NBC earned a 15.8/28 national rating with 26.8 million viewers for Sunday night's prime-time coverage of the Beijing Games, even with the comparable night in Athens in 2004. Through Sunday, NBC is averaging a 17.2/30 national rating (29.8 million viewers) for 10 prime-time telecasts, up 8.9 percent from a 15.8/28 in Athens and marking the best rating through the second Sunday of a non-U.S. Summer Games since an 18.6/35 for the 1992 Barcelona Games.

On other NBC Universal-owned networks, USA Network is averaging 960,000 viewers for its coverage of the Games through Friday, up 20 percent from the same period in Athens; MSNBC is averaging 650,000 viewers for its coverage through Friday, up 22 percent over Athens; and CNBC is averaging 606,000 viewers for its 5-8 p.m. telecasts through Friday, flat with Athens.

Meanwhile, NBC's "Today" is set to earn its highest delivery since the 2006 Turin Games, as well as its best advantage over ABC's "Good Morning America" since the 2000 U.S. Presidential election. NBC's "Nightly News" is on track for its best advantage over the competition since November 2004.