The Olympics continue to dominate, though the numbers continue to decline.
NBC drew 25.5 million viewers for its coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in prime time (8-11 PM) Friday night, crushing all other prime time programming, including the second straight night of preseason football on FOX.
Prime time ratings peaked with 32.1 million viewers during the 10-10:30 PM half hour, during which swimming sensation Michael Phelps won his record-tying seventh gold medal.
To put the 25.5 million in perspective, NBC drew 27.95 million viewers in prime time on Thursday, and 27.2 million in prime time on Wednesday. Friday night’s telecast should finish as the second-lowest rated of the Olympics, ahead of coverage last Saturday. Keep in mind that Friday and Saturday nights are the lowest rated of the week.
In other ratings news on Friday night, FOX averaged a mere 3.3 million viewers for an uninspiring Titans/Raiders preseason NFL match-up. FOX finished dead last in total viewers and the adults 18-49 demo, as preseason football could not even match WWE Smackdown on The CW.
