The last week of the 2008 Beijing Olympics dominated broadcast.
The Olympics on NBC made up the top eight broadcasts of the week, led by prime time coverage on Tuesday night, which finished first in ratings and second in total viewers with a 16.3/27 and 26.6 million viewers. In the key adults 18-49 demo, coverage on Tuesday night finished with a first place 9.1 rating and 11.9 million viewers.
Sunday’s Closing Ceremony finished second in ratings and first in total viewers with a 15.5/25 and 27.8 million viewers. The half-hour Beijing Closing Party immediately following the Closing Ceremony drew a 12.3/21 and 20.6 million, good for a sixth place finish in ratings and total viewers.
Finishing third, fourth and fifth for the week was prime time coverage on Monday (15.8/26, 26.3 mil), Wednesday (15.2/26, 24.8 mil) and Thursday (13.8/23, 22.4 mil), respectively.
NBC drew some of the lowest ratings ever for prime time Olympics telecasts on Friday and Saturday. Friday coverage finished seventh with a 10.7/19 and 17.8 million viewers. Meanwhile, coverage on Saturday night drew a 10.3/19 and 16.7 million viewers, the lowest rating of the Olympics, and the worst for a prime time Olympics telecast since at least 1988. Still, the 10.3 and 16.7 million was ahead of the next best program (Two and a Half Men on CBS) by 94% and 105%.
Overall, NBC destroyed its competition for the second straight week. The network averaged a 13.9/23 rating and 23.3 million viewers in prime time the week of August 18-24, up 266% and 313% from second-place CBS.
