If the ratings for last night’s Opening Ceremonies are any indication, NBC is on its way to a gold medal finish at these Olympic Games.
The Opening Ceremony drew a 21.5/37 overnight from 8-11:19 PM last night. Keep in mind NBC’s coverage began at 7:30 PM and ended at midnight. NBC “frequently omits the opening half-hour from the ratings report because it contains no national advertising.” Additionally, the 21.5 overnight does not include coverage of the lighting of the Olympic torch, which aired on NBC after 11:19 PM.
The 21.5 overnight is up 19% from 2004 and 16% from 2000, and marks the best ever overnight for the Opening Ceremony of a non-U.S. Summer Olympics.
In Orlando, the event “was seen in more than 300,000 households.” By comparison, “Dancing in the Stars, the most popular program in Central Florida during the May sweeps, averaged 241,000 households.” Meanwhile, Houston “lagged well behind the national average” with a 16.0/29, but the “the Beijing opener was up by more than four ratings points over 2004” in the market. The top local market for the Opening Ceremony was San Diego, with a 26.5/49. San Antonio finished last among major markets, with a 15.7/26.
Overseas, Australia’s Channel 7 “snared more than half of Australia’s prime-time television audience” for live coverage of the Opening Ceremony, which lasted until 2 AM and averaged 3.3 million viewers.
