In the half-century of televised Olympics, NBC’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony from Vancouver was the most watched ever for a non-U.S. Winter Olympics with 67.5 million total viewers watching all or some of the telecast, 17 million more than Torino in 2006 (50.2 million) and six million more than the tabloid-fueled 1994 Lillehammer Games (61.7 million), which stood for 16 years as the most-watched Opening Ceremony for a non-U.S. Games.
The Opening Ceremony on NBC averaged 32.6 million viewers, more than 10 million more and 47 percent higher than Torino (22.2 million) and earned a 17.3/30 national rating for an increase of 35 percent over Torino in 2006 (12.8/21).
The 32.6 million average viewers is the most for a non-U.S. Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in 16 years – just below the 33.8 million for the tabloid-fueled Lillehammer Games in 1994. The 17.3/30 national household rating is also the best for a non-U.S. Winter Games since Lillehammer.
NON-U.S. WINTER GAMES OPENING CEREMONY TOTAL AUDIENCE:
1. VANCOUVER – 2010 – 67.5 Million
2. *Lillehammer – 1994 – 62.0 million
3. Nagano – 1998 – 52.4 million
4. Torino – 2006 – 50.2 million
5. Albertville – 1992 – 46.7 million
*Fueled by the tabloid coverage of the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal.
NBCOLYMPICS.COM UP 469% FROM TORINO: NBC’s Olympics website, NBCOlympics.com, registered 4.8 million unique users for Day 1 of the Vancouver Games, 469 percent higher than the Day 1 of the last Winter Games in Torino in 2006 (861k) The site also delivered 1.9 million video streams – 836% more than Torino’s first day (201K).
NBC OLYMPICS MOBILE APP IS NO. 1 ON ITUNES: NBC Olympics Mobile app, the No. 1 free app in the iTunes store, generated more than two million page views yesterday.
METERED MARKET RATINGS BY TIME ZONE:
Mountain Time Zone 21.2/36
Pacific Time Zone 19.8/36
Eastern Time Zone 18.9/31
Central Time Zone 18.6/30
TOP 20 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:
1. Seattle, 25.9/47
2. Milwaukee, 25.8/43
3. Denver, 25.4/44
4. St. Louis, 23.7/40
5. West Palm Beach, 23.3/35
6. Cleveland, 23.1/38
7. Salt Lake City, 22.3/39
8. Columbus, 21.8/37
9. Ft. Myers, 21.4/ 34
10. Detroit, 21.1/34
11. Portland, 21.1/39
12. Providence, 21.0/36
T13. Richmond, 20.9/33
T13. Baltimore, 20.9/32
15. Sacramento, 20.6/38
16. San Francisco, 20.3/39
T17. Boston, 20.2/36
T17. Indianapolis, 20.2/34
T17. Nashville, 20.2/30
T20. Chicago, 20.1/33
T20. Buffalo, 20.1/33
(source: information provided by NBC)
