Thanks to ladies figure skating and alpine skiing, NBC saw a rise in the ratings for the second Wednesday night of the Sochi Olympic Games. For Wednesday’s primetime, NBC registered a 12.2 rating and a 20 share, up from Vancouver’s 11.9/19 in 2010 and Turin’s 10.0/15 in 2006.
Viewership on Wednesday averaged 20.2 million people compared to Vancouver’s 19.8 million and Turin’s 16 million.
On cable, USA Network saw an average of 1.9 million viewers for the USA-Czech Republic men’s hockey quarterfinal game. NBCSN garnered 1.6 million for ladies figure skating. MSNBC was watched by 480,000 for Canada-Latvia men’s hockey.
Here are the numbers in detail from NBC.
NBC PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP & HOUSEHOLD RATING HIGHEST FOR SECOND WEDNESDAY OF WINTER GAMES IN 12 YEARS
NBCU Scores Largest Weekday Cable Audience for Sochi Games as 4 Million Tune In To Live Winter Olympics Coverage from Noon-2:30 PM ET (9-11:30 AM PT) On NBCSN, MSNBC & USA Network
Sochi Olympics Top Turin Viewership for 11th Time in 13 NightsSTAMFORD, Conn. – February 20, 2014 – Last night’s primetime Olympics on NBC (8-11 p.m. ET) featuring American Ted Ligety winning a gold medal in giant slalom and the ladies’ figure skating short program averaged 20.2 million viewers and a 12.2 household rating/20 share – the most-watched and highest-rated second Wednesday of a Winter Olympics in 12 years (’02 Salt Lake City Games), according to live plus same day fast national data released today by The Nielsen Company.
- Last night’s viewership and household rating were up 26% and 22% respectively from the last European Winter Games in Turin in 2006 (16.0 million viewers; 10.0 household rating/15 share) and also up from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics (19.8 million viewers; 11.9 household rating/19 share). NBC’s primetime viewership of the Sochi Olympics has topped Turin on 11 of the Games’ first 13 nights.
- Wednesday’s simultaneous tripleheader of live Winter Olympics action from Noon-2:30 p.m. ET (9-11:30 a.m. PT) on the cable networks of NBCUniversal – U.S.-Czech Republic and Canada-Latvia men’s hockey quarterfinals on USA Network and MSNBC respectively, and the ladies’ figure skating short program on NBCSN – combined for the largest weekday cable audience of the Sochi Games with 4.0 million viewers.
- Team USA’s 5-2 men’s hockey quarterfinal victory over the Czech Republic averaged 1.9 million viewers on USA Network, while Canada’s 2-1 men’s hockey win over Latvia on MSNBC posted 480,000 viewers. The ladies’ figure skating short program in the same time period on NBCSN averaged 1.6 million viewers.
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR WEDNESDAY’S NBC PRIMETIME COVERAGE:
Market HH rating/share 1. Denver 20.4/35 2. Salt Lake City 19.1/35 3. Minneapolis 18.6/31 4. Kansas City 17.5/27 5. Ft. Myers 16.6/26 6. Pittsburgh 16.3/25 7. Milwaukee 16.2/27 8. Seattle 16.0/29 T9. Indianapolis 15.9/26 T9. Buffalo 15.9/25
There you have it.
