The first game in USA Basketball’s quest for gold drew solid numbers on NBC Sunday morning.
Team USA’s 101-70 victory over China drew a 9.5/24 overnight from 10:15 AM-12:15 PM on NBC Sunday, a stellar rating considering the early timeslot and the fact the game was tape delayed in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
The 9.5 overnight rating is the eighth best for a basketball game this year, behind all six games of the NBA Finals and the NCAA National Championship game.
In China, CCTV drew 184 million viewers for the game, which did not start until after 10 PM local time.
Highest overnight ratings for basketball games in 2008.
12.8: NBA Finals, Game 6 (6/17/08, 9 PM ABC)
12.8: NCAA Nat’l Championship Game (4/7/08, 9 PM CBS)
12.1: NBA Finals, Game 5 (6/15/08, 9 PM ABC)
10.8: NBA Finals, Game 3 (6/10/08, 9 PM ABC)
10.4: NBA Finals, Game 4 (6/12/08, 9 PM ABC)
10.4: NBA Finals, Game 1 (6/5/08, 9 PM ABC)
10.2: NBA Finals, Game 2 (6/8/08, 9 PM ABC)
9.5: Olympics: Team USA/China (8/10/08, 10:15 AM NBC)
8.8: NCAA Final Four, Kansas/UNC (4/5/08, 8:45 PM CBS)
8.7: NCAA Elite Eight, Kansas/Davidson (3/30/08, 5 PM CBS)
