As U.S. viewers settle into the reality of two-plus weeks of Olympics, so did Wednesday’s ratings.
The fifth night of competition saw a substantial, if not unpredicted, drop for NBC coverage. The primetime block delivered an overnight 17.4 rating among households, according to Nielsen. Fast affiliate ratings recorded 26 million viewers and a 7.6 rating among adults 18-49 between 8 and 11 p.m. ET.
That’s still enough to obliterate anything else happening on broadcast — though it should be noted that CBS’ Big Brother lost zero steam against the games, holding steady with a 1.8 rating in the key demo. That’s no easy feat.
Going into Wednesday night, NBC-only primetime coverage of the Olympic was up to an average 28.6 million viewers. That’s still down almost 10 million from London four years ago.
Elsewhere in Olympic consumption, NBC reported that live streaming minutes of the Summer Games has now topped 1 billion.
