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Media Life, GLM

Why Is There Almost No Buzz About the Upcoming Olympics?

Jul 6, 2016  •  Post A Comment

The Summer Olympics get under way in less than a month, and there has been relatively little buzz in advance of the Games — other than concerns about security, the Zika virus, body parts washing up on shore near the venue, the impeachment of the Brazilian president and the organizers’ solvency.

The Games, which open Aug. 5, are still expected to generate big ratings for NBC and the NBCU cable networks, but Media Life Magazine reports that a new study confirms that the overall level of buzz is way down.

“Global Language Monitor, which analyzes trends in language and data, finds there’s been a big decline in Internet media buzz from the 2012 London Games to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi to Rio,” the story reports.

The study tracked blogs, the top 350,000 print and digital news sites and social media sources, analyzing mentions of the Olympics.

“If London, which measured a huge buzz, rated a 100, then the buzz for Rio would rank comparatively at a 1.07. Even Sochi put up a better number, though barely, at 6.19,” Media Life reports.

The lack of enthusiasm may well have to do with the concerns mentioned above — especially the Zika virus.

The GLM study reports: “Concern about the Zika virus is on the rise as the Games approach. In fact these concerns have forced the other equally compelling concerns into the background.”

The study notes that Olympic sponsors are now also becoming associated with the Zika virus, with official Olympic sponsors Samsung, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola topping the list of sponsors most often affiliated with Zika in online buzz.

olympics rio 2016

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