FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 9th, 2018
NBC OLYMPICS’ LIVE PRIMETIME COVERAGE FROM PYEONGCHANG POSTS BEST THURSDAY NIGHT PRIMETIME AUDIENCE ON ANY NETWORK SINCE SEPTEMBER
Total Audience Delivery Average of 17.2 Million Viewers Provides 8% Lift above NBC Broadcast (Not Including Nielsen “Out of Home” Viewers*)
NBC/NBCSN Viewership Exceeds By 20% Combined Total of Other Broadcast Networks
NBC Sports Digital’s Live Streaming Minutes Quadruples Opening Thursday in Sochi & Tops 14 of 17 Sochi Competition Days
STAMFORD, Conn. – February 9, 2018 – NBC Olympics’ primetime coverage of Thursday’s 2018 PyeongChang Olympics competition posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 17.2 million viewers to rank as the most-watched Thursday night program on any network in five months, according to live plus same day official data released today by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
Thursday night’s presentation was highlighted by the debut of NBC’s first-ever live across all time zones Winter Games coverage, as well as unprecedented live side-by-side Winter Olympics coverage on NBCSN, and live streaming of both networks via NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
Last night’s Total Audience Delivery average of 17.2 million viewers is the best for a Thursday night show on any network since NBC’s NFL Kickoff Game on Sept. 7, 2017 (22.2 million viewers for Chiefs-Patriots). NBC Olympics’ Total Audience Delivery measures broader PyeongChang Olympics consumption by calculating average minute viewing across broadcast, cable, and digital. Viewership includes West Coast primetime.
Viewership on NBC/NBCSN peaked at 19.3 million from 9-9:15 p.m. ET, which featured Nathan Chen’s performance in the figure skating team event. Thursday night’s NBC/NBCSN viewership (17.1 million) exceeded by 20% the combined viewership of ABC, CBS and FOX for the night (14.3 million).
NBC Olympics coverage on NBCSN and NBC Sports Digital lifted primetime viewership by 8% last night (chart below).
Date | Total Audience Delivery | NBC-only viewership | TAD Lift |
Thur. 2/8 | 17.2 million | 16.0 million | 8% |
NBC’s PyeongChang Olympics broadcast last night (8:30-11:15 p.m. ET) – featuring team figure skating, qualifying in the men’s and women’s moguls competitions, and qualifying in men’s ski jumping — averaged 16.0 million viewers and posted a 9.0/16 household rating. Also in primetime last night, NBCSN presented curling, men’s luge, and alpine skiing (training sessions). All coverage was streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.
NBC Sports Digital’s live full-day streaming amassed a total of 28.6 million live stream minutes from 822,000 unique devices across NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports App – up +314% and +139%, respectively, from the same day in Sochi. In addition, NBC Sports Digital’s 28.6 million live streaming minutes exceeded the total of 14 of the 17 competition days in Sochi.
OLYMPIC COMPETITION TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY
Day | PYC 2018 | Sochi 2014** | PYC 2018 | Sochi 2014** |
Opening Thurs. | 17.2 million | 20.0 million | 9.7 rating | 11.3 rating |
**NOTE: The 2014 Sochi Olympics had no simultaneous live streaming and no competing primetime Olympic cable coverage. Both of those platforms are included in Total Audience Delivery for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR NBC/NBCSN THURSDAY PRIMETIME:
1. Salt Lake City | 17.7/33 |
2. Sacramento | 17.2/32 |
3. Seattle | 16.6/31 |
4. San Diego | 16.4/31 |
5. Portland | 15.6/29 |
6. Denver | 15.4/28 |
7. Los Angeles | 15.0/28 |
8. West Palm Beach | 14.2/22 |
9. Pittsburgh | 13.8/22 |
10. Minneapolis | 13.5/25 |
* “Out Of Home” viewers will be available early next week from Nielsen.
ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS
A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s Olympic Games coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032.
— PYEONGCHANG 2018 —