borrowing this from another thread:
NBC's ratings for its Olympics coverage have been, to date, outstanding and far exceed expectations. They are higher than the ratings that NBC received for its Beijing 2008 coverage. In fact, its ratings are higher than for any Olympics held outside the U.S. itself since Montreal 1976.
NBC had expected that it might lose as much as $200 million on its London Olympics coverage but, so far, it appears as it they might book a small profit. It is estimated that approximately 56% or so of NBC's primetime audience for the Olympics is made up of women, and they apparently do like yet another interview with a swimmer or even Mary Carillo. Go figure, huh?
Meanwhile, in the face of this, NBC doesn't give a rat's ass about over-educated, under-employed 20-something track geeks upset that the network didn't show the steeple in primetime, complete with split-screen camera angles and a 10-minute pre-race analysis. NBC doesn't care because, while over-educated, under-employed 20-something track geeks may infest this board, they are a less-than-microscopic element of the audience that NBC is trying to target.
Rather, NBC is targeting those in its audience that, you know, have a real job, have their own money to spend, aren't still mooching off Mom and Dad, and worry about the things in life that are actually important.