Olympics Post Big Weekend Numbers

Zap2It.com | August 11, 2008

U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson

NBC gets big boost over '04 Games, rules Sunday

Fast National ratings for Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008

The opening days of the 2008 Summer Olympics have been big ratings winners for NBC, with Sunday's prime-time session continuing the trend.

NBC averaged an 18.3 rating/31 share for the night, beating the combined total of the other four networks. The record will show that CBS finished second, way, way back at 3.6/6. ABC, 2.5/4, took third, followed by FOX, 1.6/3, and The CW, 0.5/1.

NBC's adults 18-49 rating was 11.0 for the night, again blowing away the rest of the field. CBS averaged 1.3 to top the also-rans, beating out ABC's 1.1 and FOX's 1.0. The CW hardly registered.

Coverage of the Olympics from Beijing drew a 13.9/26 for NBC at 7 p.m. CBS' "60 Minutes" earned a 4.4/8 to finish second. "America's Funniest Home Videos," 2.7/5, put ABC in third. A pair of "'Til Death" reruns gave FOX fourth for the hour, beating "One Tree Hill" on The CW.

The Olympics, with heavy emphasis on gymnastics and swimming, improved to 18.8/32 at 8 p.m. CBS stayed in second as "Big Brother 10" delivered a 4.1/7. A repeat of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," 2.4/4, on ABC edged " The Simpsons," 2.0/3, and "Family Guy," 2.2/4, on FOX. The CW aired reruns of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Aliens in America."

NBC's coverage peaked at 9 p.m. with a 20.6/32, drawing better than 37 million viewers for the hour. ABC's "EM: Home Edition" and CBS' "Million Dollar Password" tied for second at 3.1/5. " Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" posted a 1.6/3 for FOX. "The Game" and "Girlfriends" finished the night for The CW.

At 10 p.m., the Olympics dipped slightly to 20.0/33. "Cold Case," 2.7/4, kept CBS in front of ABC and " Desperate Housewives," 1.8/3.

Friday's opening ceremonies, the most-watched ever for a non-U.S. Olympics, and Saturday's coverage also drew big ratings. Through the first three nights of the Games, NBC's prime-time average is up about 6 million viewers compared to the 2004 Games.

Ratings information is taken from fast national data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.