NBC averaged a 16.5 overnight rating from 8-11:30 PM. Reasonable people can argue over the cause (tape delay, don’t care, streaming, Trump vs Hillary, Netflix, etc) but there’s no arguing the numbers are way down from 2012 (London) and other recent opening nights and that NBC PR and executives are having a rough morning.
I’m team “just don’t care.”
NBC says there was 42,000,000 minutes of streaming but that works out to average viewership of 200,000 viewers for minute so streaming is an unlikely culprit for the low number.
Here’s the historical context for the 16.5 overnight rating:
Update: I used an older list below, the opening ceremony in Sochi in 2014 averaged an 18.5/30 overnight rating/share.
NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS:
| 1. London – 2012 | 23.0/40 NBC |
| 2. Beijing – 2008 | 21.5/37 NBC |
| 3. Lillehammer – 1994 | 21.0/34 CBS |
| 4. Vancouver – 2010 | 20.0/33 NBC |
| 5. Nagano – 1998 | 18.6/30 CBS |
| 6. Sydney – 2000 | 18.5/32 NBC |
| 7. Seoul – 1988 | 18.3/33 NBC |
| 8. Athens – 2004 | 18.0/30 NBC |
| 9. Sarajevo – 1984 | 17.2/27 ABC |
| 10. Calgary – 1988 | 17.0/40 ABC |
| 11. Barcelona – 1992 | 16.5/32 NBC |
| 12. Albertville – 1992 | 16.0/26 CBS |
| 13. Torino – 2006 | 14.7/23 NBC |
OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS FOR U.S. GAMES:
| 1. Los Angeles – 1984 | 29.5/55 ABC |
| 2. Salt Lake City – 2002 | 27.9/43 NBC |
| 3. Atlanta – 1996 | 27.2/47 NBC |