Minneapolis-St. Paul dethroned Salt Lake City as the top U.S. market during NBC's primetime Sochi Games coverage. The Utah market had led the way during the past two Winter Olympics. The Twin Cities averaged a 19.4 local rating for 17 nights of tape-delayed Sochi Games primetime coverage on NBC, up from a 19.1 during the live '10 Vancouver Games and up from an 18.2 for taped coverage during the '06 Turin Games. Salt Lake City finished second in '14, but the local rating of a 19.0 was down from a 21.9 in '10 and a 21.6 in '06. Among markets ranked in the top 15 for Sochi, Indianapolis, Buffalo and Dayton saw gains. Indy moved up from 25th in '10 to 7th in '14. After finishing in the top 15 in '10, Seattle-Tacoma, St. Louis, Columbus, San Diego, West Palm Beach, Oklahoma City, Nashville and Austin all dropped out of the top 15 for Sochi. The Twin Cities led the way for NBC's primetime Sochi coverage on 9 of 17 nights, including the Opening and Closing Ceremony. Salt Lake City led four nights (including one tie with Minneapolis-St. Paul on the seventh night), while Denver led three times and K.C. and Portland each led once.
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TOP LOCAL MARKETS FOR NBC WINTER OLYMPICS PRIMETIME COVERAGE
|
|
RANK
|
MARKET |
'14 (SOCHI)
|
'10 (VANCOUVER)
|
'06 (TURIN)
|
|
1
|
Minneapolis-St. Paul |
19.4
|
19.1
|
18.2
|
|
2
|
Salt Lake City |
19.0
|
21.9
|
21.6
|
|
3
|
Denver |
18.3
|
21.3
|
18.9
|
|
4
|
Milwaukee |
17.0
|
21.0
|
16.8
|
|
5
|
K.C. |
16.6
|
17.6
|
12.5
|
|
6
|
Ft. Myers-Naples |
16.5
|
17.0
|
14.2
|
|
7
|
Indianapolis |
16.0
|
15.7
|
15.4
|
|
8
|
Portland (Ore.) |
15.7
|
17.7
|
18.8
|
|
9
|
Buffalo |
15.4
|
14.7
|
13.1
|
|
10
|
Pittsburgh |
15.2
|
15.3
|
14.4
|
|
11
|
Albuquerque-Santa Fe |
14.9
|
15.5
|
12.7
|
|
12t
|
Boston |
14.6
|
16.4
|
13.6
|
|
12t
|
Dayton |
14.6
|
14.4
|
11.7
|
|
14
|
Chicago |
14.5
|
15.8
|
12.8
|
|
15
|
Sacramento |
14.4
|
15.7
|
15.6
|
