Through two nights of coverage, NBC has seen a solid increase in ratings for its coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Prime time coverage on Saturday night finished with a 13.9/27 final rating and 24.1 million viewers, up 18% and 22%, respectively, from an 11.8/23 and 19.8 million viewers for the first Saturday night of the Athens Games in ’04. Ratings increased dramatically in the final hour, jumping from a 13.3/24 and 23 million viewers in the 9:30 PM half hour to a 16.4/30 and 28.7 million viewers at 10:00.
The 13.9 rating also marks a 6% increase over a 13.1 rating for the first Saturday night of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
After two nights, including Friday’s Opening Ceremony, NBC is averaging a 16.2/30 for its prime time coverage of the Beijing Olympics, up 22% from a 13.3/25 for the first two nights of the ’04 Olympics, and up 11% from a 14.6 for the first two nights of the ’00 Olympics.
