or


[08/09/08 - 07:47 AM]
Best Opening Ceremony Overnight Rating for Non-U.S. Olympics Ever
NBC spins the numbers for Friday, August 8.

[via press release from NBC]

BEST OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATING FOR NON-U.S. OLYMPICS EVER

21.5 Rating and 37 Share is 19% Higher than Athens and 16% Higher than Sydney

NBCOlympics.com's 70 Million Page Views Friday, 900% Increase From Athens

BEIJING -Aug. 9, 2008 - NBC's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing was the best overnight rating ever for non-U.S. Olympic Opening Ceremony earning a 21.5/37 (8-11:19 p.m. ET/PT). Additionally, NBCOlympics.com saw its most traffic ever on Friday with 70 million page views, 10 times more than the seven million page views on the opening day of the Athens Games. The overnight rating for the Opening Ceremony was a 19 percent increase over Athens in 2004 and 16 percent higher than Sydney in 2000, according to Nielsen Media Research data released today.

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS:
1) Beijing - 2008 - 21.5/37
2) Sydney - 2000 - 18.5/32
3) Seoul - 1988 - 18.3/33
4) Athens - 2004 - 18.0/30
5) Barcelona - 1992 - 16.5/32

�Opening Ceremony in Atlanta in 1996 earned 27.2/47;

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:
1) San Diego - 26.5/49
2) West Palm Beach - 25.7/42
3) Sacramento - 24.3/43
4) Denver - 24.2/43
T5) San Francisco - 24.1/47
T5) Baltimore - 24.1/41
7) Indianapolis - 23.9/42
8) Salt Lake City - 23.5/49
9) Nashville - 23.4/37
10) St. Louis - 22.9/42

Dick Ebersol served as executive producer of NBC's Opening Ceremony coverage; David Neal, producer; and Bucky Gunts, director.

NBCOLYMPICS.COM OFF TO RECORD START:

NBCOlympics.com garnered 70 million page views on 8/8/08 an increase of 900 percent and 10 times more than the opening day of the Athens Games in 2004 (7 million).

�The 70 million page views are nearly 50 million more page views than the peak day in Athens (Day 4, 20.6 million).

�NBCOlympics.com's 4.2 million unique users show an increase of 496% over the unique users for the opening day of the Athens Games in 2004 (705,000).

�Since August 1, 2008, NBCOlympics.com has accumulated more than 127 million page views, nearly half the TOTAL for the entire Athens Games.

NBC Universal, broadcasting its record 11th Olympics and surpassing ABC for the most Olympics broadcast by any network, will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage, the most ambitious single media project in history featuring the most live coverage (nearly 2,900 live hours in total), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: What follows is the afternoon update with the final national Nielsen ratings.]

MOST VIEWED & BEST RATED OPENING CEREMONY FOR NON-U.S. SUMMER OLYMPICS EVER

70 Million Viewers Saw Opening Ceremony on NBC; 14 Million More than Athens

18.6/33 National Rating is 27% Higher than Athens

BEIJING -Aug. 9, 2008 - In the nearly 50 years of televised Olympics, NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremony in Beijing was the MOST VIEWED EVER for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics with nearly 70 million total viewers, 14 million more than Athens (56 million).

The Opening Ceremony on NBC earned an 18.6/33 national rating for an increase of 27 percent over Athens in 2004 (14.6/27), and averaged 34.2 million viewers, nearly nine million more than Athens (25.4 million). NBC's Opening Ceremony 18.6/33 household rating is the highest rated Opening Ceremony for a non-domestic Summer Olympics ever, surpassing the 1960 Rome Games on CBS that delivered an 18.1/36, a record that stood for 48 years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"The Olympic Opening Ceremony captivated the American public in unprecedented numbers for a non-U.S. Olympics," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. "It was a magical and memorable spectacle and a great way to start the Beijing Olympics."

Additionally, NBCOlympics.com saw its most traffic ever on Friday with 70 million page views, 10 times more than the seven million page views on the opening day of the Athens Games.

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY TOTAL AUDIENCE: 1) Beijing - 2008 - 69.9 million T2) Athens - 2004 - 56.0 million T2) Sydney - 2000 - 56.0 million 4) Seoul - 1988 - 51.2 million 5) Barcelona - 1992 - 50.2 million

-Opening Ceremony in Atlanta had a total viewership of 77.0 million; Total viewership data did not exist for Los Angeles in 1984

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY AVERAGE AUDIENCE: 1) Beijing - 2008 - 34.2 million 2) Sydney - 2000 - 27.3 million 3) Athens - 2004 - 25.4 million 4) Seoul - 1988 - 22.7 million 5) Barcelona - 1992 - 21.6 million

-Opening Ceremony in Atlanta had an average viewership of 39.8 million; Average viewership data did not exist for Los Angeles in 1984

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY NATIONAL RATINGS: 1) Beijing - 2008 - 18.6/33 2) Rome - 1960 - 18.1/36 3) Sydney - 2000 - 16.2/29 4) Seoul - 1988 - 15.2/29 5) Athens - 2004 - 14.6/27 6) Barcelona - 1992 - 13.8/29

-Opening Ceremony in Atlanta in 1996 earned a 23.6/45; Los Angeles in 1984 earned a 23.9/48

NBCOLYMPICS.COM OFF TO RECORD START:

NBCOlympics.com garnered 70 million page views on 8/8/08 an increase of 900 percent and 10 times more than the opening day of the Athens Games in 2004 (7 million).

