Olympics Not Only Beat American Idol, It Beats Idol Like A Drum

As I mentioned earlier this morning, the great day at the Olympics on Wednesday translated to excellent ratings for NBC. It also led to American Idol on Fox being beaten for the first time ever. And not only did Idol get beaten, but it also was stomped on. It wasn’t even close. NBC is definitely crowing. As Newsday’s Neil Best points out, what was running in the 9 p.m. hour was not live action, but the tape delayed women’s downhill.

OLYMPICS BEATS IDOL

Head to Head: Olympics 30.1 Million, Idol 18.4 Million

29.4 Million Watched NBC Last Night, Nearly 12 Million More Than First Wednesday of 2006 Winter Games

VANCOUVER - February 18, 2010 - The Olympics on NBC last night broke American Idol’s six-year unbeaten streak (since 2004). When going head-to-head against Idol (9-10 p.m.), the Olympics drew nearly 12 million more viewers (30.1 million vs. 18.4 million) for an advantage of 64 percent.  Head-to-head (9-10 p.m.), the Olympics out-rated Idol by 63 percent (17.0 vs. 10.4) among households and 30 percent among Adults 18-49 (9.0 vs. 6.9) based on data provided today by Nielsen Media Research.

On the night (8-11:17 p.m.), NBC’s Olympic broadcast - featuring the greatest single day in Winter Olympics history as Team USA captured six medals - drew an average audience of 29.4 million, more than 11 million more than the first Wednesday of the 2006 Winter Games (17.9 million), and a household rating of 16.7/27, up 48 percent from the comparable day at the 2006 Winter Games (11.3/18).

Some Additional Highlights:

• First time that Idol was defeated in P2+ (average viewership) and Adults18-49 since May 17, 2004.
• First time Idol has been defeated among households since April 15, 2004.
• On the comparable Wednesday night at the 2006 Winter Games when going head-to-head (8-9 p.m.) Idol more than doubled the average audience of the Olympics (28.9 million to 14.3 million), out-rated the Olympics by 7.4 rating points (16.5 vs. 9.1 among households) and nearly tripled the Olympic delivery in the Adults 18-49 demo (12.0 vs. 4.1).
• Last night, the Olympics out-rated American Idol in 53 of 55 metered markets. By comparison, on the first Wednesday of the 2006 Winter Games, when going head-to-head, the Olympics only out-rated Idol in five of 55 markets.

METERED MARKET RATINGS BY TIME ZONE (Six-Day Average):
Mountain Time Zone 20.0/33
Pacific Time Zone  16.9/30
Central Time Zone  16.7/26
Eastern Time Zone  16.1/25

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS (Six-Day Average):
1. Milwaukee, 23.7/37
2. Denver, 23.2/38
3. Salt Lake City, 22.6/38
4. Seattle, 21.9/40
5. Minneapolis, 21.4/36
6. St. Louis, 20.1/31
7. Columbus, 20.0/31
8. San Diego, 19.5/33
9. Portland, 19.3/35
10. Cleveland, 19.2/30
11. West Palm Beach, 19.2/28
12. Nashville, 18.9/27
13. Boston, 18.4/32
14. Kansas City, 18.2/27
15. Sacramento, 17.9/32
T16. Washington D.C., 17.8/29
T16. Austin, 17.8/29
T18. Phoenix, 17.7/29
T18. Providence, 17.7/29
20. Ft. Myers, 17.6/28
21. Tulsa, 17.3/26
22. Cincinnati, 17.2/26
23. Indianapolis, 17.1/27
T24. Detroit, 17.0/28
T24. Chicago, 17.0/27

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS FOR WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17:
1. Denver, 29.3/45
T2. Minneapolis, 27.1/44
T2. Milwaukee, 27.1/41
4. Salt Lake City, 27.0/42
5. Seattle, 26.7/46
6. San Diego, 24.7/39
7. Portland, 22.3/39
8. Washington, D.C., 22.1/34
T9. Boston, 21.9/36
T9. St. Louis, 21.9/32
T9. West Palm Beach, 21.9/30
12. Cleveland, 21.8/33
13. Columbus, 21.4/32
14. Ft. Myers, 21.0/31
T15. Detroit, 20.6/32
T15. Kansas City, 20.6/29
T15. Austin, 20.6/32
18. Nashville, 20.4/29
19. Chicago, 20.2/31
20. Cincinnati, 20.2/29
21. Providence, 20.1/33
22. Sacramento, 20.0/34
23. Phoenix, 19.7/31
24. Jacksonville, 19.6/29
25. Richmond, 19.1/29

Amazing to see Denver being the top rated market last night as well as the Mountain time zone being the top rated region. All this in a tape delayed section of the country.