NBC Sees Drop In Ratings For First Sunday Olympics Coverage
This multiple exposure photo shows Germany's Roxanne Dufter (top) and Canada's Kali Christ..
This multiple exposure photo shows Germany's Roxanne Dufter (top) and Canada's Kali Christ competing in the women's 1,500m speed skating event during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Oval in Gangneung on February 12, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) 
6:59 PM 02/12/2018
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The early rating numbers for NBC’s Sunday night coverage of the 23rd Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, dropped compared to the 2014 and 2010 games.
According to Deadline Monday, the network’s partial tape delayed primetime coverage scored a 14.7 in Nielsen metered market households.
The USA team who won bronze pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the figure skating team event at the Pyeongchang Medals Plaza during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang on February 12, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Fabrice COFFRINI (Photo credit should read FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)
That’s down by six percent from the same night’s coverage from the winter games held in Sochi, Russia, in 2014 and a drop of 11 percent from the 2010 broadcast in Vancouver, Canada.
However, those numbers does not include the combined rating that NBC and NBC Sports had on Sunday night which saw a total of 16.5 in metered market households. When combined, those numbers are up five percent compared to Sochi coverage, which drew a 15.7 rating. The Sochi numbers, however, were just for the network broadcast, as the games weren’t shown on NBC Sports.
The final numbers for that first Sunday in 2014 ended up scoring 26.3 million viewers with a rating of 14.4/22 in metered market households. In comparison, the same night in 2010 saw the network bring in 26.4 million viewers and a 14.3/23 rating in metered market results.
In the past, Olympics coverage has fluctuated from year to year and is largely based on what country is hosting and the time zones. The 2014 coverage from Sochi was down from the winter games in 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. However, Sochi fared better than the coverage in 2006 from Torino, Italy.
