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NBC Olympics’ PyeongChang Coverage Delivered Most Dominant Winter Games Wednesday Night Since Nancy & Tonya in 1994

Feb 16, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Press release from NBC, Feb. 15, 2018:

NBC Olympics’ coverage of the PyeongChang Olympics delivered the most dominant Winter Games Wednesday night in 24 years, since the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, posting a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 19.2 million viewers, according to live plus same day officially data released today by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Last night’s NBC/NBCSN average of 18.9 million viewers dominated the TV competition – nearly doubling the combined 9.6 million primetime viewers for ABC, CBS and FOX.

The NBC-only 17.2 million viewers in the 8-11 p.m. ET primetime window topped by 79% the other broadcast networks – marking the most dominant Winter Games Wednesday night since February 23, 1994. That February day in Lillehammer, Norway, was the first time that Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding competed against each other after Kerrigan was attacked a month earlier following a practice session at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.

“PRIMETIME PLUS” MOST WATCHED WINTER GAMES LATE NIGHT SHOW ON RECORD

  • NBC’s “Primetime Plus” show, which follows local news broadcasts on NBC stations and also features live NBCSN coverage, is averaging a Total Audience Delivery of 9.4 million viewers though Wednesday night – ranking as the most-watched Winter Games late night show on record to this point (people meter history, since 1987). The PyeongChang “Primetime Plus” viewership is up 34% over the comparable time frame for the 2014 Sochi Games (7.0 million).

NBC SPORTS DIGITAL MORE THAN DOUBLES FULL SOCHI GAMES IN LIVE MINUTES STREAMED

  • Only eight days into the PyeongChang Olympics, NBC Sports Digital has streamed 862 million live minutes of coverage – more than doubling the 420 million live streaming minutes for the full 2014 Sochi Olympics.
  • NBC Sports Digital delivered an average minute audience of 237,000 for Wednesday night’s coverage.

ADDITIONALLY…

  • For the fifth consecutive night, the Total Audience Delivery provided an increase of at least 10% over the NBC broadcast viewership (TAD chart below). NBC Olympics’ Total Audience Delivery measures broader consumption by calculating average minute viewing across broadcast, cable, and digital.
  • Last night’s NBC/NBCSN viewership peaked at 21.1 million viewers from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET, highlighted by men’s alpine skiing on NBC and pairs free figure skating on NBCSN.
  • NBC’s PyeongChang Olympics full broadcast last night (8-11:14 p.m. ET) averaged 17.0 million viewers and posted a 9.9/19 household rating. Viewership includes the West Coast primetime encore.

PRIMETIME TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY FOR PYEONGCHANG OLYMPICS

Date          Total Audience Delivery              NBC-only viewership                  TAD Lift

Thur. 2/8   17.2 million                 16.0 million                 8%

Fri. 2/9*     28.3 million                 27.8 million                 2%

Sat. 2/10    24.2 million                 21.4 million                 13%

Sun. 2/11   26.0 million                 22.7 million                 15%

Mon. 2/12  22.3 million                 20.3 million                 10%

Tues. 2/13 22.6 million                 20.5 million                 10%

Wed. 2/14 19.2 million                 17.0 million                 13%

Average    23.0 million                 20.9 million                 10%

*Opening Ceremony (no competition & no NBCSN side-by-side coverage)

WINTER OLYMPICS PRIMETIME TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY

PYC 2018 Sochi 2014**               PYC 2018 Sochi 2014**

Day           Viewership                 Viewership                 HH Rating                  HH Rating

Opening Thurs.          17.2 million                 20.0 million                 9.7 rating   11.3 rating

First Fri.*  28.3 million                 31.7 million                 14.9 rating 17.0 rating

First Sat.   24.2 million                 25.1 million                 13.1 rating 13.9 rating

First Sun.  26.0 million 26.3 million 14.2 rating              14.4 rating

First Mon. 22.3 million                 22.4 million                 12.7 rating 12.8 rating

First Tues.                  22.6 million                 23.7 million                 13.0 rating 13.7 rating

First Wed.                  19.2 million                 20.8 million                 11.2 rating 12.1 rating

Average    23.0 million                 24.5 million                 12.8 rating 13.7 rating

*Opening Ceremony (no competition & no NBCSN side-by-side coverage)

**NOTE: The 2014 Sochi Olympics had no simultaneous live streaming and no competing primetime Olympic cable coverage. Both of those platforms are included in Total Audience Delivery for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR NBC/NBCSN WEDNESDAY PRIMETIME:

  1. Denver 20.7/38
  2. Minneapolis 18.4/35
  3. Salt Lake City 18.3/34
  4. Seattle 17.3/33

T5. Milwaukee           16.6/29

T5. Sacramento         16.6/31

  1. Kansas City 16.5/27

T8. Buffalo                  16.4/26

T8. West Palm Beach                 16.4/25

  1. Washington, D.C. 16.0/29

Local metered market data represents NBC/NBCSN in primetime and includes the NBC West Coast encore and excludes sustainers.

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