Last Night’s Total Audience Delivery of 19.3 Million Viewers Marks Best Thursday Primetime Audience on Any Network since September
More than 1 BILLION MINUTES of PyeongChang Olympics Content Streamed via NBC Sports Digital
STAMFORD, Conn. – February 16, 2018 – NBC Olympics’ coverage of the PyeongChang Olympics delivered the most dominant Winter Games Thursday night since the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, posting a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 19.3 million viewers, according to live plus same day official data released today by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
Last night’s Total Audience Delivery average of 19.3 million viewers also ranks as the best for a Thursday night show on any network since NBC’s NFL Kickoff Game on Sept. 7, 2017 (22.2 million viewers for Chiefs-Patriots).
The NBC/NBCSN average last night of 18.9 million viewers dominated the TV competition with an 83% advantage over the combined 10.3 million primetime viewers for ABC, CBS and FOX.
The NBC-only 16.2 million viewers in the 8-11 p.m. ET primetime window topped by 57% the other broadcast networks – marking the most dominant Winter Games Thursday night since February 21, 2002. That Salt Lake Olympics primetime telecast featured Sarah Hughes’ gold-medal winning performance in figure skating, a silver medal for Bode Miller in the men’s giant slalom, and the women’s hockey gold medal game (Canada topped the U.S. 3-2).
NBCSN DELIVERS BEST PRIMETIME AUDIENCE OF WINTER GAMES
- NBCSN posted its best primetime night of the Winter Games with an average of 2.75 million viewers. Live coverage featured the entire field in the men’s short program figure skating
MORE THAN 1 BILLION STREAMING MINUTES FOR NBC SPORTS DIGITAL
- Viewers have consumed 1.1 billion total streaming minutes (979 million live) of NBC Sports Digital’s PyeongChang coverage – nearly 5 times the 243 million streaming minutes for the 2014 Sochi Olympics through the middle Thursday.
- NBC Sports Digital delivered an average minute audience of 243,000 for Wednesday night’s coverage.
NOTABLE…
- Last night’s Total Audience Delivery provided an increase of 19% over the NBC broadcast viewership (TAD chart below) – marking the sixth consecutive night of double-digit TAD lift. NBC Olympics’ Total Audience Delivery measures broader consumption by calculating average minute viewing across broadcast, cable, and digital.
- Last night’s NBC/NBCSN viewership peaked at 20.1 million viewers from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET, highlighted by men’s alpine skiing on NBC and men’s short program figure skating on NBCSN.
- NBC’s PyeongChang Olympics full primetime broadcast last night (8-11 p.m. ET) averaged 16.2 million viewers and posted a 9.6/18 household rating. Viewership includes the West Coast primetime encore.
PRIMETIME TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY FOR PYEONGCHANG OLYMPICS
| Date | Total Audience Delivery | NBC-only viewership | TAD Lift |
| Thur. 2/8 | 17.2 million | 16.0 million | 8% |
| Fri. 2/9* | 28.3 million | 27.8 million | 2% |
| Sat. 2/10 | 24.2 million | 21.4 million | 13% |
| Sun. 2/11 | 26.0 million | 22.7 million | 15% |
| Mon. 2/12 | 22.3 million | 20.3 million | 10% |
| Tues. 2/13 | 22.6 million | 20.5 million | 10% |
| Wed. 2/14 | 19.2 million | 17.0 million | 13% |
| Thurs. 2/15 | 19.3 million | 16.2 million | 19% |
| Average | 22.6 million | 20.4 million | 11% |
*Opening Ceremony (no competition & no NBCSN side-by-side coverage)
WINTER OLYMPICS PRIMETIME TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY
| PYC 2018 | Sochi 2014** | PYC 2018 | Sochi 2014** | |
| Day | Viewership | Viewership | HH Rating | HH Rating |
| Opening Thurs. | 17.2 million | 20.0 million | 9.7 rating | 11.3 rating |
| First Fri.* | 28.3 million | 31.7 million | 14.9 rating | 17.0 rating |
| First Sat. | 24.2 million | 25.1 million | 13.1 rating | 13.9 rating |
| First Sun. | 26.0 million | 26.3 million | 14.2 rating | 14.4 rating |
| First Mon. | 22.3 million | 22.4 million | 12.7 rating | 12.8 rating |
| First Tues. | 22.6 million | 23.7 million | 13.0 rating | 13.7 rating |
| First Wed. | 19.2 million | 20.8 million | 11.2 rating | 12.1 rating |
| Mid. Thurs. | 19.3 million | 22.9 million | 11.4 rating | 13.4 rating |
| Average | 22.6 million | 24.3 million | 12.6 rating | 13.7 rating |
*Opening Ceremony (no competition & no NBCSN side-by-side coverage)
**NOTE: The 2014 Sochi Olympics had no simultaneous live streaming and no competing primetime Olympic cable coverage. Both of those platforms are included in Total Audience Delivery for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR NBC/NBCSN THURSDAY PRIMETIME:
| 1. Denver | 22.0/39 |
| 2. Salt Lake City | 21.0/38 |
| 3. Kansas City | 18.2/30 |
| 4. Milwaukee | 17.9/28 |
| 5. Minneapolis | 17.6/32 |
| 6. Austin | 16.6/30 |
| T7. Sacramento | 16.5/30 |
| T7. Washington, D.C. | 16.5/29 |
| 9. Providence | 16.4/28 |
| 10. Seattle | 16.3/30 |
Local metered market data represents NBC/NBCSN in primetime and includes the NBC West Coast encore and excludes sustainers.
ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS
A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s Olympic Games coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032.
— PYEONGCHANG 2018 —
