club partnered with Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt to promote its updated proprietary technology "Scan and Go" that lets shoppers keep track of items they want to purchase and skip the checkout line.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, November 27, 2019.
J. Michael Prince, U.S. Polo Assn. CEO, told Cheddar that the brand is behind on growing in the e-commerce space, but have plans to change that.
