FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, July 29th, 2012

NBC AIRS MOST-WATCHED SUMMER GAMES OPENING CEREMONY ON RECORD

40.7 Million Average Viewers Tops Atlanta Opening Ceremony; Nearly 6 Million More than Beijing; and 15 Million More than Athens, the Last European Olympics 21.0/37 National Rating 12% Higher than Beijing and 44% Higher than Athens; is Best for Any Non-U.S. Summer Olympics Ever Highest-Rated Friday Night on Any Network in a Decade

LONDON – July 28, 2012 – In the more than 50 years of televised Olympics, NBC’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics (8 p.m. – 12:02 a.m. ET/PT)  is the MOST-WATCHED for a Summer Games on record with 40.7 million average viewers, topping the Atlanta Games (39.8 million). Last night’s viewership is nearly six million more than the 2008 Beijing Olympics (34.9 million) and 15 million more than the 2004 Athens Olympics (25.4 million), the last European Olympics.

NBC SPORTS GROUP CHAIRMAN MARK LAZARUS: “This audience number for the London Opening Ceremony is a great early sign that our strategy of driving people to watch NBC in primetime is working. We look forward to the next 16 nights of compelling Olympic competition.”

The Opening Ceremony on NBC earned a 21.0/37 national rating/share, the best for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics ever, and the second best for a non-U.S. Games (Summer or Winter) in 36 years – since Innsbruck in 1976 (23.2/37).

  • Last night’s Opening Ceremony national rating of 21.0/37 is 12 percent higher than Beijing in 2008 (18.8/34) and 44 percent higher than Athens in 2004 (14.6/27).
  • The 21.7 rating for last night was the highest-rated Friday night on any network since the Opening Ceremony of the Salt Lake City Games (25.2 on Feb. 8, 2002).

OPENING CEREMONY AVERAGE VIEWERS (ALL SUMMER GAMES ON RECORD):

1. London – 2012 40.7 Million NBC
2. Atlanta – 1996 39.8 Million NBC
3. Beijing – 2008 34.9 Million NBC
4. Sydney – 2000 27.3 Million NBC
5. Athens – 2004 25.4 Million NBC
6. Seoul – 1988 22.7 Million NBC
7. Barcelona – 1992 21.6 Million NBC

 

  

 

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY NATIONAL RATING (SUMMER GAMES)

1. London – 2012              21.0/37 NBC
2. Beijing – 2008 18.8/34 NBC
3. Rome – 1960 18.1/36 CBS
4. Sydney – 2000 16.2/29 NBC
5. Seoul – 1988 15.2/29 NBC
6. Athens – 2004 14.6/27 NBC
7. Barcelona – 1992 13.8/29 NBC
8. Montreal – 1976 11.1/39 ABC
9. Mexico City – 1968 8.8/34 ABC
10. Munich – 1972 6.5/28 ABC
11. Tokyo – 1964 5.6/14  ABC

 

 

TOP 20 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:

1. San Diego 27.8/49
T2. Washington D.C. 26.8/48
T2. West Palm Beach 26.8/48
4. Salt Lake City 26.6/50
5. Denver 26.4/51
6. Norfolk 26.3/42
7. Sacramento 25.4/47
T8. Kansas City 25.0/44
T8. Richmond 25.0/41
10. Columbus 24.9/43
T11. Boston 24.8/45
T11. Indianapolis 24.8/45
13. Seattle 24.4/48
14. Los Angeles 24.2/44
15. Atlanta 24.1/39
T16. Philadelphia 24.0/40
T16. Jacksonville 24.0/39
T18. Austin 23.9/44
T18. Ft. Myers 23.9/43
20. Portland 23.8/48

 

Jim Bell served as executive producer of NBC’s Opening Ceremony coverage; Bucky Gunts, director; Molly Solomon and Joe Gesue producers.

NBCUniversal, presenting its 13th Olympics, the most by any U.S. media company, will make an unprecedented 5,535 hours of the 2012 London Olympics coverage available across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform, an unprecedented level that surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours.

For the full schedule of NBCUniversal’s Olympic coverage, please go to: NBCOlympics.com

For press information, bios, photos and releases, please go to: NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com

–NBC OLYMPICS–