NBC is averaging a 14.6/26 national Nielsen rating
through its first nine days of Olympic coverage, down 35%
from Atlanta's 22.3/42 in '96, down 22% from Barcelona's
eight-day average of an 18.6/36 in '92 and down 18% from
Seoul's 17.8/32 in '88. Saturday night's primetime
coverage, from 8:00-11:00pm ET, averaged a 13.6/24, which
was more than double the household performance of ABC and
Fox and triple CBS' primetime lineup. NBC's complete
Saturday night coverage, from 7:30pm-12:00am ET, averaged a
13.5/25, up 3% from the previous Saturday's 13.1/25. Friday
night's total coverage, from 7:30pm-12:00am ET, earned a
15.0/27, while Friday's primetime coverage, from 8:00-
11:00pm ET, averaged a 15.8/28, outperforming the combined
competition by 21%. Thursday night's five-hour coverage,
from 7:00pm-12:00am ET, earned a 14.9/26, while the
primetime coverage, from 8:00-11:00pm ET, averaged a
16.8/26, up 47% over the network's average rating for its
Thursday night programming. NBC reports that through the
first nine days, 158 million unique viewers have watched
some or part of its coverage from Sydney (NBC). A weeklong
survey by Initiative Media Olympics of 1,871 "self-selected
respondents" found that 95% "tuned in to at least some of
NBC's Olympics programming in prime time," but viewers are
spending less time watching. USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke: "Most
of those tuned in are watching NBC's five-hour show for only
two hours or less." The survey reported that 57% of
respondents watched for two hours or less, more than half of
those watching (54%) are women, and of those watching, 55%
are under 40 and another 25% are 40-49 (USA TODAY, 9/25).
