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Jennifer Dauble
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Current DateTime: 08:41:52 11 Jul 2009
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Current DateTime: 08:41:52 11 Jul 2009
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Aug.26
3:24 PM ET
Tuesday, 26 Aug 2008
CNBC Exclusive: CNBC's Erin Burnett Sits Down with Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal President & CEO on "Street Signs" (Transcript Included)
Posted By:Jennifer Dauble

When: Monday, August 25th at 2:30PM ET
Where: CNBC's "Street Signs"

Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with NBC Universal President & CEO Jeff Zucker on CNBC's "Street Signs" today.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.



BURNETT: BUT 211 IS THE KEY TO WATCH. SOME PART OF THE 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS, MAKING IT THE MOST VIEWED EVENTS IN TELEVISION HISTORY. WHAT DID NBC UNIVERSAL CHIEF JEFF ZUCKER GOING TO DO FOR AN ENCORE? LET'S FIND OUT FROM MY BOSS, JEFF ZUCKER. I KNOW YOU'RE JET-LAGGED. I WAS TOLD TO BE KIND. THE MOST WATCHED EVENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY, I KNOW YOU HAD HIGH HOPES GOING IN, AND IT EXCEEDED THEM. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE REASONS WAS?WAS IT CHINA?WAS IT BECAUSE OF MICHAEL PHELPS?

ZUCKER: I THINK IT WAS A VARIETY OF REASONS. I THINK THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF INTEREST IN CHINA AND THE CHINESE CAME THROUGH WITH A MAGNIFICENT, THEN I THINK THE MICHAEL PHELPS STORY TOOK OFF AND CAPTURED EVERYBODY'S IMAGINATION, AND I THINK YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THE UNITED STATES, THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WERE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO ROOT FOR. IT'S BEEN A TOUGH SUMMER YOU REPORT ON IT EVERY DAY HERE, YOU KNOW, GAS IS EXPENSIVE. THIS REALLY BROUGHT THE WHOLE FAMILY TOGETHER IN FRONT OF THE TV SET. IF YOU PUT TOGETHER CHINA AND MICHAEL PHELPS, AND LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO ROOT FOR, IT LED TO THIS GREAT RESULT.

BURNETT: DID CHINA DO PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING BETTER? YOU'VE BEEN DEALING WITH THE OLYMPICS YOUR ENTIRE CAREER, BUTTHEY HAD -- I SAW AN INTERESTINGPROFILE WITH THE CAMERAS UNDERNEATH THE WATER WHERE YOU COULD WATCH FOR IT IS FIRST TIME, WAS IT INNOVATION AFTER INNOVATION ON THE CHINESE SIDE THAT MADE IT EVEN BETTER?

Jeff Zucker
Jeff Zucker

ZUCKER:
I THINK CHINA DESERVES A LOT OF CREDIT FOR PUTTING ON TERRIFIC GAMES THE FACT IS THAT WE'VE ALL BEEN AROUND A LOT OF OLYMPICS, BUT THIS ONE WAS INCREDIBLY WELL RUN, WELL ORGANIZED, NO MAJOR ISSUES. I THINK AS A RESULT THE GAMES CAME OFF WITHOUT A HITCH. THAT LED TO ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE GAMES IN HISTORY.

BURNETT: NOW WE'RE ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO SHOW -- I MEAN, THERE WERE STILLRESTRICTIONS. WE HAD TO SHOW BRIAN WILLIAMS, BUT THERE'S A VIDEO OF MICHAEL PHELPS' SECOND GOLD MEDAL WIN, 2.3 MILLION VIEWS ON THE NBC OLYMPICS WEBSITE. THAT WAS THE MOST POPULAR VIDEO.WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT ONLINE? I KNOW DIGITAL IS A CRUCIAL PART. BIGGEST LABORATORY SITE EVER?

ZUCKER: YEAH. THIS WAS A HUGE LAB FOR US TO TEST HOW CONSUMERS WANT TO USE DIGITAL MATERIALS THAT'S ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS TO COME OUT OF THE GAMES SO MUCH USAGE OF THE INTERNET, STREAMING, MOBILE, ALL THEY THINGS, WE LEARNED IT DOESN'T CANNIBALIZE. THE FACT IS WE HAD THE 211 MILLION VIEWERS

BURNETT: SORRY, I'M LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER WATCHING THE END OF THE RACE.

ZUCKER: ONE OF THE GREAT ATHLETIC EVENTS OF ALL TIME. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE DIGITAL LAB, AS IT WERE, IS IT DIDN'T CANNIBALIZE OUR TELEVISION, AND TWO IT ALLOWED PEOPLE TO ACCESS INFORMATION, RACES, VIDEO WHEN THEY WANTED TO WATCH IT, AND SO THIS WILL REALLY HELP US AS WE GO FORWARD, AS WE FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, HOW TO LEAD PEOPLE TO WHAT THEY WANT TO WATCH, WHEN THEY WANT TO WATCH IT, IT'S A GREAT NEW ERA FOR MEDIA, NOT JUST ON TELEVISION, BUT ONLINE, AND WE'LL USE THIS RESEARCH GOING FORWARD.

CONTINUED
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