As has been typical so far, primetime viewership for the Sochi Olympics trailed Vancouver and topped Turin Sunday night.
Sunday’s primetime coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics earned a 12.1 rating and 21.3 million viewers on NBC, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — down 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Vancouver in 2010 (13.2, 23.3M), but up 4% and 11%, respectively, from Turin in 2006 (11.6, 19.2M). The comparable night of the most recent Olympics (London in 2012) had a 17.5 and 31.3 million.
The previous two nights, not coincidentally the two least-viewed nights of the week, primetime coverage failed to hit the 20 million viewer mark. Sunday is the most-viewed night of the week.
Sunday’s results were in keeping with the general trend. Nine of the ten primetime Sochi telecasts have earned fewer viewers than the comparable night in Vancouver, the lone exception coming last Tuesday (+29%). On the other hand, nine of the ten have topped the comparable night in Turin — the lone exception being Saturday night (-13%).
(Sun. numbers from NBC Sports Group Press Box)
