New Olympic Record: 200 Million Viewers for NBCU

By Andrew Krukowski

NBC Universal topped another Olympic milestone: During the first 11 days of the Beijing Olympics, 200 million people have watched the Games across NBCU’s networks.

Through 11 days, Beijing has bested the 2004 Athens Games by 12 million and the 1996 Atlanta Games by 4 million. Atlanta still holds the title of most viewed event in television history, with 209 million viewers through 17 days.

According to NBCU, more than 83% of all U.S. TV households have tuned in to the Beijing Olympics.

Facing off against the Olympics juggernaut, ABC, CBS and Fox hit network lows in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and total viewer averages last week.

ABC reeled in a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the week, and Fox pulled in an average 3.2 million viewers, which are the lowest results in the history of the Nielsen People Meter (or since September 1987) in those categories of the Big Four networks.