152 MILLION VIEWERS WATCH THE TORINO WINTER OLYMPICS ON THE NETWORKS OF NBC UNIVERSAL THROUGH FRIDAY

NBC Wins Friday Night in Primetime

Through Week One of the Torino Games on NBC, CNBC Ratings Up 703% vs. Feb. 2005

TORINO, Italy -- February 18, 2006 �- Through Week One of the Torino Winter Games, 152 million total, unduplicated viewers have watched the Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal, according to fast national data from Nielsen Media Research. NBC once again dominated the night with a primetime win in households (11.4), A18-49 (5.6) and average viewers Friday night (19.2M). Over eight nights of the Torino Winter Olympics, NBC is averaging 21 million viewers in primetime, 84 percent higher than ABC (11.4M) and 116 percent higher than Fox and CBS (9.7M), and continues on pace to win its second consecutive week in primetime for the first time in 18 months.

NBC DOMINATES PRIMETIME WITH 45 MILLION VIEWERS: NBC's Friday night coverage of the Torino Winter Olympics attracted 45 million total, unduplicated viewers, as Lindsey Jacobellis fell just short of the finish line in the women's snowboard cross, earning a silver medal for the U.S. team. NBC's Friday night coverage drew an 11.2 household rating and 19 share for the program and an 11.4 in primetime, averaging 19.2 million average viewers in primetime, beating its closest competitor, ABC, by 94 percent in viewers (9.9M), and beating CBS and Fox combined by more than 36 percent (9.1M for CBS, 5M for Fox). NBC is averaging a 12.3 household rating through Friday night, and a 12.5 in primetime, rating 94 percent higher than CBS (6.4), 71 percent higher than ABC (7.3) and 111 percent higher than Fox (5.9) over the same period in household ratings, and also leading all nets in viewer delivery and A18-49.

MORE THAN DOUBLE UNDERLYING DELIVERY: Friday night's delivery of 19.2 million viewers in primetime is 163 percent higher than the average 4-net viewer delivery in primetime (7.3M), and the 11.4 HH rating is more than double the underlying Friday primetime average rating (4.9).

NBCU CABLE: Through Week One of the Torino Games, the cable networks of NBC Universal have reached 43.8 million average viewers, up 32 percent from February 2005 (33.1 million). Through Friday, CNBC's weekday 5-8 p.m. ET Olympic curling coverage, following "Closing Bell," is averaging 1,036,000 average viewers, 703 percent higher than its February 2005 average in the time period and 361 percent higher than its pre-Olympic first quarter levels.

NBCOLYMPICS.COM CONTINUES RECORD GROWTH: NBCOlympics.com continues its success, with more than 185 million page views through Week One, surpassing its total from Salt Lake City by more than 40 million views with still 10 days remaining in the Torino Games. With expanded "Rewind" video offerings that allow users to watch select events in their entirety, NBCOlympics.com users are able to re-watch the men's and women's snowboard cross and other competitions online.

Top Athlete Bios on NBCOlympics.com on Friday:
1. Lindsey Jacobellis
2. Johnny Weir
3. Tanith Belbin
4. Sasha Cohen
5. Cassie Johnson
6. Evan Lysacek
7. Seth Wescott
8. Yevgeny Plushenko
9. Shaun White
10. Gretchen Bleiler

THE OLYMPICS IN PRIMETIME ON NBC

Friday Torino to Date through Fri., Feb. 17.
HH Rating 11.2/19 12.3/20
A18-49 5.5 6.4
Average Viewers 18.9 20.7
Total Unduplicated45 million 152 million

The networks of NBC Universal, NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC HD and Universal HD is providing more than 418 total hours of coverage � including the most live coverage � across the most platforms of any Winter Olympics in history of the XX Olympic Winter Games from Torino, Italy, Feb. 10-26.