It’s Official: Communist China’s Olympics About To Be Most Watched Event in US

Through Friday, the Olympics in Communist China is close to becoming the most watched event in US history, over the 1996 Atlanta Games. NBC says so.

But the big news is that the 15th night of the Games garnered a 10.5 rating/19 share which is by far the lowest rated night of the 2008 Olympics to date.

BEIJING GAMES SET TO BECOME THE MOST-WATCHED TELEVISION EVENT IN HISTORY

208.7 MILLION WATCH BEIJING GAMES ON NBC UNIVERSAL THROUGH 15 DAYS, JUST 300,000 BELOW THE ATLANTA GAMES’ 209 MILLION

85 Million Watch on NBC Universal’s Cable Nets ; 85% of All U.S. TV Households Have Tuned In

BEIJING –Aug. 23, 2008 –Through 15 days, NBC Universal's Beijing Olympic coverage has reached 208.7 million viewers and is about to surpass the 17-day total for the Atlanta Games, the most viewed event in U.S. television history according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research.  The 208.7 million viewers are 11 million more than the first 15 days for Athens (198 million) and 5 million more than the Atlanta Games (204 million). NBCU's cable networks through 15 days have already reached 85 million, surpassing the 17-day viewership total for any previous Olympics.

MOST VIEWED EVENTS IN U.S. TV HISTORY:

1. 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, 209 million (17 days)
2.  *2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 208.7 million (*through 15 days)
3. 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, 204 million (16 days)
4 . 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, 203 million (17 days)
5. 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, 194 million (17 days)

The Beijing Olympic 15-day average primetime viewership is 28.1 million, 11 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (25.3 million).  NBC's average of a 16.5 rating, 28 share in households is the best through the final Friday for a Summer Olympics outside the U.S. since Barcelona in 1992 (17.5/34), and is a six percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.5/27).

Friday night garnered 46 million total viewers in primetime and 17.6 million average viewers. The night earned a 10.5 rating/19 share. (Lowest watched night of the Games thus far - Fang's Bites) The comparable night in Athens did a 12.5 rating/23 share and averaged 20.1 million viewers.

BEIJING GAMES BOOST NBC UNIVERSAL'S CABLE NETS:

Through 15 days, 85 million have watched the coverage on NBC Universal's cable networks, a 29 percent gain from the first 15 days of the Athens Games (66 million) and more than the 17-day total viewership for any previous Olympics (Athens, 68.6 million).

TAMi FOR THURSDAY: The TAMi (Total Audience Measurement Index) measures the 3600 hours of programming during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including Television (P2+ reach), Online (Unique Users), Mobile (WAP unique users and Mobile VOD unique users) and TV VOD (unique users).  Below is the TAMi measurement through Thursday, Aug. 21:

Thursday, Aug. 21:  87.6 million
TV: 80.5 million, ONLINE 6.7 million, Mobile 447k, TV VOD: n/a
Wednesday, Aug. 20:      91.1 million
Tuesday, Aug. 19:      95.4 million
Monday, Aug. 18:   94.4 million
Sunday, Aug. 17:   107.4 million
Saturday, Aug. 16:      108.0 million
Friday, Aug. 15:   95.1 million
Thursday, Aug. 14:      101.6 million
Wednesday, Aug. 13:      101.0 million
Tuesday, Aug. 12:      105.1 million
Monday, Aug. 11:   103.1 million
Sunday, Aug. 10:   113.1 million
Saturday, Aug. 9:      97.8 million
Friday, Aug.  8:    74.6 million

I believe I’ll have two more press releases from NBC Universal and about ratings and it’ll be done, I promise.