Winter Olympics ratings got off to a frigid start on NBC.
Thursday’s primetime coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics earned a 9.0 rating and 15.995 million viewers on NBC, down 20% in ratings and viewership from 2014 (11.3, 20.0M). 2014 is the only other year NBC has aired primetime coverage prior to the Opening Ceremony.
Including concurrent coverage on NBCSN and streaming viewership on NBC’s digital platforms, the primetime window had a 9.7 rating and 17.2 million viewers. There was no primetime live streaming or cable coverage in 2014.
NBC’s 9.0 rating is tied as the fifth-lowest ever for primetime Olympic coverage, matching the final Saturday of the 2016 Summer Games. Only the final three nights in 2014 and the Closing Ceremony in 2006 had a lower rating. The NBC/NBCSN rating of 9.7 is tied as the eighth-lowest.
Ratings fell disproportionately among adults 18-49, with the demo turning in a mere 3.7 — down 38% from a 6.0 in 2014. NBC’s telecast also had a 2.6 rating in adults 18-34; comparable figures in 2014 were not available.
Despite the lower numbers, Thursday’s telecast posted a larger audience — with or without streaming included — than all 10 NFL Thursday Night Football simulcasts on CBS and NBC last season.
Nielsen measured NBC’s primetime window from 8:30-11:15 PM ET, which excludes the first half-hour of coverage. On NBC and NBCSN combined, viewership peaked at 19.3 million from 9-9:15 PM ET — a quarter-hour that featured U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen.
This year marks the first time that NBC has aired primetime Olympic coverage live in all time zones. In previous years, NBC would tape-delay coverage until primetime in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, resulting in a two-to-three hour delay in those markets. The eight highest rated markets Thursday night were all in the Mountain or Pacific — Salt Lake City (17.7), Sacramento (17.2), Seattle (16.6), San Diego (16.4), Portland (15.6), Denver (15.4) and Los Angeles (15.0) — despite NBC’s coverage beginning at 5 or 6 PM local time.
West Palm Beach was the top East Coast market with a 14.2 rating, with Pittsburgh (13.8) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (13.5) rounding out the top ten.
