On the first official day of competition for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, NBC racked up good numbers, but like the night before for the Opening Ceremony, the Peacock saw ratings that were below Vancouver in 2010 for the first night, but way up from Turin in 2006.
For its tape delayed coverage in primetime on Satuday, NBC received a 13.9 rating and a 24 share down just a shade from Vancouver’s 14.0/25 for the similar night. NBC averaged 25.1 million viewers on Saturday, down 4% from 26.2 million in 2010.
Comparing it to Turin which NBC is doing, the numbers are way up. The opening Saturday in 2006 received a 13.5/23 and 23.2 million viewership.
For the third straight night, Minneapolis topped the local markets with ratings of 22.4/41.
NBCSN’s first Winter Olympics saw an average of 2.6 million viewers which is a a record for the network.
During the team figure skating competition, NBCSN was averaging 4.9 million viewers making it the most-viewed event ever on the network surpassing the US-Canada women’s soccer match in the 2012 Olympics.
Here’s the NBC press release.
25.1 MILLION VIEWERS FOR NBC’S PRIMETIME OLYMPIC TELECAST – UP 8% FROM LAST EUROPEAN WINTER GAMES IN TURIN IN ‘06
NBCSN Delivers Record Viewership & Most-Watched Event in Network’s History on First Day of Live Coverage from Sochi
NBC Continues to Dominate Adult 18-49 Demo with 2nd Straight Night of Record Winter Olympics Advantage over Other NetsSTAMFORD, Conn. – February 9, 2014 – NBC’s primetime Olympics telecast on Saturday (8-11:06 p.m. ET) averaged 25.1 million viewers and a 13.9 household rating/24 share – up 8% and 3% respectively from the opening Saturday of the last European Winter Olympics (23.2 million viewers and 13.5 household rating/23 share for Turin in 2006), according to live plus same day fast national data released today by The Nielsen Company.
NBC posted the best Saturday primetime viewership of any broadcast network in February in four years — since the second Saturday of the 2010 Vancouver Games (26.6 million viewers on NBC, Feb. 20, 2010).
NBCSN began its first-ever Winter Olympics coverage with a record-breaking Saturday as an average of 2.6 million viewers tuned in. NBCSN’s opening Saturday viewership for the Sochi Games (6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET) more than doubled the average viewership in the same time window on the opening Saturday of the 2012 London Olympics (1.0 million) and ranks as NBCSN’s best daytime viewership ever.
NBCSN’s 1-2 p.m. ET coverage of the new team figure skating competition averaged 4.9 million viewers – marking the network’s most watched event ever, surpassing Team USA’s women’s soccer gold medal match in the 2012 London Games (4.4 million viewers).
- For the second consecutive night, NBC scored the most dominant primetime Winter Olympics victory on record in Adults 18-49 with a 6.3 rating — 350% above the combined ABC/CBS/FOX rating (based on People Meter, which dates to 1987).
- Compared to NBC’s live (ET/CT) coverage of the opening Saturday of the 2010 Vancouver Games – which featured Apolo Anton Ohno winning a silver medal in the men’s 1500 meter short track and Hannah Kearney winning gold in women’s moguls – last night’s telecast was essentially even in household rating (14.0/25) and off only four percent in viewership (26.2 million).
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR NBC PRIMETIME COVERAGE:
Market HH rating/share 1. Minneapolis 22.4/41 2. Portland 20.7/34 3. Salt Lake City 20.6/39 4. Denver 20.3/37 5. Milwaukee 19.8/34 6. Ft. Myers 18.5/31 7. Boston 18.2/33 T8. Sacramento 17.6/30 T8. Kansas City 17.6/29 10. Austin 17.3/32
And that does it for now.
