FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014

NBCSN’S SOCHI OLYMPICS COVERAGE CONTINUES RECORD PACE WITH 84% VIEWERSHIP INCREASE FROM 2012 LONDON GAMES

NBC’s Sochi Coverage Most-Dominant February Monday Primetime on Record in Viewership & Adult 18-49 Demo 

NBC’s Winter Olympics Late Night Show Posts Best Viewership for an Opening Monday since 2002 Salt Lake City Games

CNBC’s USA-Norway Men’s Curling Telecast Posts Network’s Best Viewership Ever in Monday Early Evening Time Period

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 11, 2014 – After a record-breaking opening weekend, NBCSN continued its torrid pace with an average of 1.0 million viewers for Monday’s live coverage (6 am-3 pm ET) – up 84% from the network’s opening Monday of the 2012 London Olympics, according to live plus same day official national data released today by The Nielsen Company. NBCSN was also the most-watched cable network from 12 noon-5 p.m. ET yesterday averaging 1.6 million viewers. NBCSN is averaging 1.6 million viewers for all Olympics coverage through three days, a 60% increase over its first three days of 2012 London Games coverage. The 2012 London Olympics were the first aired by NBCSN.

Last night’s coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics on NBC ranks as the most dominant primetime performance ever by a broadcast network on a February Monday in viewership and the Adult 18-49 demo. NBC averaged 22.4 million primetime viewers (P2+) and a 6.5 rating among Adults 18-49 – resulting in respective record advantages of 27% and 35% over the combined primetime totals of ABC, CBS and FOX.

  • NBC’s midnight Late Night show averaged 6.0 million viewers on Monday, ranking as the most-watched Winter Olympics opening Monday late night show since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
  • Last night’s primetime Olympics telecast on NBC (8-11:02 p.m. ET) averaged 22.4 million viewers – up 6% from the last European Winter Olympics (21.1 million for Torino in 2006) and down 11% from the network’s live (ET/CT) coverage of the opening Monday of the 2010 Vancouver Games, which fell on the President’s Day holiday (25.2 million viewers). Last night’s coverage also averaged a 12.8 national household rating/20 share – even with Torino (12.8/19) and down 10% from the live Vancouver coverage (14.2/22).
  • CNBC set an all-time record for its Monday 5-8 p.m. ET time period averaging 1.2 million viewers for the United States-Norway men’s curling match.

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR NBC PRIMETIME COVERAGE:

Market HH rating/share
1. Salt Lake City 21.7/39
2. Minneapolis 19.9/32
3. Denver 19.5/33
4. Milwaukee 18.2/30
5. Austin 16.7/27
6. Okla. City 16.6/23
7. Albuquerque 16.5/25
T8. Chicago 16.2/24
T8. Greensboro 16.2/22
10. Portland 16.0/28

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.

–NBC OLYMPICS–