FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 19th, 2014

USA-CZECH REPUBLIC OLYMPIC MEN’S HOCKEY QUARTERFINAL IS MOST-STREAMED OLYMPIC EVENT & SECOND-MOST STREAMED SPORTS EVENT IN “NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA” HISTORY

Soup, Sandwich & Streaming: NBCOlympics.com Live Lunchtime & Breakfast Big Event Streaming Continues Thursday with U.S.-Canada Women’s Gold Medal Hockey Game & Ladies’ Figure Skating Free Program Plus U.S.-Canada Men’s Hockey Semifinal on Friday

NBCOlympics.com Surpasses Winter Games Record 1 Billion+ Page Views for Sochi Olympics to Date

7 FOR 7 – NBCSN’s 7 Weekdays of Sochi Coverage Rank as 7 Most-Watched Weekdays in Daytime in Net’s History

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 19, 2014 – Wednesday’s “TV Everywhere” authenticated live stream of the men’s ice hockey quarterfinal game between the United States and the Czech Republic, which Team USA won 5-2, generated nearly 800,000 unique users (798,337) the most for any Olympics event in NBC Sports Live Extra history and trailing only the non-authenticated Super Bowl XLVI (2.1 million uniques) for NBC Sports Group’s most-streamed sports event overall. The previous Olympic record was 682,806 uniques for the U.S.-Japan women’s soccer final at the 2012 London Games. Interest in the U.S.-Czech Republic hockey game was such that some schools in the U.S. showed the NBCOlympics.com stream of the game as part of “Indoor Recess” for students.

In addition, 24.1 million minutes of Wednesday’s hockey game were streamed – topping by nearly 10 million minutes the second-most streamed event of the Sochi Games.

Following are the most streamed events of the Sochi Games (minutes consumed):

  1. USA vs. Czech Republic men’s hockey (Feb. 19) – 24.1 million minutes
  2. USA vs. Russia men’s hockey (Feb. 14) — 14.8 million minutes
  3. Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe (Feb. 11) – 12.2 million minutes

For the Sochi Winter Olympics to date, NBCOlympics.com has surpassed one billion page views (1,082,471,635), a record for a Winter Games. In addition, more than 19 million unique users have consumed video (including live streams, exclusive highlights and features),  up 181% from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and up 5% from the 2012 London Games — a Summer Olympics which had more events and thus significantly more content.

NBCOlympics.com will continue to live stream events with wide interest over the next few weekdays – at lunchtime for many Americans – beginning Thursday with the U.S.-Canada women’s gold medal hockey game at Noon ET and the ladies’ figure skating free skate competition throughout the late morning and early afternoon.  Then, on Friday at Noon ET, NBCOlympics.com live streams the bandwidth-bending U.S.-Canada men’s hockey semifinal.

Following are television highlights for Tuesday:

  • NBCSN posted 778,000 average viewers for Tuesday’s daytime (6 a.m.-3 p.m. ET) coverage — up 41% from the comparable Tuesday of the 2012 London Games (553,000).  To date, NBCSN has presented 7 weekdays of live Sochi Olympics coverage which account for the 7 most-watched weekday daytimes (6 AM-3 PM) in NBCSN history.
  • Last night’s primetime Olympics on NBC (8:30-11 p.m. ET) averaged 18.9 million viewers and an 11.2 household rating/18 share. The comparable Tuesdays for the past two Winter Olympics both featured the ladies’ figure skating short program (this year’s ladies’ short program airs tonight at 8 pm ET on NBC) and averaged 21.3 million viewers with a 12.6 household rating/20 share for the 2010 Vancouver Games and 25.1 million viewers with a 15.5 household rating/23 share for the 2006 Torino Games.  The second Tuesday in Torino also included speed skating medals for Americans Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick.

 

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR TUESDAY’S NBC PRIMETIME COVERAGE:

 

Market HH rating/share
1. Salt Lake City 20.0/37
2. Minneapolis 17.8/31
3. Denver 16.7/28
4. Kansas City 15.9/25
5. Okla. City 15.8/24
6. Milwaukee 15.6/26
7. Albuquerque 15.1/23
T8. Pittsburgh 14.9/22
T8. Indianapolis 14.9/26
T8. Ft. Myers 14.9/23

 

ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS

A division of the NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s Olympic coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history.

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