NBC’s coverage of the 2006 Torino Games Opening Ceremony on Feb. 10 averaged a 12.8/21 nationally, down 50 percent from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games opener and down 25 percent from 1998 in Nagano. Salt Lake City ranked first among metered markets for this year’s coverage, but its mark also was down, 67 percent from 2002, when it hosted the Games. Of the nation’s 10 largest markets, only Atlanta and New York City posted ratings among the nation’s top 25, Nos. 19 and 24 respectively.
| HIGHEST-RATED MARKETS |
| Rank | Market (size*) | Avg. rating/share |
| 1 | Salt Lake City (36) | 21.9/36 |
| 2 | Minneapolis-St. Paul (15) | 20.6/35 |
| 3 | Milwaukee (33) | 20.2/33 |
| 4 | Cleveland (16) | 20.0/31 |
| 5 | Denver (18) | 19.4/33 |
| 6 | St. Louis (21) | 19.3/31 |
| 7 | Fort Myers-Naples, Fla. (66) | 18.6/30 |
| 8 | Sacramento (19) | 18.4/30 |
| 9t | Las Vegas (48) | 18.1/30 |
| 9t | West Palm Beach, Fla. (38) | 18.1/29 |
| 11 | Providence, R.I. (51) | 17.8/29 |
| 12 | Indianapolis (25) | 17.7/27 |
| 13 | Hartford, Conn. (28) | 17.3/28 |
| 14 | Norfolk, Va. (42) | 16.7/26 |
| 15 | Columbus (32) | 16.6/27 |
| 16t | Portland (23) | 16.5/29 |
| 16t | Baltimore (24) | 16.5/26 |
| 18 | San Diego (26) | 16.4/28 |
| 19 | Atlanta (9) | 16.2/25 |
| 20 | Tampa-St. Petersburg (12) | 15.5/23 |
| 21 | Pittsburgh (22) | 15.3/24 |
| 22 | Seattle (13) | 15.2/26 |
| 23 | Buffalo (49) | 14.9/25 |
| 24 | New York (1) | 14.7/23 |
| 25t | Cincinnati (34) | 14.6/24 |
| 25t | Kansas City (31) | 14.6/23 |
| | | |
| NATION'S LARGEST MARKETS |
| Rank | Market (size*) | Avg. rating/share |
| 19 | Atlanta (9) | 16.2/25 |
| 24 | New York (1) | 14.7/23 |
| 33 | Boston (5) | 13.8/24 |
| 34 | Dallas-Fort Worth (7) | 13.6/23 |
| 35 | Philadelphia (4) | 13.5/21 |
| 36t | San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (6) | 13.1/25 |
| 38 | Chicago (3) | 13.0/21 |
| 40 | Washington, D.C. (8) | 12.3/21 |
| 42 | Los Angeles (2) | 12.1/21 |
| 53t | Houston (10) | 10.6/16 |
| | | |
| * Rank among U.S. markets by number of TV households. |
| Sources: NBC, Nielsen Media Research |
| Research by Katherine Johnson-Reid, SportsBusiness Daily |
