Olympics ratings are at 12-year lows, but in the current TV environment, NBC will take it.
Sunday’s primetime Winter Olympics coverage delivered a 12.4 rating and 22.7 million viewers on NBC, down 14% in ratings and viewership from 2014 (14.4, 26.3M) and down 13% and 14% respectively from 2010 (14.3, 26.4M). Figures include encore presentations on the West Coast.
Keep in mind NBC’s primetime coverage is now split between broadcast, cable and streaming. Including concurrent viewership on NBCSN (3.0M) and NBC Sports Digital (309K), Sunday’s primetime window had a 14.2 (-1%) and 26.0 million (-1%).
Despite the narrow declines, the combined audience is still the lowest for the first Sunday of any Olympics since 2006 (Turin: 23.2M). Each night of this year’s Olympics has trailed the comparable nights in 2010 and 2014, even with the cable and streaming audiences included.
For the first time in the Games, primetime coverage trailed the comparable night of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The first Sunday in Rio had a 16.1 and 29.8 million on NBC alone, and 31.8 million across NBC, cable and streaming.
If below previous Olympics, Sunday’s viewership was still quite strong by late 2010s standards. Not counting the NFL playoffs, the combined TV and streaming audience was the largest for any Sunday night program since last year’s Academy Awards.
Primetime coverage peaked from 9:45-10 PM ET with 29.7 million viewers across NBC and NBCSN.
Salt Lake City led all markets Sunday night with a 25.9 rating, up 10% from 2014 (23.5). Denver was second at a 24.5 (+12%), followed by Milwaukee (23.9, +18%), Portland (23.6, +24%) and Kansas City (23.1, +11%).
Seattle (22.2), Austin, Tex. (21.4), San Diego (21.4), Minneapolis-St. Paul (20.7) and Sacramento (19.8) rounded out the top ten. Minneapolis, the highest rated market for the 2014 Olympics, cracked the top ten for just the second time in four nights.
[Sun. numbers from NBC Sports PR 2.12]
