FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 23rd, 2018

NBC TOPS OTHER BROADCAST NETWORKS COMBINED IN PRIMETIME FOR 32ND CONSECUTIVE OLYMPIC NIGHT

NBC Has Won 424 Consecutive Half Hours of Primetime on Olympic Nights

 1.69 Billion Live Streaming Minutes for NBC Sports Digital — Quadruples Sochi Streaming With 3 Days to Go

 

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 23, 2018 – NBC’s Thursday primetime PyeongChang Olympic telecast was by far the most watched show of the night – marking the 32nd consecutive night that an NBC Olympics presentation has outperformed the combined primetime performance of the other broadcast networks, according to fast national live plus same day data from Nielsen.

In addition, NBC has won 424 consecutive half hours of primetime on Olympic nights, dating back to Day 13 of the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Thursday night’s NBC/NBCSN average of 17.4 million viewers delivered a 67% advantage over the combined 10.4 million primetime viewers for ABC, CBS and FOX, while the NBC-only 15.2 million viewers in the 8:30-11 p.m. ET primetime window topped by 46% the other broadcast networks.

 

NBC SPORTS DIGITAL QUADRUPLES SOCHI STREAMING WITH 3 DAYS TO GO

NBC Sports Digital has streamed 1.69 billion live minutes of the PyeongChang Olympics – quadrupling the full 2014 Sochi Games (420 million) with three days remaining, according to data from Adobe Analytics. In addition, NBC Sports Digital has delivered 13.9 million uniques for live content – more than double this point in the Sochi Olympics (6.3 million).

 

NOTABLE…

  • Last night’s NBC/NBCSN viewership peaked at 18.8 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET, for the women’s free skate.

 

  • Last night’s Total Audience Delivery provided an increase of 16% over the NBC broadcast viewership (TAD chart below) – marking the 13th consecutive night of double-digit TAD lift. NBC Olympics’ Total Audience Delivery measures broader consumption by calculating average minute viewing across broadcast, cable, and digital. NBC Sports Digital delivered an average minute audience of 148,000 for Thursday night’s coverage.

 

  • NBC’s PyeongChang Olympics primetime broadcast last night (8:30-11:15 p.m. ET) averaged 15.2 million viewers and posted a 9.0/16 household rating. Viewership includes the West Coast primetime encore.

 

PRIMETIME TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY FOR PYEONGCHANG OLYMPICS

Date Total Audience Delivery NBC-only viewership TAD Lift
Thur. 2/8 17.2 million 16.0 million 8%
Fri. 2/9* 28.3 million 27.8 million 2%
Sat. 2/10 24.2 million 21.4 million 13%
Sun. 2/11 26.0 million 22.7 million 15%
Mon. 2/12 22.3 million 20.3 million 10%
Tues. 2/13 22.6 million 20.5 million 10%
Wed. 2/14 19.2 million 17.0 million 13%
Thur. 2/15 19.3 million 16.2 million 19%
Fri. 2/16 19.2 million 16.6 million 16%
Sat. 2/17 16.1 million 14.5 million 11%
Sun. 2/18 18.2 million 16.3 million 12%
Mon. 2/19 18.6 million 16.3 million 14%
Tues. 2/20 20.5 million 17.5 million 17%
Wed. 2/21 16.4 million 14.1 million 16%
Thur. 2/22 17.6 million 15.2 million 16%
Average 20.6 million 18.3 million 13%

*Opening Ceremony (no competition & no NBCSN side-by-side coverage)

 

WINTER OLYMPICS PRIMETIME TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY

  PYC 2018 Sochi 2014** PYC 2018 Sochi 2014**
Day Viewership Viewership HH Rating HH Rating
Opening Thur. 17.2 million 20.0 million 9.7 rating 11.3 rating
First Fri.* 28.3 million 31.7 million 14.9 rating 17.0 rating
First Sat. 24.2 million 25.1 million 13.1 rating 13.9 rating
First Sun. 26.0 million 26.3 million 14.2 rating 14.4 rating
First Mon. 22.3 million 22.4 million 12.7 rating 12.8 rating
First Tues. 22.6 million 23.7 million 13.0 rating 13.7 rating
First Wed. 19.2 million 20.8 million 11.2 rating 12.1 rating
Mid. Thur. 19.3 million 22.9 million 11.4 rating 13.4 rating
Mid. Fri. 19.2 million 19.2 million 10.9 rating 11.0 rating
Mid. Sat. 16.1 million 17.1 million 9.0 rating 9.6 rating
Mid. Sun. 18.2 million 21.3 million 10.2 rating 12.1 rating
2nd Mon. 18.6 million 23.5 million 10.9 rating 13.8 rating
2nd Tues. 20.5 million 18.9 million 12.1 rating 11.2 rating
2nd Wed. 16.4 million 20.2 million 9.7 rating 12.2 rating
Final Thur. 17.6 million 20.3 million 10.4 rating 12.2 rating
Average 20.6 million 22.4 million 11.7 rating 12.8 rating

*Opening Ceremony (no competition & no NBCSN side-by-side coverage)

**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 18.8/35
2. Kansas City 17.6/28
3. Minneapolis 17.3/31
T4. Austin 16.1/30
T4. Denver 16.1/30
6. Buffalo 15.7/25
7. Sacramento 15.0/26
8. Washington, D.C. 14.9/27
9. San Diego 14.3/27
T10. Milwaukee 14.2/24
T10. Richmond 14.2/22

Local metered market data represents NBC/NBCSN in primetime and includes the NBC West Coast encore and excludes sustainers.

 

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 —