Primetime Olympics Draw Lower Overnight Ratings

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

NBC Sports’ primetime broadcast and cable coverage of the Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, South Korea Thursday night drew a 13 overnight rating and 22 share, down from the 14.4/22 the winter games in Sochi, Russia, generated four years ago.

NBC noted that the overnight rating was the highest for a Thursday primetime show since NBC’s NFL Kickoff Game in September.

The Olympics’ rating more than doubled those of The Big Bang Theory on CBS, the second highest rated show Thursday night.

The overnight numbers do not include online viewing or live streaming. Total viewers and other information about total viewing will come out later in the day.

Related: Primetime Ratings: NBC Wins With Olympics

The rating peaked between 10:45 and 11 p.m. ET when men’s short program figure skating was on.

Top markets for Thursday’s primetime Olympics were Denver, 22; Salt Lake City, 21; Kansas City, 18.2; Milwaukee, 17.9 and Minneapolis, 17.6.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.