According to a source familiar with the ratings numbers, Hispanic viewers in New York, the nation’s top market, were not flocking to Olympic coverage, which was racking up ratings gold for NBC generally.
During the daytime Olympic broadcasts on NBC-owned Spanish-language Telemundo affiliate WNJU (Aug. 11-24), the viewer average was 20,000, down 44% from viewership to regular programming for the same period in 2007. By contrast, viewership to Spanish-language programming on WXTV, the Univision station there, averaged 110,000, up 12% from the same period a year ago.
That's according to Nielsen Local People Meter data.
It was the same story in the key 18-49 demo. WNJU drew 9,000 viewers for its daytime Olympics coverage over the same period (it did not air Olympics in prime time), down that same 44% from the year before, while WXTV drew 56,000 Hispanic viewers to its regular daytime programming, up 17% from the previous year.
