Airing immediately after the Super Bowl, the Beijing Winter Olympics scored easily its highest ratings yet on NBC.
Abbreviated primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics averaged a 9.8 rating and 21.28 million viewers on NBC immediately following Super Bowl 56, marking easily the highest rating and viewership of the Games. The NBC-only audience is not only the highest of this year’s Games, it also surpasses every night of last year’s Tokyo Summer Olympics to rank as the network’s largest Olympic audience since the first Sunday in PyeongChang four years ago (22.7M).
USA Network chipped in an additional 0.66 and 1.21 million, bringing the total TV audience up to a 10.5 and 22.49 million. An across-all-platforms audience that also includes additional streaming viewership was not immediately available. (Update: the across-all-platforms audience was 24.0 million.)
On NBC alone, ratings increased 8% and viewership 30% from the comparable Sunday night in PyeongChang, with the obvious caveat that the 2018 telecast did not have a lead-in from the Super Bowl (9.1, 16.4M). Versus last year’s Super Bowl lead-out show, the series premiere of the CBS series “The Equalizer,” ratings fell 8% (from 10.7) but viewership increased 4% (from 20.40M*). Compared to the lead-out two years ago, the FOX reality series “The Masked Singer,” ratings and viewership fell 14% and 10% respectively an 11.4 and 23.73M million.
Excluding Opening Ceremonies, the telecast delivered NBC’s highest rated night of the Olympics in adults 18-49 (5.6) since the second Thursday from Rio in 2016 (6.1) and its highest rated night in 18-34 (4.5) since the second Tuesday of that same Summer Games (4.9).
NBC’s late night Olympic show averaged a 2.5 and 4.32 million — actually down 9% and 1% respectively from the comparable telecast in PyeongChang (2.8, 4.34M).
Earlier Sunday, USA Network averaged a 0.52 and 905,000 viewers for coverage that aired during the Super Bowl.
In other Olympic action, NBC’s primetime window averaged a 4.6 (-51% from PyeongChang) and 8.57 million (-48%) Friday night and a 4.4 (-46%) and 8.24 million (-43%) Saturday night. As with Sunday’s telecast, an across-all-platforms figure was not immediately available.
* Keep in mind that Nielsen undercounted out-of-home viewing throughout last year and did not include out-of-home viewing two years ago.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 2.15]
