With MSNBC siphoning away 8.2 million viewers for the USA/Canada hockey game, NBC sank to its second-lowest numbers yet for its primetime coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Coverage of the Winter Games drew a 13.2/21 rating and 23.3 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, up 14% in ratings and 21% in viewers from the comparable night in ’06 (Turin; 11.6/18, 19.2 mil), but down 23% and 18%, respectively, from the comparable night in ’02 (Salt Lake City; 17.1/26, 28.4 mil).
Versus the comparable night of the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Sunday’s telecast was down 27% from an 18.0/28.
Sunday’s primetime window ranks as the second-lowest rated of these Olympic games, ahead of only Tuesday night’s coverage (12.2/19). Additionally, the telecast is tied with Friday’s primetime window as the second-least viewed of the Olympics.
Despite the relatively low numbers, the Olympics again topped its competition. Head-to-head, the Winter Games outdrew Sunday’s new episode of Desperate Housewives on ABC by 127% (24.7 mil to 10.9 mil) — a turnaround from ’06, when the ABC drama topped the Olympics by 7%.
Salt Lake City was Sunday’s top market, with a 21.3/35. Milwaukee (20.0/29) and Denver (19.5/30) followed, with somewhat surprising markets Kansas City (18.0/25) and Oklahoma City (18.0/25) rounding out the top five.
