August 03, 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS POST 7TH STRAIGHT NIGHT OF VIEWERSHIP AND RATINGS GAINS OVER 2008 BEIJING GAMES 36.8 Million Viewers Last Night is 5th Straight Night of London Olympics with More than 30 Million Viewers, and 6th in 7 Nights Viewership is Most for the First Thursday for any Non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 Years 35.1 Million Average Viewers and a 19.5/33 Household Rating for the First 7 Nights of the London Olympics is Most for any Non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 Years Last Night’s Broadcast was Most-Watched Thursday Telecast on ANY Network Since Series Finale of Friends in 2004 21.1 Household Rating is Third Night of London Olympics with a 21 Household Rating or Better; Tops First Thursday Night from Both Beijing and Athens 7.5 Million Watch NBC’s Daytime Show; 7.3 Million Tune in to Late Night
		Download WEB | HIGH | CART
		| Share

LONDON – August 3, 2012 – Each night of the 2012 London Olympics to date have drawn higher viewership and household ratings than the first seven nights of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics, the last European Summer Olympics, according to official national data provided by The Nielsen Company.

Last night’s coverage, which featured Gabby Douglas winning the gold medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around and Michael Phelps outdueling Ryan Lochte in the 200m IM to earn his record 20^th career Olympic medal, drew 36.8 million viewers, the most-watched first Thursday of any non-U.S. Summer Olympics in 36 years (Montreal 1976).

· The average viewership of 36.8 million is 7.1 million (+24%) more than the first Thursday of the Beijing Olympics (29.7 million viewers), and 5.1 million (+16%) more than the first Thursday of the Athens Olympics (31.7 million viewers).

· To date, six nights of the London Olympics have drawn more than 30 million viewers, more than the entire Beijing (5) or Athens (2) Olympics.

· Last night’s Olympic broadcast was the most-watched Thursday telecast on ANY network since the Friends series finale on May 6, 2004.

Through the first Thursday of the London Olympics, NBC is averaging 35.1 million viewers, the most of any non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The 35.1 million is 4.5 million more viewers than Beijing (30.6 million) and 8.1 million more than Athens (27.0 million).

Last night’s primetime coverage on NBC (8-Midnight ET/PT) earned a 21.1/36 national rating/share, 18 percent higher than the first Thursday night of the Beijing Olympics (17.9/31), and nine percent higher than the first Thursday night in Athens in 2004 (19.3/32), the last European Summer Olympics.

• The seven-night average household rating of 19.5/33 is the highest for any non-U.S. Summer Olympics through the first Thursday since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The average rating is 10 percent higher than Beijing (17.7/30) and 20 percent higher than Athens (16.2/28).

• NBC’s daytime coverage yesterday drew and average 7.5 million viewers and a household rating/share of 5.2/15 (10 a.m.-5p.m. ET/PT). There is no direct comparison to any past Olympics.
  • For Beijing, the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. ET/PT daytime program on the comparable drew an average of 5.3 million viewers and had a household rating/share of 3.9/13.
  • In Athens, the 12:30-4 p.m. ET/PT program drew an average of 4.7 million viewers and had a household rating/share of 3.5/11.

• The late night program (12:35-1:18 a.m. ET/PT) drew 7.3 million viewers, 49% higher than the comparable night in Beijing (4.9 million). The household rating of 5.0/16 is 35% higher than the same night in Beijing (3.7/17).
  • Through six nights, the late night program is averaging 6.9 million viewers, up 34% from Beijing (5.1 million) and up 32% from Athens (5.2 million)