From NBC, we have the latest ratings for Friday, Day 8 of the Sochi Winter Olympics. And while the primetime portion on NBC did win the night, it did drop to the lowest numbers of the Games to date. Granted, Friday nights are low-rated to begin with, but based on the Opening Ceremony the previous Friday which garnered 31.7 million viewers, this isn’t what the Peacock wanted to see.
The rating for Friday was 11.0 with a 19 share averaging 19.2 million viewers. That’s down from 13.4/23 and 23.3 million from Vancouver in 2010, but practically even with the 11.2/19 and 18.9 million from Turin in 2006.
NBCSN saw another increase from viewership in London for the comparable day.
Again, Minneapolis topped the local markets with a 16.5/33 rating/share, this time tied for first with Salt Lake City. My home market of Providence ranked 10th.
Here’s the release.
TODAY’S THRILLING USA-RUSSIA MEN’S HOCKEY GAME IS MOST STREAMED HOCKEY GAME IN NBC SPORTS & NBC OLYMPICS HISTORY
Last Night’s NBC Coverage Joins 2014 Sochi Opening Ceremony as Most-Watched Friday Primetime TV Shows since 2012 London Olympics
NBC Primetime Continues Viewership Streak – Eight Consecutive Nights Topping 2006 Turin Games
NBCSN Posts Increase over 2012 London Games for All 7 Days of CoverageSTAMFORD, Conn. – February 15, 2014 – Today’s thrilling USA-Russia Olympic men’s hockey game, which went to an eight-round shootout before Team USA won, is the most streamed hockey game in NBC Sports and NBC Olympics history. Due to the popularity of the game, portions will air tonight in primetime on NBC, including overtime and the shootout. Al Michaels and Mike “Doc” Emrick will join Meredith Vieira on the primetime show to discuss USA-Russia. A full encore of USA-Russia will air TOMORROW, Sunday, Feb. 16 on NBCSN beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The authenticated game was live streamed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app by nearly 600,000 unique users (598,552) and delivered 14.7 million minutes of consumption, both surpassing all matchups from the Vancouver Games and the record-setting 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Final. The uniques and minutes are, respectively, the second- and fifth-best NBC Olympics’ streams ever.
- Last night’s primetime Olympics telecast on NBC (8-11 p.m. ET) averaged 19.2 million viewers, which coupled with last week’s Sochi Winter Games Opening Ceremony telecast (31.7 million viewers) rank as the two most-watched Friday primetime TV shows since the 2012 London Olympics, according to live plus same day fast national data released today by The Nielsen Company.
- In addition, last night’s viewership is up 2% from the corresponding Friday of the 2006 Turin Games (18.9 million) to extend the streak to eight consecutive nights – every night beginning with the Opening Ceremony — that NBC’s primetime P2+ viewership has topped viewership of the last European Winter Olympics in Turin.
- For NBCSN, Friday marked the seventh consecutive day – each day since coverage began on Saturday, Feb. 8 — the network topped the viewership of the 2012 London Summer Games. NBCSN averaged 977,000 viewers for yesterday’s 6 am-3 pm ET time period – up 60% from the comparable Friday for the London Olympics.
- NBC’s Friday night 11.0 household rating/19 share was on par with the comparable night for Turin (11.2/19). The comparable Friday of the 2010 Vancouver Games posted a 13.4 household rating/23 share and averaged 23.3 million viewers.
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR FRIDAY’S NBC PRIMETIME COVERAGE:
Market HH rating/share T1. Minneapolis 16.5/33 T1. Salt Lake City 16.5/35 3. Denver 16.0/32 4. Ft. Myers 15.9/26 5. Milwaukee 15.5/28 6. Dayton 15.0/23 7. Portland 14.9/28 8. Greensboro 14.4/21 9. Indianapolis 14.0/24 10. Providence 13.7/23
There you have it.
