Olympic Overnight Ratings Down a Tick From Sochi

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NBCUniversal’s primetime broadcast and cable coverage of the Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, South Korea, on Wednesday generated overnight ratings slightly lower than the same night four years ago when the Winter Games took place in Sochi, Russia.

The Olympics had a 13.1 household rating and 22 share, down from a 13.2/21 in 2014, but nearly double the combined ratings of ABC, CBS and Fox. NBC notes that unlike entertainment programming ratings that have dropped dramatically over the past four years, the Olympics numbers are holding up and dominating in prime time.

The overnight numbers do not include digital and streaming viewing. More data on total viewers and streaming will be available later today.

NBC said the ratings peaked from 9:30 to 9:45 p.m. ET, when men’s alpine skiing was on NBC and pairs figure skating was on NBCSN.

Local markets with the highest ratings were Denver, 20.7; Minneapolis, 18.4; Salt Lake City, 18.3; Seattle, 17.3 and Milwaukee, 16.6.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.