or


[02/13/10 - 10:52 AM]
Most-Watched Opening Ceremony Ever for Non-U.S. Winter Olympics
NBC spins the numbers for Friday, February 12.

[via press release from NBC]

MOST-WATCHED OPENING CEREMONY EVER FOR NON-U.S. WINTER OLYMPICS

67.5 Million Viewers Watched Opening Ceremony on NBC; 17 Million More than Torino and Nearly 6 Million More Than Tabloid-Fueled Lillehammer Games in '94

32.6 Million Average Audience is 47% Higher than Torino

VANCOUVER -February 13, 2010 - 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, 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.

The Washington Post said that "the Winter Games got off to a splendiferous start with the Opening Ceremony - with images that rivaled that of 'Avatar.' -- All of it was rendered splendid by NBC's HD cameras and enhanced by discreet commentary from the anchors."

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 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

NBC Universal, broadcasting its record 12th Olympics the most Olympics broadcast by any network, will present more than 835 hours of Vancouver Olympic Winter Games coverage - representing the most total hours ever for a Winter Olympics, more than the last two Winter Olympics combined, and the most live hours ever for a Winter Games. The Vancouver Games are the first Winter Olympics to be presented entirely in high definition.

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





  [february 2010]  
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
[10/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
Brewers Triumph on FS1 Delivers Most-Watched LCS Game 3 Telecast Since 2016
On FS1, Game 3 averaged 6,460,000 viewers.

[10/16/26 - 11:45 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores with Show's "Super Bowl Night"
In fact, among Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" grew for the fourth telecast in a row, hitting a season high and posting the show's best non-finale episode in over nine years.

[10/16/26 - 10:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late Night
"20/20: Born to Kill" ranked as Friday's No.1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/15/26 - 02:55 PM]
Super Bowl Season Success: Bills-Rams Thriller Propels "Monday Night Football" to Best Five-Week Start of ESPN Era
The matchup featuring the NFL's two most recent MVPs averaged 19.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.

[10/15/26 - 02:46 PM]
NLCS Game 2 on FOX/FS1: Most-Watched LCS Game 2 on Any Network Since 2016
On FOX/FS1, the game averaged 6,921,000 viewers.

[10/15/26 - 02:35 PM]
NHL on Frozen Frenzy on ESPN Delivers Double-Digit Increases
The tripleheader averaged 600,000 viewers, up 31% from a year ago.

[10/15/26 - 10:29 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Playoffs Ever!
Across eight games, ESPN networks averaged 1.4 million viewers, up 23% compared to coverage through the semifinals last year.

[10/15/26 - 08:00 AM]
CBS Wins Its Premiere Week with Eight of the Top 10 Broadcast Shows and Delivers +9% Year-Over-Year Growth
Weekly viewership averaged 4.43 million viewers, growing +9% from its 2025 premiere week (4.08m viewers).

[10/14/26 - 04:10 PM]
Nebraska Volleyball Serves Up a Big Saturday on FOX
Nebraska's 3-0 win averaged 945,000 viewers on FOX.

[10/14/26 - 03:50 PM]
Indiana's Win Over Nebraska Scores 6,734,000 Viewers on FOX
"Big Noon Saturday" peaked at 9,623,000 viewers.

[10/14/26 - 03:04 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Record Pace as ESPN College Football Delivers Historic Week 6 Audiences
ABC scored its most-watched college football tripleheader of the season with 8.5 million viewers, led by Georgia-Alabama (12.2 million) and Oklahoma-Texas (9.8 million) - both record-setting rivalry audiences.

[10/14/26 - 02:50 PM]
26,697,000 Viewers for "America's Game of the Week" Highlight FOX NFL's Week 5
Said coverage was the most watched telecast of the week on any network.

[10/14/26 - 02:44 PM]
FOX Scores Most-Watched LCS Game 1 on Any Network Since 2005
10,719,000 viewers tuned in Sunday night for NLCS Game 1 on FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/14/26 - 11:31 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 5
"Carrie," "Neagley," "Reacher," "Off Campus," and "Sterling Point" led all original series worldwide.

[10/14/26 - 07:29 AM]
ESPN Delivers Sixth Straight Year of Television Viewership Growth, Up 10% in Fiscal Year 2026
ESPN and ESPN on ABC each posted 11% year-over-year growth in total viewership, while ESPN2 increased 3%.