NBC Averages More Viewers Than Next 5 Competitors Combined
For August 18-24, the final week of the 2008 Summer Olympics, NBC averaged 23.27 million prime-time viewers, more than CBS, ABC, FOX, Univision and CW combined. We'll not see another week this lopsided for 4 more years.
The previous week, while Michael Phelps was earning his 8 gold medals, was even more lopsided (NBC averaged 28.68 million viewers). I may go back and chart that week as well, but don't hold your breath.
With the rest of the English language broadcast networks vacationing on a beach somewhere just waiting for the Olympics to end, Univision was a close 4th in total viewers, 3rd in adults 18-49, 2nd in adults 18-34 and a close 4th in adults 25-54. The CW's 18-34 audience for the week could have fit in the average American high school gym.
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Let's see them do that next week
Let's see NBC do that next week