Winter Olympics ratings fell to an NBC low Thursday, but NBCSN picked up some of the slack.
Thursday’s primetime Winter Olympics coverage delivered a 9.6 rating and 16.2 million viewers on NBC, down 28% in ratings and 29% in viewership from 2014 (13.4, 22.9M) and down 34% and 35% respectively from 2010 (14.5, 24.8M). Figures include primetime encores on the West Coast.
NBC’s primetime coverage now airs across broadcast, cable and streaming. NBCSN, which carried the entire night of men’s figure skating, had its second-biggest primetime audience of the Games (2.7M). Including that audience and the 243,000 who watched on NBC Sports digital platforms, Thursday’s telecast had an 11.4 rating (-15%) and 19.3 million viewers (-16%).
Not counting the pre-Opening Ceremony window on February 8, Thursday was NBC’s lowest rated and least-watched night of the Games. Because NBCSN overperformed compared to previous nights, the combined audience was an Olympic-best 19% higher than on NBC alone — helping Thursday’s coverage edge the previous night (11.2, 19.2M).
Even so, the combined figures are the lowest for the first Thursday of any Olympics since at least 1992, falling below the previous marks of 11.9 and 19.4 million in 2006. Compared to the same night of the 2016 Summer Olympics, which also included primetime cable and streaming coverage, ratings fell 40% (from 18.9) and viewership 42% (from 33.0M).
Though low for the Olympics, the combined audience was TV’s largest on a Thursday night since the NFL Kickoff Game last September.
Across NBC and NBCSN, viewership peaked at 20.1 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET.
Through Thursday, the Olympics is averaging a combined 12.8 rating and 22.6 million in primetime — down 8% in ratings and 7% in viewership from 2014 (13.7, 24.3M) and the lowest average through the first Thursday since 2006 (12.4, 20.9M). NBC alone is averaging 20.4 million, falling below Turin as the lowest for any Olympics since at least 1992.
For the third time in four nights, Denver led all markets with a 22.0 rating. Salt Lake City was second at a 21.0, followed by Kansas City (18.2), Milwaukee (17.9), Minneapolis-St. Paul (17.6), Austin, Tex. (16.6), Sacramento (16.5), Washington D.C. (16.5), Providence, R.I. (16.4) and Seattle (16.3).
[Thurs. numbers from NBC Sports PR 2.16, ShowBuzz Daily 2.16]
