NBC Sees Big Monday Night Audience Gain With Help Of U.S. Ice Dancing Win

Meryl Davis and Charlie White's dance to Gold helped NBC draw a 13.8 rating and 23.5 million viewers Monday night, marking the best Winter Games audience for the second Monday since the ’02 Salt Lake City Games. Monday’s audience also marked the third time during the Sochi Games that NBC’s primetime audience has topped the comparable night from Vancouver four years ago. In addition to the ice dancing free skate program, the broadcast included the Gold Medal finals for men’s snowboard cross, men’s aerials and the two-man bobsled -- an event that saw the U.S. team win its first medal in 62 years. Monday’s 13.8 rating was up 10% from the same night in ’10 and up 1% from ’06. Meanwhile, NBCSN set another audience record for the 6:00am-3:00pm ET window on Monday, which included live coverage of Davis and White's winning performance. The net has averaged 1.6 million viewers in the window, giving NBCSN six of its most-viewed weekday windows ever (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

NORTH COUNTRY: Minneapolis-St. Paul continues to lead all U.S. markets for NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage. The market is averaging a 20.6 local rating through Monday’s telecast, ahead of the 20.0 rating for Salt Lake City. Rounding out the top five are Denver (19.1), Milwaukee (18.3) and K.C. (17.7). The Twin Cities have led all markets on eight of the 11 nights to date (including a tie with Salt Lake City on Feb. 14). Salt Lake City has led three times, while K.C. has led once.

CHART NOTE: * = Tied for first place.

SIGN OF THE TIMES? The AP's David Bauder writes it is "interesting" that NBC last night opened its primetime telecast "with coverage of women's bobsled when the network aired the exact same segment in the afternoon." It shows that the "fear of audience cannibalization is becoming a thing of the past." NBC seems "no longer worried that showing something during the day will cause a significant number of viewers to tune away at night, essentially concluding that they are two different audiences" (AP, 2/19).

PRIMED TO SHINE: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir examines NBC's two different figure skating broadcast teams and notes the primetime crew of Tom Hammond, Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic and Tracy Wilson and NBCSN's Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir "work in different perches, far away from each other, at the Iceberg Skating Palace." The "textures of the two productions are distinct." The NBCSN version by design is "plainer because it uses the broadcasting feed transmitted worldwide" by the IOC. NBC meanwhile "mixes its cameras with the world feeds, and stitches together a fairy tale with features and cuts to backstage scenes." NBCSN’s crew calls "every skater, every pair and every dance team," while NBC’s team "calls a sampling." However, with a "continuous flow on NBCSN, Weir and Lipinski have more time to tell stories, often about skaters who never show up on NBC." Hamilton, asked if he wanted to call every skating routine, said with a laugh, “I’m not sure I’d want to work that hard.” Weir admits that his "skater-after-skater-after-skater schedule has been exhausting." But Hamilton said, "Johnny and Tara have brought a new and fun energy with them. They’ve bonded. They’re of one mind." Sandomir notes it is "possible that Weir and Lipinski will move into prime time" for the '18 Pyeongchang Games, but NBC execs "declined to speculate" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/19).

ROOKIES OF THE YEAR: The praise for Lipinski and Weir continues to pour in, and NBC Olympics Exec Producer Jim Bell said, "I can't recall rookie announcers ever making this kind of immediate impact on such a big stage" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/19). In S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes Lipinski and Weir have "been doing sensational work throughout the Games and should be in the prime-time slot" ahead of Hamilton and Bezic (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/19). In L.A., Bill Plaschke notes social media is "filled with cries for NBC to move Weir's team into the starting lineup." The ratings "bolster their perceptions, as a recent six-weekday stretch during the Olympics contained the six most watched daytime shows in NBCSN's short history" (L.A. TIMES, 2/19). Lipinski said of commentating, "I would definitely love to continue this career because you're still part of your sport but without all the pressure" ("ET," 2/18).

KEEPING EMOTIONS IN CHECK: The S.F. CHRONICLE's Jenkins writes the criticism of Christin Cooper's interview with U.S. skier Bode Miller "went too far." Cooper made "just one mistake, barging in with a follow-up question when Miller clearly was losing his composure." She should have "remained silent while Miller, crushed at the memory of his brother's death, revealed an emotional side most of his fans had not seen." But Cooper -- who has "a ton of credibility as a former Olympic skier -- was correct in steering the interview in that direction." Any seasoned reporter "would have done the same" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/19). In Salt Lake City, Kurt Kragthorpe writes Cooper "clearly went too far and probed too much." Yet the athlete "often is the one setting this agenda." Kragthorpe notes U.S. freeskier Joss Christensen won a Gold Medal while "carrying a photo of his father, JD, who died in August." He said afterward, "I hope I made my father proud. ... I did it for him." Kragthorpe: "So how could that not be part of the story?" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 2/19).

RATINGS UPDATE FROM CANADA: The CP's Michael Oliveira reported Canada's 2-1 OT win over Finland in men's hockey and the ice dancing short program, highlighted by Canadian pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir defending their Vancouver Gold Medal against U.S. rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White, "helped convince 23.5 million Canadians to tune into Olympic coverage Sunday." That set a "high for the Sochi Games" to date. The Canada-Finland game had an "average audience of 5.1 million viewers, while 12 million caught at least part of the action." Viewership peaked at 7.65 million people when D Drew Doughty "scored in overtime." Meanwhile, up to 4.7 million people watched part of the ice dancing telecast, with 1.77 million "tuned in as Davis and White received their world-record score to head into the free skate portion" (CP, 2/18).

WHERE IN THE WORLD...: IOC officials said that the global broadcast output for the Sochi Games "is almost double" that of Vancouver "in terms of hours and channels." IOC Managing Dir of Television & Marketing Services Timo Lumme said that "more than 102,000 hours were broadcast globally across 464 channels and digital platforms compared to 57,000 hours from 240 broadcasters in 2010." He added that "over half of the United States population had watched some of the Games, three quarters of Russians tuned in to their home Olympics while over 90 percent of Canadians switched on for the action in Russia along with 190 million Chinese viewers" (REUTERS, 2/19).