FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

30.1 MILLION AVERAGE VIEWERSHIP ON NBC LAST NIGHT IS BEST FOR SECOND TUESDAY OF ANY NON-U.S. SUMMER OLYMPICS IN 36 YEARS

11th Time in 12 Nights that Primetime Viewership Topped Comparable Nights from the 2008 Beijing Olympics 8 Nights of at Least 30 Million Viewers Tops Total From Entire Beijing Olympics (5) and Athens Olympics (2) Combined 32.8 Million Average Viewership and 18.5 Household Rating for the First 12 Nights of the London Olympics is Most for any Non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 Years London Olympics Pacing Ahead of Beijing and Athens in Every Measurement Salt Lake City Leads All Metered Markets; Kansas City 2nd; Milwaukee 3rd Mountain Time Zone is Highest Rated; Pacific Time Zone

LONDON – August 8, 2012 – Last night’s primetime coverage of the London Olympics on NBC drew an average of 30.1 million viewers, the 11th time in 12 nights that the average viewership for the London Olympics surpassed the Beijing Olympics. This marks the eighth night that the primetime viewership for the London Olympics surpassed 30 million viewers, topping the combined total of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (five nights) and the 2004 Athens Olympics (two nights).

 

Last night’s coverage, which featured Aly Raisman taking the gold medal in the floor exercise, and Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells taking silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s 100m hurdles, drew 30.1 million viewers, the best for the second Tuesday for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

 

  • Last night’s viewership is up 11% from the comparable night at the Beijing Olympics (26.6 million) and up 20% from the comparable night at the Athens Olympics (25.0 million).

 

Last night’s primetime coverage on NBC (8-11:22 p.m. ET/PT) earned a 17.6/29 national rating/share, 8% higher than the comparable night from Beijing (16.3/27), and 12% higher than the comparable night from Athens (15.7/26), the last European Olympics.

 

FIRST 12 NIGHTS IN PRIMETIME – BEST VIEWERSHIP AND HOUSEHOLD RATING FOR NON-U.S. SUMMER GAMES IN 36 YEARS:

Through the first 12 days, the London Olympics has averaged 32.8 million viewers in primetime, and a household rating of 18.5/31, making it the most-watched and highest-rated non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

 

  • The 12-day average primetime viewership of 32.8 million viewers is 3.4 million more viewers than the first 12 nights from Beijing (29.4 million) and 6.7 million more than the first 12 nights from Athens (26.1 million).

 

  • The 12-night average household rating of 18.5/31 is 8% higher than the first 12 nights from Beijing (17.1/29), and 17% higher than the first 12 nights from Athens (15.8/27), the last European Summer Olympics.

 

# # #

 

HIGHEST RATED BY TIME ZONE (THROUGH 12 DAYS):

 

Mountain 21.7/38
Pacific 20.1/38
Central 20.0/34
Eastern 19.0/32

 

 

12-DAY METERED MARKET AVERAGE (ALL 56 METERED MARKETS):

1. Salt Lake City 26.5/47
2. Kansas City 24.3/40
3. Milwaukee 24.2/40
4. Denver 23.9/45
5. Columbus, OH 23.2/38
6. Norfolk 23.1/36
7. Indianapolis 22.5/38
8. San Diego 22.3/39
9. Richmond 22.0/35
10. West Palm Beach 21.9/36
11. Albuquerque-Santa Fe 21.5/36
12. Minneapolis-St. Paul 21.3/40
13. Washington 21.1/38
T14. Austin, TX 21.0/37
T14. Oklahoma City 21.0/34
T14. Portland, OR 21.0/43
17. Sacramento-Stockton 20.9/39
18. Ft. Myers-Naples 20.8/37
19. Atlanta 20.7/34
20. Nashville 20.6/32
21. St. Louis 20.5/34
22. San Francisco 20.4/41
T23. Los Angeles 19.8/36
T23. New Orleans 19.8/29
25. Chicago 19.7/35
T26. Phoenix 19.6/33
T26. Tulsa 19.6/31
28. Jacksonville 19.5/31
29. Cleveland 19.3/33
T30. Greensboro-High Point 19.2/31
T30. Knoxville 19.2/31
32. New York 19.1/32
T33. Baltimore 18.9/31
T33. Seattle-Tacoma 18.9/38
T35. Louisville 18.8/31
T35. Philadelphia 18.8/31
T37. Dallas-Ft. Worth 18.7/33
T37. Orlando-Daytona Beach 18.7/33
T39. Cincinnati 18.6/31
T39. Pittsburgh 18.6/32
41. Detroit 18.5/31
42. San Antonio 18.4/29
43. Memphis 18.3/28
44. Houston 18.1/31
45. Boston 18.0/34
46. Buffalo 17.7/31
T47. Birmingham 17.6/26
T47. Las Vegas 17.6/30
T49. Greenville-Spartanburg 17.5/28
T49. Hartford-New Haven 17.5/30
51. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 17.0/28
T52. Providence-New Bedford, RI 16.8/29
T52. Tampa-St. Petersburg 16.8/30
54. Dayton 16.6/27
55. Raleigh-Durham 16.0/26
56. Charlotte 14.6/26
   

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–