�The 70 million page views are nearly 50 million more page views than the peak day in Athens (Day 4, 20.6 million).

�NBCOlympics.com's 4.2 million unique users show an increase of 496% over the unique users for the opening day of the Athens Games in 2004 (705,000).

�Since August 1, 2008, NBCOlympics.com has accumulated more than 127 million page views, nearly half the TOTAL for the entire Athens Games.

�Viewers can relive the excitement of the Opening Ceremony now at NBCOlympics.com.

NBC Universal, broadcasting its record 11th Olympics and surpassing ABC for the most Olympics broadcast by any network, will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage, the most ambitious single media project in history featuring the most live coverage (nearly 2,900 live hours in total), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history.

Dick Ebersol served as executive producer of NBC's Opening Ceremony coverage; David Neal, producer; and Bucky Gunts, director.





  [august 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/16/25 - 06:01 AM]
ESPN's Monumental 2025 WNBA Season Sets New Viewership Records
Across all networks, the 2025 WNBA Postseason was the most-viewed since 1999.

[10/15/25 - 04:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Program on Broadcast TV
"20/20" increased its lead week to week over "Dateline" in Total Viewers to post its largest of the season.

[10/15/25 - 04:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Leading NBC in All Key Demos for the 3rd Straight Week
"Nightline" saw double-digit gains in the year-ago week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[10/14/25 - 03:06 PM]
ESPN Records the Most-Watched WNBA Postseason Ever Across Its Networks
Across 24 games, the '25 WNBA postseason averaged 1.2 million viewers, up 5% from last year.

[10/14/25 - 03:03 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Delivers Most-Watched West Coast Episode Ever; ESPN College Football on ABC Scores Top Three Programs Across All Networks and Content for Saturday, Oct. 11
The Texas Longhorns' upset victory over the Oklahoma Sooners averaged 8.7 million viewers.

[10/14/25 - 02:50 PM]
ALCS Game 1 on FOX and FOX Deportes Draws 5.3 Million Viewers
The Mariners victory over the Blue Jays averaged 5,310,000 viewers across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services.

[10/14/25 - 02:39 PM]
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched LDS on FOX/FS1 Since Launch of Postseason Baseball on FS1 in 2014
On Friday, 8,723,000 viewers tuned in for the Mariners' historic 15-inning ALDS Game 5 victory.

[10/14/25 - 02:15 PM]
"Sunday Night Football" Registers Record Fourth Blockbuster Audience of 25+ Million Viewers This Season, As Lions-Chiefs Averages 27.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
Lions-Chiefs averaged 27.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics, marking the second-most watched October audience in the history of NBC "SNF."

[10/14/25 - 01:45 PM]
ABC Wednesday Comedies Return Strong for New Seasons
"Shifting Gears" earned the biggest audience since the show's Valentine's Day episode; while "Abbott Elementary" jumped over the show's season four premiere among Total Viewers as well as the season four average.

[10/14/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of October 6: "The Woman in Cabin 10" Rocks the Boat as No. 1 Debut in This Week's Top 10
In the spirit of the season of chills, "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" claimed the No. 1 spot on the English TV list, rising to the top in its second week with 20.7 million views.

[10/10/25 - 03:07 PM]
3,287,000 Viewers Tuned in on Average Through Game 4 of the ALDS Across FOX, FS1 and FS2
Through Game 4, coverage of the ALDS across FOX, FS1 and FS2 is up +11% from 2024 and +31% over 2023.

[10/10/25 - 09:04 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores Historic Growth in Week Four
"Dancing with the Stars" rose for the third straight week following its season premiere, for the first time in the show's history, in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[10/09/25 - 05:01 PM]
3,177,000 Viewers Tuned in on Average Through Game 3 of the ALDS Across FOX, FS1 and FS2
Through Game 3, coverage of the ALDS across FOX, FS1 and FS2 is up +14% from 2024 and +28% over 2023.

[10/09/25 - 03:11 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night with Week of Live Shows from Brooklyn Academy of Music
Continuing the show's momentum this season, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" earned 2.20 million Total Viewers and a 0.22 rating among Adults 18-49, topping late-night for the week in both measures.

[10/09/25 - 01:00 PM]
NBC Wins First Two Weeks of the New TV Season and Sees Year-to-Year Growth
Across all platforms (7-day), "Law & Order" and "SVU" amassed 6 million and 7.6 million viewers, respectively, both showing an increase over last season's premieres.