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NBC Olympics On Fire! Old Ratings Records All Falling Down, My Fair Lady

Jul 29, 2012  •  Post A Comment

"NBC’s two-day primetime average of 35.6 million viewers is the best start to a Summer Olympics on record," the network reports.

Based on the fast national ratings, NBC announced that "In the more than 50 years of televised Olympics, NBC’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics (8 p.m. – 12:02 a.m. ET/PT on Friday, July 27, 2012) is the most-watched for a Summer Games on record with 40.7 million average viewers, topping the Atlanta Games (39.8 million).[V]iewership of the opening ceremony is nearly six million more than the 2008 Beijing Olympics (34.9 million) and 15 million more than the 2004 Athens Olympics (25.4 million), the last European Olympics."

As for Saturday night’s coverage of the first day of competition, NBC said, "The first night of competition from the London Olympics (8:30-11:28 p.m. ET/PT on July 28, 2012) is the most-watched for a Summer Games opening night on record, with 28.7 million average viewers, topping the first night of competition from the 1996 Atlanta Games by more than two million viewers (26.3 million). Saturday night’s viewership is nearly five million more than the first night of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (24.0 million), and nearly nine million more than the first night of the 2004 Athens Olympics (19.8 million), the last European Olympics."

From the NBC press release:

OPENING CEREMONY AVERAGE VIEWERS (ALL SUMMER GAMES ON RECORD):

1. London2012

40.7 Million NBC

2. Atlanta – 1996

39.8 Million NBC

3. Beijing – 2008

34.9 Million NBC

4. Sydney – 2000

27.3 Million NBC

5. Athens – 2004

25.4 Million NBC

6. Seoul – 1988

22.7 Million NBC

7. Barcelona – 1992

21.6 Million NBC

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY NATIONAL RATING (SUMMER GAMES)

1. London – 2012

21.0/37 NBC

2. Beijing – 2008

18.8/34 NBC

3. Rome – 1960

18.1/36 CBS

4. Sydney – 2000

16.2/29 NBC

5. Seoul – 1988

15.2/29 NBC

6. Athens – 2004

14.6/27 NBC

7. Barcelona – 1992

13.8/29 NBC

8. Montreal – 1976

11.1/39 ABC

9. Mexico City – 1968

8.8/34 ABC

10. Munich – 1972

6.5/28 ABC

11. Tokyo – 1964

5.6/14 ABC

TOP 20 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:

1. San Diego

27.8/49

T2. Washington D.C.

26.8/48

T2. West Palm Beach

26.8/48

4. Salt Lake City

26.6/50

5. Denver

26.4/51

6. Norfolk

26.3/42

7. Sacramento

25.4/47

T8. Kansas City

25.0/44

T8. Richmond

25.0/41

10. Columbus

24.9/43

T11. Boston

24.8/45

T11. Indianapolis

24.8/45

13. Seattle

24.4/48

14. Los Angeles

24.2/44

15. Atlanta

24.1/39

T16. Philadelphia

24.0/40

T16. Jacksonville

24.0/39

T18. Austin

23.9/44

T18. Ft. Myers

23.9/43

20. Portland

23.8/48

AVERAGE VIEWERS FOR 1st NIGHT OF COMPETITION (ALL SUMMER GAMES ON RECORD):

1. London2012

28.7 Million NBC

2. Atlanta – 1996

26.3 Million NBC

3. Beijing – 2008

24.0 Million NBC

4. Seoul – 1988

23.8 Million NBC

5. Barcelona – 1992

21.6 Million NBC

6. Sydney – 2000

21.0 Million NBC

7. Athens – 2004

19.8 Million NBC

NBC’S DAYTIME AND LATE NIGHT VIEWERSHIP SOARS:

  • 9:46 a.m.-Noon ET/PT averaged 12.3 million viewers, an increase of 56% over the first Saturday morning at the Beijing Games (7.9 million from 10 a.m.-Noon). The household rating in this time period (7.9/22) is 49% higher than the comparable morning from Beijing (5.3/16).
  • The Noon-6 p.m. ET/PT window drew 14.9 million viewers and a household rating of 9.3/23, an increase of 20% and 19%, respectively vs. Beijing Games.
  • The early-morning window (5-9:46 a.m. ET/PT) drew 5.1 million viewers and had a household rating of 3.6/16. There is no comparable coverage for this time period in previous Games.
  • The late night program (12:30-1:18 a.m. ET/PT) drew 7.4 million viewers and a household rating of 4.9/15, an increase of 35% and 29%, respectively.

TOP 20 METERED MARKETS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT, JULY 28, 2012:

1. Salt Lake City

23.9/46

2. San Diego

22.8/43

3. Kansas City

22.4/42

4. Columbus

21.5/39

5. Ft. Myers

21.3/40

6. Milwaukee

20.6/38

7. Denver

20.5/44

8. Indianapolis

20.4/39

9. Sacramento

20.2/41

10. Nashville

19.6/34

11. Oklahoma City

19.2/32

12. St. Louis

18.9/35

13. Richmond

18.7/33

14. Portland

18.5/41

T15. San Francisco

18.4/40

T15. Boston

18.4/36

T17. Norfolk

18.3/30

T17. Albuquerque

18.3/34

T17. Jacksonville

18.3/31

20. Phoenix

18.1/32

3 Comments

  1. Unfortunately, NBC was the only place in which to watch the opening ceremony. NBC is getting beaten to death over their shitty coverage. Most viewers have no clue as to how to wait in order to see the “real” show as produced by the BBC (host country broadcaster). The ceremony was much better commercial free and complete. While I do not twitter, it seems that #NBCFail has become very popular.

  2. NBC Sports Network: “USA’s skeet shooter Kim Rhode sets an Olympic record and was close to a world record today by hitting 99 out of 100 targets. She becomes the first US athlete to win medals in 5 consecutive Olympics.”
    Wonderful!
    “Coverage of that event starts a 1:30 eastern time.”
    *facepalm* This is why NBC’s coverage has and always will suck, no matter how many networks they use.

  3. NBC/ComCast does not understand when we all know the outcomes HOURS in advance, their pre-recorded coverage is useless. Carry the event around the world at the SAME time. Don’t delay and don’t repeat.
    Overnight why re-run the programming you just aired? Why not, for example, run an event that was originally broadcast on NBCSports or other channel?

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