NBC on Wednesday night drew a 12.3 rating (20.7 million viewers) for Rio Olympic coverage, marking the lowest-rated night of midweek Summer Games coverage in at least 20 years. Coverage Wednesday was highlighted by the U.S. taking Bronze in women's beach volleyball and live women's track & field. That figure is the lowest-rated night of the Rio Games since the first Saturday (11.4 rating) and down 27% from the comparable night four years ago in London. Salt Lake City and Denver kept their respective No. 1 and No. 2 spots on Wednesday night -- Salt Lake City drew an 18.4 local rating, while Denver drew a 17.8. Including NBC's Total Audience Delivery, Wednesday night saw a 7% bump to a 13.3 rating (22.1 million viewers). Through 13 nights of Rio coverage, NBC is averaging a 15.0 rating (26.7 million viewers), which remains the net's lowest figure since the '00 Sydney Games. NBC also is averaging a 7.7 rating among adults 18-49 over 13 nights, which is 353% above the combined number for ABC, CBS and Fox during that period. That gap is the biggest advantage on record for NBC during its coverage of the Summer Games. Meanwhile, Golf Channel on Wednesday began the women's Olympic competition, averaging 217,000 viewers from 12:00-3:54pm ET. That figure marks the second-best viewership for an opening round of a women's golf event this year to date, behind only 240,000 viewers for the LPGA ANA Inspiration on March 31, which aired in primetime. The rating for the opening round at both events was the same (0.2) (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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PRIMETIME SUMMER OLYMPIC RATINGS FOR NBC
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DAY
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RIO
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LONDON
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BEIJING
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ATHENS
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SYDNEY
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ATLANTA
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Opening Ceremony
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Fri.
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13.9
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21.0
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18.8
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14.6
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16.2
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23.6
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Night 2
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Sat.
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11.4
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15.8
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13.9
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11.8
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13.1
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17.2
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Night 3
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Sun.
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16.1
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19.8
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18.1
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15.4
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14.6
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22.9
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Night 4
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Mon.
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16.4
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18.0
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17.6
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16.6
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13.8
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22.9
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Night 5
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Tues.
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18.9
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21.8
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20.0
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18.3
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15.5
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27.2
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Night 6
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Wed.
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15.1
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17.9
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16.7
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17.3
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14.6
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22.4
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Night 7
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Thurs.
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17.8
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21.1
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17.9
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19.3
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14.9
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26.8
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Night 8
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Fri.
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13.7
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16.2
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15.2
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14.4
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14.9
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17.9
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Night 9
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Sat.
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14.2
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15.9
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17.6
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13.6
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13.3
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19.4
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Night 10
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Sun.
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14.9
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17.5
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16.0
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15.8
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16.0
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23.4
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Night 11
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Mon.
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14.1
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15.8
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15.8
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16.4
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15.8
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26.4
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Night 12
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Tues.
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14.3
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17.6
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16.3
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15.7
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12.4
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21.3
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Night 13
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Wed.
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12.3
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16.8
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15.2
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15.3
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13.9
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19.8
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13-Night Avg.
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15.0
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18.3
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16.9
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15.8
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14.5
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22.5
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STRAIGHT TO IT: The AP's David Bauder noted it was "wise of NBC to lead its night with an update" on the
U.S. swimmers controversy (
AP, 8/18). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth wrote as NBC's Wednesday night primetime coverage began, viewers could "easily read the smirk developing on the faces of NBC's Bob Costas and Matt Lauer, interviewing each other, as they tried to credibly report" on what was then known about the four U.S. swimmers "sticking to their stories about being robbed at gunpoint." NBC's Anne Thompson got "dragged into this to lay out why Rio authorities had 'serious doubts' about Lochte’s side of the story." Costas said the issue was "something that has to do with public relations as much as possible criminality." He then "pulled in reporter Gadi Schwartz at the Rio airport and, eventually, Lauer, in a sequence that looked like something out of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show'" (
DAILYNEWS.com, 8/18).
SOLE FOCUS: The AP's Bauder noted while on Thursday focused its coverage on Usain Bolt, coverage of U.S. decathlete Ashton Eaton's Gold Medal -- his second straight in the event -- seemed "strangely muted, even though there was more suspense involved than there was for Bolt's race." Bolt "delivered a terrific performance," winning the 200-meter run for the third consecutive Games. Bauder: "Yet we're not sure if it was the fourth replay of his race, the super slo-mo of him giving his signature pose, his pause to take selfies with fans or his interview wish that he'd been faster that made us say, OK, we're done. Time to move on" (AP, 8/18).
SEEING GAINS: CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin noted NBC has "not yet released social media metrics around the Olympics but its partnerships with Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat already appear to be paying off.” CNBC’s Julia Boorstin said those partnerships “have helped drive a record two billion live streamed minutes of the Olympics which means the Games are driving massive social engagement.” Boorstin: “Snapchat tells us a third of its 150 million monthly active users watched the first week of Olympics content on Snapchat and that’s helping it draw blue-chip brands including Walmart, Hershey's and Ford advertising across Snapchat’s NBC-supplemented Olympics content.” Twitter is "not an official partner, so it can’t share highlights, but it is capitalizing on the water cooler conversation” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 8/18).
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE: SI's Tim Layden notes broadcasting "is a possibility" for Michael Phelps in his post-Olympic career. There would be "no bigger name to sit in NBC's booth." Phelps said, "I wouldn't turn it down." He added NBC's Rowdy Gaines "has said these could be his last Olympics and that I could take over for him." Phelps: "It's something I'll think about in the future" (SI, 8/22 issue).
LIKE A CHAMPION: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jason Gay notes the "most mesmerizing show" at the Rio Games "takes place after midnight, in a bunkerlike television studio in the middle of the sprawling Olympic Park." Viewers will find Olympic legends like Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Nadia Comaneci, and Michael Johnson "breaking down the day’s action and talking about what it’s really like to compete at the planet’s highest level." Dubbed in real time into Portuguese, the show is called "É Campeão," which translates to “Champion.” It is a "live Olympics postgame show from the Brazilian sports network SporTV that resembles absolutely nothing on U.S. TV." Airing after the last Olympic event of the evening, “É Campeão” has "found an audience with Rio insomniacs" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/19).
