UPDATED: NBC‘s coverage of the Pyeongchang Olympics netted 26 million viewers across platforms, according to total audience delivery data released Monday afternoon.
Of those viewers, 25.7 million came from combined coverage on NBC and NBC Sports, with NBC alone accounting for 22.7 million. The rest came from NBC’s live streaming of the Games.
The first Sunday at the 2014 Sochi Olympics drew 26.3 million viewers when all was said and done. It should be noted, however, that the Sochi Olympics did not air on NBC Sports.
NBC Sports Digital has also established a Winter Games record with 445 million live streaming minutes through Monday afternoon, topping the 420 million live streaming minutes for the full 2014 Sochi Olympics.
PREVIOUSLY: The first Sunday coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang, South Korea was consistent with the coverage from Sochi 2014 in the linear ratings.
Sunday’s coverage of the Games on NBC and NBC Sports drew a combined 16.5 rating in Nielsen’s metered market households, airing partially on tape delay in primetime on the East Coast with an encore on the West Coast. That is up five percent compared to the comparable day from Sochi, which drew a 15.7. However, Sochi coverage aired only on NBC, not NBC Sports. On NBC alone, 2018’s first Olympics Sunday drew a 14.7 in metered market households.
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This Sunday’s coverage also saw a modest increase from Saturday’s coverage, which drew a combined 15.2 rating in metered market households.
The top markets for the Olympics on Sunday were: Salt Lake City, 25.9; Denver 24.5; Milwaukee 23.9; Portland 23.6; Kansas City 23.1.
In the fast affiliate ratings, which are not time zone adjusted, Sunday’s Olympics coverage is currently averaging a 5.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 21.3 million viewers. Those numbers do not include West Coast viewership or those who streamed the Games on various NBC digital platforms. NBC will release total audience delivery data this afternoon.
Again, the other broadcast networks aired very few originals against the Olympics.
On CBS, “60 Minutes” (0.7, 7.5 million) slipped slightly in the demo compared to its last original episode three weeks ago, while “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” (1.2, 4.7 million) ticked up in the demo compared to Friday night’s episode.
On ABC, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (1.0, 5 million) returned up in both measures after a two week hiatus. A new episode of “Shark Tank” (0.8, 2.9 million) was down in both measures.
