Tape Delay Slaughters Reruns: NBC's Monster Olympic TV Ratings In Context

PublishedAugust 16, 2012

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A weekly feature wherein we contextualize TV ratings for national sports broadcasts. Data via Nielsen and Sports Business Journal's John Ourand. Viewership numbers represent approximate number of persons tuned to a given program; ratings share refers to the percentage of all households using a television who are turned into that program.

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Friday, July 27:
Olympics, Opening Ceremony (NBC): 40.6 million viewers
Blue Bloods, rerun (CBS): 3.7 million viewers

Saturday, July 28:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 28.7 million viewers
48 Hours Mystery (CBS): 3.4 million viewers

Sunday, July 29:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 36.0 million viewers
NASCAR Sprint Cup at Indianapolis (ESPN): 5.0 million viewers

Monday, July 30:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 31.6 million viewers
The Closer (TNT): 5.7 million viewers

Tuesday, July 31:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 38.7 million viewers
NCIS, rerun (CBS): 6.8 million viewers

Wednesday, August 1:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 30.8 million viewers
Big Brother (CBS): 5.4 million viewers

Thursday, August 2:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 36.8 million viewers
The Big Bang Theory, rerun (CBS): 5.5 million viewers

Friday, August 3:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 28.5 million viewers
La Que No Podía Amar (Univision): 4.5 million viewers

Saturday, August 4:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 27.9 million viewers
Toy Story 3 (Disney): 4.1 million viewers

Sunday, August 5:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 31.2 million viewers
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono (ESPN): 4.4 million viewers

Monday, August 6:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 26.6 million viewers
Two Broke Girls (CBS): 3.9 million viewers

Tuesday, August 7:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 30.1 million viewers
NCIS, rerun (CBS): 6.8 million viewers

Wednesday August 8:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 29.0 million viewers
Dallas (TNT): 4.3 million viewers

Thursday, August 9:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 22.8 million viewers
Olympic women's soccer, gold medal match [USA vs. Japan] (NBCSN): 4.3 million viewers
Big Bang Theory, rerun (CBS): 5.3 million viewers
[Note: The women's soccer match was the most-viewed event in the history of the NBCSN/Versus network. For the week of July 30, NBCSN averaged more viewers than ESPN.]

Friday, August 10:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 22.5 million viewers
La Que No Podía Amar (Univision): 5.8 million viewers

Saturday, August 11:
Summer Olympics in primetime (NBC): 21.8 million viewers
Olympic women's basketball, gold medal game [USA vs. France] (NBC): 10.2 million viewers
48 Hours Mystery (CBS): 3.1 million viewers

Sunday, August 12:
Olympics, Closing Ceremony (NBC): 31.0 million viewers
Olympic men's basketball, gold medal game [USA vs. Spain] (NBC): 12.5 million viewers
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen (ESPN): 4.4 million viewers