FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, August 12th, 2012

THROUGH 16 DAYS, 31.1 MILLION AVERAGE PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP FOR LONDON OLYMPICS ON NBC IS BEST FOR NON-U.S. SUMMER OLYMPICS IN 36 YEARS

31.1 Million Average Viewership Through Saturday Tops Beijing by 12% and Athens by 25%

21.8 Million Average Viewership in Primetime Last Night Topped Comparable Night From Beijing by 30%

15th Time in 16 Nights that Primetime Viewership Topped Comparable Nights from the 2008 Beijing Olympics

LONDON – August 12, 2012 – Through 16 days, the London Olympics has averaged 31.1 million viewers in primetime, making it the most-watched non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the Montreal Olympics in 1976.· The 16-day average primetime viewership of 31.1 million is up 12% from the first 16 nights from the 2008 Beijing Olympics (27.7 million) and up 25% from the first 16 nights from the 2004 Athens Olympics (24.9 million).· The 16-night average household rating of 17.6/30 is 9% higher than the first 16 nights from Beijing (16.2/28), and 16% higher than the first 16 nights from Athens (15.2/27), the last European Summer Olympics.

Last night’s primetime coverage of the London Olympics on NBC drew an average of 21.8 million viewers, the most-watched final Saturday of competition for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since 1988 (Seoul). Last night marked the 15th time in 16 nights that the average viewership for the London Olympics surpassed the Beijing Olympics.

Last night’s average viewership of 21.8 million topped the comparable night from the Beijing Olympics by 30% (16.8 million) and the Athens Olympics by 21% (18.0 million).

· The 30% margin over Beijing last night marked the biggest viewership advantage for of any night of the London Olympics vs. Beijing.

Last night’s primetime coverage on NBC (9-11:25 p.m. ET/PT) earned a 12.6/23 national rating/share, the highest-rated final Saturday night of competition for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since 1992 (Barcelona). The 12.6 rating is 22% higher than the comparable night from Beijing (10.3/19), and 14% higher than the comparable night from Athens (11.1/21), the last European Olympics.

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

1. Salt Lake City 25.1/45
2. Kansas City 22.6/38
3. Milwaukee 22.3/37
4. Denver 22.2/42
5. Columbus OH 22.0/37
6. Norfolk 21.3/33
7. Indianapolis 21.0/36
8. San Diego 20.9/37
T9. West Palm Beach 20.6/34
T9. Richmond 20.6/33
11. Albuquerque-Santa Fe 20.4/34
12. Portland, OR 20.2/42
T13. Minneapolis-St. Paul 19.9/38
T13. Oklahoma City 19.9/32
T15. Atlanta 19.7/32
T15. Washington 19.7/36
T15. Sacramento-Stockton 19.7/37
T15. Austin, TX 19.7/35
T19. San Francisco 19.5/39
T19. Nashville 19.5/31
21. Ft. Myers-Naples 19.4/35
22. St. Louis 19.0/32
23. Los Angeles 18.8/35
24. New Orleans 18.6/27
T25. Greensboro-High Point 18.4/29
T25. Tulsa 18.4/29
27. Knoxville 18.3/29
T28. Chicago 18.2/32
T28. Phoenix 18.2/31
T28. Cleveland 18.2/31
T31. New York 18.1/31
T31. Jacksonville 18.1/29
33. Louisville 18.0/30
34. Seattle-Tacoma 17.9/36
35. Orlando-Daytona Beach 17.8/31
36. Cincinnati 17.7/30
37. Philadelphia 17.5/29
38. Dallas-Ft. Worth 17.4/31
T39. San Antonio 17.3/27
T39. Memphis 17.3/27
T41. Detroit 17.2/29
T41. Baltimore 17.2/28
43. Pittsburgh 17.0/30
T44. Boston 16.7/31
T44. Houston 16.7/29
T44. Birmingham, Alabama 16.7/25
T47. Hartford-New Haven 16.6/28
T47. Las Vegas 16.6/29
T47. Buffalo 16.6/29
48. Greenville-Spartanburg 16.4/26
51. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 16.1/27
52. Tampa-St. Petersburg 15.8/29
T53. Providence-New Bedford, RI 15.7/27
T53. Dayton 15.7/26
55. Raleigh-Durham 15.0/25
56. Charlotte 14.0/25

HIGHEST RATED BY TIME ZONE (THROUGH 16 DAYS):

Mountain 20.3/36
Pacific 19.0/36
Central 18.6/32
Eastern 17.8/30

–NBC OLYMPICS–