After the overnights indicated a performance not much better than Turin in 2006, fast-nationals for the first weekend of the Olympics were far closer to the levels of Vancouver four years ago.
Primetime coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics earned a 14.4 final rating and 26.3 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — up a tick in ratings and virtually flat in viewership from Vancouver in 2010 (14.3, 26.4M), and up 8% and 13%, respectively, from Turin in 2006 (13.3, 23.2M). The comparable night of the most recent Olympics (London in 2012) earned a 19.8 and 36.0 million.
Sunday’s telecast was the first of the 2014 Olympics to earn a higher rating than 2010.
On Saturday, primetime action drew a 13.9 and 25.1 million — down a tick in ratings and 4% in viewership from 2010 (14.0, 26.2M), and up 3% and 8%, respectively, from 2006 (13.5, 23.2M).
Keep in mind that unlike previous Olympics, the events reserved for primetime have aired earlier in the day on other networks. The marquee figure skating events, for example, aired live in the morning and afternoon on NBCSN before the tape-delayed primetime telecast on NBC. So far, it does not appear that airing the events live has had a negative impact on the primetime re-air.
