Michael Phelps gave NBC its best Saturday night viewership since the late Richard Mulligan starred in a Golden Girls spin-off.
NBC drew a stellar 17.6/32 rating and 31.1 million viewers for its coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Saturday night, up 29% and 38% from a 13.6/26 and 22.5 million for the second Saturday of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The 17.6 rating marks a 32% increase from a 13.3 for the comparable night of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and is the best rating for any Olympics telecast on a Saturday night since the ninth night of the 1996 Atlanta Games (19.4/40). Additionally, the 31.1 million viewers is the most for a Saturday night NBC program since an episode of Empty Nest on February 24, 1990.
Viewership peaked from 11-11:30 PM, when 39.9 million viewers watched Phelps win his record eighth gold medal.
