Cbs Executive Gives Usoc Critic The Evil Eye Poor Ratings Force Network To Run Make-Good Commercials

CBS Executive Producer Rick Gentile has a message for the U.S. Olympic Committee marketing executive that criticized the network’s timing for commercials: If you have a better way, we want to hear it.

“He’s never been in the television business, unfortunately,” Gentile said. “But just like anybody else out there, if he can come up with something, I’d welcome any input from him.”

Gentile’s response came after John Krimsky, the USOC’s managing director for business affairs, said he wasn’t “happy with CBS,” and complained that ratings could be down because the network wasn’t allowing enough time between commercials.

Gentile said he met with the CBS sales department earlier this week to talk about changing commercial breaks, although he was told the network wasn’t showing any more advertisements than it did during the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, when the network posted the highest average prime-time rating in Winter Olympics history.

“There was an implication that it was either bad planning or lack of consideration for a viewer,” Gentile said. “This is a business, and in order to justify a $500 million investment, you have to run at least $500 million in commercials.”

CBS’s prime-time ratings through Monday were 16.4, 41 percent below the 27.8 ratings for the Lillehammer games and 12 percent below the 18.7 ratings for the 1992 games in Albertville, France.

CBS already has conceded to advertisers that it won’t attain the 19.4 ratings it promised and has started negotiations on make-good, or free, advertisements that will air during the Olympics, CBS spokesman Dana McClintock said. Gentile said he didn’t know what effect that would have on commercial breaks.

Gentile said he didn’t have specific reasons why the ratings were down. He said he underestimated the effect of the 14-hour time difference between Japan and the U.S., giving viewers too much time to learn results before coverage begins.

“Before this started, I used to say over and over again that the biggest problem was the weather,” he said. “I was wrong, it was the time.”

Gentile said he was leaving CBS after the Olympics, although spokesman McClintock said the producer might remain with the network.