Team USA took in on the chin in the bronze-medal hockey game on Saturday, but NBCSN still stood atop the podium compared to the corresponding day during the London Games.
Led by 43-year-old Teemu Selanne's (pictured) two goals, Finland’s 5-0 thrashing of the Americans averaged a 1.6 rating/5 share and 2.5 million viewers from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (ET)/7 a.m.-9:30 a.m. (PT), according to Nielsen live + same-day fast national data. Viewership for the United States-Finland game peaked at 3 million in the 11:30 a.m. half hour.
With the hockey game anchoring its live coverage, NBCSN averaged 2.2 million viewers from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (ET) – topping the 1.2 million for the comparable Saturday of the 2012 London Games, and giving the network’s Sochi presentations the advantage for the 15th consecutive time in daytime.
Through 15 days of Sochi Winter Games coverage, NBCSN averaged 1.6 million viewers for the 6 a.m.-3 p.m. ET time period, 127% more than the 716,000 viewers for comparable daytime coverage at the 2012 Summer Games.
For the third consecutive night, NBC’s curated primetime show fell below the corresponding levels from the 2010 and 2006 Winter Games. The Peacock’s penultimate primetime presentation -- featuring the men’s slalom won by Austria’s Mario Matt and the gala skating exhibition -- averaged a 7.8/14 and 13.3 million viewers down from a 9.7/17 and 16.5 million from the 2006 Torino, the last time the Winter Olympics were hosted in Europe, and the 11.7/21 and 20.6 million for the live telecast from Vancouver four years ago.
Nevertheless, NBC's Feb. 22 primetime deliveries more than doubled the combined totals of 7.8/14 and 13.3 million viewers of ABC, CBS and Fox. In addition, last night’s telecast averaged a 2.8 among adults 18 to 49, nearly doubling the combined 1.5 total of the other networks.
