Olympic Ratings Down Wednesday, But Not By Much

NBC’s ratings for Wednesday were down slightly from Tuesday, the first time the Olympics witnessed a downturn in the five nights of coverage thus far. However, NBC still has a reason to smile as the Beijing Games are still ahead of Athens’ pace. And NBC Universal is also pleased with the ratings for its cable networks.

OLYMPICS CONTINUES TO SCORE FOR NBC UNIVERSAL WITH 174 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS

Beijing Olympics Pacing Ahead of Athens in Every Measurement

Cable Nets Show Significant Increases

BEIJING –Aug. 15, 2008 – After six days of coverage NBC has reached 174 million total viewers, 30.8 million average viewers and a rating of 17.6 rating/30 share, each posting gains compared to Athens in 2004.  Additionally NBC Universal's cable networks are showing significant increases and Tuesday's TAMi reaches 105 Million.

Through six days NBCU has attracted 174 million total viewers, nearly15 million more than the first six days for Athens (159 million).

NBC's Beijing Olympic six-day average primetime viewership is 30.8 million, more than four million ahead of Athens in 2004 (26.2 million).  The national rating average of 17.6/30 is the best primetime rating through the first Wednesday for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 (18.3/34) and is a 12 percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.7/27).

Wednesday night garnered 72 million total viewers in primetime and 27.7 million average viewers, just off of the comparable night in Athens (28.4) when Paul Hamm took the controversial gold medal in the Men's Gymnastics All-Around. The night earned a 16.7 rating/28 share, just a three percent decline (17.3/29).

CABLE NETS POST GAINS: The total viewership for NBC Universal's cable networks has reached 56 million viewers through the first five days of the games for an increase of 33 percent compared with Athens in 2004 and a jump of 74% above the comparable times in 2007.

USA: Coverage on USA Network (2 a.m. – 2 p.m.) is averaging more than 1 million viewers (1.044) up 23 percent compared to the Athens games in 2004 and a gain of 42 percent above comparable time periods in 2007.

MSNBC: Coverage on MSNBC (5 a.m. – 5 p.m.) is averaging 649,000 viewers, up 27 percent compared with Athens in 2004 and more than double comparable time periods in 2007 (+133 percent).

CNBC: Coverage on CNBC (5:00-8:00 p.m.) is averaging 638,000 viewers, a gain of six percent compared with Athens and 168 percent above comparable time periods in 2007 (+259 percent).

Oxygen: This is Oxygen's first time as a home for Olympics coverage.  An average of 713,000 viewers are tuning in for its 6-8 p.m. coverage - it's best ever performance in the time period and a gain of 236 percent over the comparable time periods in 2007.

TAMI FOR TUESDAY: 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 Tuesday, Aug. 12:

Tuesday, Aug. 12: 105.0 million
TV: 96.8 million, ONLINE: 7.7 million, MOBILE: 472k, TV VOD: 17k
Monday, Aug. 11: 103.1 million
Sunday, Aug. 10: 113.0 million
Saturday, Aug. 9: 97.8 million
Friday, Aug.  8: 74.6 million

So NBC has been riding a swimming wave for the first five days and expects to continue that tonight through Saturday. However, track & field takes over in earnest on Sunday, but with athletics on tape delay, it will be interesting to see if America has the patience to watch events that have taken place as many as 12 hours before they air.