For the first time since Turin, television ratings for primetime coverage of the Olympics dipped below the 10.0 mark.
Primetime coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics earned a 9.6 final rating and 17.1 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, down 35% in ratings and 36% in viewership from Vancouver in 2010 (14.7, 26.7M), and down 15% and 13%, respectively, from Turin in 2006 (11.3, 19.7M). The comparable night of the most recent Olympics — London in 2012 — had a 15.9 and 28.0 million viewers.
Saturday’s telecast ranks as the lowest rated and least-viewed Olympic primetime window — Summer or Winter — since the final weekend of Turin in 2006. The 9.6 rating is likely the second-lowest ever for a primetime Olympics telecast, ahead of only the Closing Ceremony in 2006 (8.9).
The telecast also had the largest declines in ratings and viewership of this year’s Olympics, surpassing last Wednesday night.
Through Saturday, NBC has averaged a 13.2 rating and 23.5 million viewers for primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics — down 10% in ratings and 11% in viewership from 2010 (14.7, 26.3M), but up 8% and 14%, respectively, from 2006 (12.2, 20.6M).
Percent Change For Primetime Viewership of Sochi Olympics
(Sat. numbers from NBC Sports Group Press Box)
