With the Winter Olympics approaching, NBC drew solid numbers for coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last week.
Primetime coverage of the Ladies’ Free Skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships drew a 3.4 final rating and 5.4 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, up 26% in ratings and 32% in viewership from last year (2.7, 4.1 mil), and up 3% and 4%, respectively, from ’08 (3.3, 5.2 mil).
The 3.4 is the highest rating for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships since ’06, when the Saturday night window drew a 4.7.
Saturday night’s telecast was the most-viewed sporting event of the week on broadcast or cable, excluding the NFL.
Earlier in the day, coverage of the Original Dance portion of the event drew a 2.1 final rating, up 17% from last year’s comparable window (1.8), and up 24% from the comparable window in ’08 (1.7).
On Sunday, a re-air of the Ladies’ Free Skate drew a 1.6 final rating, down 20% from last year’s comparable window, which featured live coverage of the Men’s Short Program and Free Skate.
Rounding out the figure skating coverage, Sunday night’s Smuckers Skating Spectacular: Countdown to Vancouver drew a 2.5 final rating and 3.6 million viewers. There was no comparable telecast last year.
