A successful run in the ratings for the 2012 London Olympics concluded with strong numbers for the Closing Ceremony.
Tape delayed coverage of the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics drew a 17.0 final rating and 31.0 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, up 10% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Beijing in 2008 (15.5, 27.834M), and up 43% and 58%, respectively, from Athens in 2004 (11.9, 19.563M).
The Closing Ceremony of the most recent Olympics — the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver — earned a 12.4 rating and 21.403 million viewers.
This marks the highest rated Closing Ceremony of any Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002 (22.3), and the highest for any Summer Olympics since Atlanta in 1996 (21.8). Excluding U.S.-based Olympics, the 17.0 is the highest for any Closing Ceremony since Lillehammer in 1994 (22.9).
The Closing Ceremony was the sixteenth of seventeen primetime Olympic telecasts to have an increase in viewership compared to 2008, and the fourteenth to have an increase in ratings.
In addition, the telecast marked the ninth time that viewership for primetime coverage topped 30 million viewers. By comparison, only 15 Olympic telecasts over the previous ten years topped that mark — seven in 2002, two in 2004, five in 2008, and one in 2010.
Final averages for the Olympics will be posted shortly.
(Sunday’s numbers from NBC Universal Media Village)
