NBC Continues to See Record Viewership After Day One of Olympics

http://sportsmediajournal.com/ NBC could not have asked for a better start to the 2012 Olympics. At least when it comes to viewership and ratings numbers. 28.7 million viewers tuned in to last night’s prime time telecast, making it the most-watched first day for the Olympics on record. The viewership is more than 5 million higher than the 2008 games and 2 million viewers higher than the 1996 Atlanta Olmpics, the most watched opening before yesterday. NBC’s two-day primetime average of 35.6 million viewers is the best start to a Summer Olympics on record, more than two million more than Atlanta (33.3 million), and more than six million more viewers than Beijing (29.5 million). The rating for the evening was 15.8, 14% higher than four years ago and 34% higher tan the 2004 Athens Games. The audience and ratings numbers continue to buck the debate that NBC is being hurt by not airing the marquee events live.