Three nights in, NBC has got to feel pretty good about the PyeongChang not taking too steep a dip from Sochi four years ago. Averaging 26.3 million viewers in primetime for two nights, Sunday overnights improved and — for the first time — improved upon the last Winter Games with combined scores.
Nielsen Media gives Sunday’s primetime coverage on NBC and NBC Sports a total 16.5 overnight rating among households. That’s up 5 percent from the comparable night four years ago. Looking at just NBC, where the coverage earned a 14.7 rating, coverage was down by roughly the same measure.
Sunday’s coverage of the Winter Olympics peaked between 9:45 and 10 p.m. during women’s freestyle in the team figure skating event. That was after Saturday’s coverage, which earned a 15.2 overnight rating and ultimately fetched 24.2 million viewers with NBC, NBC Sports and streaming coverage. (Live-streaming for the night lifted primetime coverage by a substantial 13 percent.)
NBC is continuing to report its Total Audience Delivery, an average minute viewing across broadcast, cable and digital. Later during the first week, it will start delivering reports on Nielsen “out of home” viewership.
More to come…
