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A gold medal for NBC Sports Network

Scores most-watched day ever, boosted by soccer

By Toni Fitzgerald

August 9, 2012

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NBC's strategy of using the Summer Olympics to gain viewership for NBC Sports Network has worked well so far.

Three times during the Games the network has broken its own record for most-watched day.

Now the question is whether it can carry that momentum beyond the Olympics, when NBCSN will make a real effort to challenge ESPN's sports dominance.

On Monday NBC Sports Network averaged 956,000 total viewers for the entire day, its best-ever audience.

It was buoyed by two marquee events, the U.S. women's soccer team's thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Canada, which sent the team into Thursday's gold medal game, and the U.S. men's basketball squad's win over Argentina.

Both games set records. The soccer game, which aired from 2:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., averaged 2.92 million total viewers and peaked with 3.84 million at 5 p.m., when Alex Morgan scored the winning goal with just minutes left in the game.

That marked the network's most-watched Olympic Games half hour so far.

The basketball game drew 3.33 million total viewers from 5:30 to 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network's best-ever viewership in the daypart.

It was the third day of record viewership for NBC Sports Network, which started off the Games on July 28 and 29 with high marks for coverage of basketball, soccer and rowing.

NBC Sports put a big emphasis on NBC Sports Network, previously called Versus, during this Games as a means to increase awareness of and viewership for the network.

It is airing nearly 300 hours of Games coverage on NBCSN, a record amount for one channel on cable and broadcast.

It's taking advantage of the huge platform to promote several new shows, including "The 'Lights," short for highlights, a new morning show that will show clips from the previous night's top games. It will repeat every 20 minutes from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and will have only an announcer, no set or on-camera anchor.

The ads for the show have been making the contrast between "'Lights" and ESPN's popular "SportsCenter" clear. Whereas the latter is too often about the hype, "'Lights" is about the results, the ads imply.

The show will debut the day after the Olympics end, on Monday, and it will join a lineup with a new Sports Illustrated program that bowed in July and a revamped "NBC SportsTalk," which returns the following night.

***

In cable ratings for the week ended Aug. 5:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TBS, TNT, A&E, Adult Swim.

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): Disney Channel, USA, TNT, Fox News Channel, TBS.

Top five cable news networks in primetime (25-54): Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, HLN, CNBC.

Top five cable news programs (total viewers): 1 Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Monday, 8 p.m.); 2. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Thursday, 8 p.m.); 3. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.); 4. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.); 5. Fox News Channel's "Hannity" (Monday, 9 p.m.)

Top movie (18-49s): No movie during the week made the top 50 among 18-49s.

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN's "NASCAR Sprint Cup" (Sunday, 2:58 p.m.) 4.45 million.

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: VH1's "Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta" (Monday, 9 p.m.); E!'s "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" (Sunday, 9 p.m.).

Show on the rise: USA's "Suits," Thursday, 10 p.m. The show only rose a bit–from 1.53 million to 1.57 million 18-49s–but it was one of the only programs during the week to see gains versus the Olympics.

Show on the decline: Comedy Central's "Tosh.0" Tuesday, 10 p.m. The comedy clip show averaged 1.32 million 18-49s, down 27 percent from 1.81 million the previous week.

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked on Total Viewers Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	Primetime		Total Day
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	DSNY	2599	DSNY	1929
2	USA	2572	NICK	1891
3	TNT	2078	TOON	1377
4	FOXN	1528	ADSM*	1185
5	TBSC	1453	USA	1001
6	AEN	1414	FOXN	970
7	HIST	1332	TNT	964
8	ADSM	1315	NAN *	898
9	TRU	1126	HIST	757
10	SYFY	1057	AEN	754
11	FX	1037	TBSC	673
12	FAM	1009	NKJR	652
13	AMC	977	FX	594
14	NAN	965	NBCS	577
15	HGTV	915	AMC	570
16	FOOD	914	HGTV	561
17	NKJR	878	ID	540
18	LIF	875	TVLD	539
19	SPK	782	TRU	536
20	DISC	754	MSNB	533
21	TLC	733	FOOD	531
22	VH1	733	FAM	522
23	BET	713	ESPN	472
24	MSNB	686	DISC	457
25	TVLD	658	SYFY	451
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS Ranked on Total Viewers Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	Program	Net	(000)
1	The Closer	TNT	5766
2	WWE Raw	USA	4719
3	WWE Raw	USA	4701
4	NASCAR Sprint Cup	ESPN	4449
5	Rizzoli & Isles	TNT	4438
6	Toy Story 3	DSNY	4412
7	Burn Notice	USA	4316
8	Toy Story 3	DSNY	4146
9	WWE Raw	USA	4064
10	Longmire	AEN	3955
11	Perception	TNT	3733
12	Adventure Time	TOON	3504
13	Suits	USA	3409
14	Falling Skies	TNT	3341
15	16 Wishes	DSNY	3248
16	Dallas	TNT	3241
17	Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta	VH1	3212
18	Family Guy	ADSM	3184
19	Family Guy	ADSM	3124
20	Spongebob	NICK	3121
21	Spongebob	NICK	3105
22	The Glades	AEN	3088
23	Family Guy	ADSM	3082
24	Spongebob	NICK	3065
25	Family Guy	ADSM	3062
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-34 Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	USA	437	ADSM*	436
2	ADSM	410	NICK	282
3	TBSC	395	DSNY	229
4	FX	307	NAN *	216
5	FAM	290	TOON	207
6	DSNY	281	TBSC	195
7	MTV	279	FX	191
8	VH1	275	USA	181
9	CMDY	266	CMDY	170
10	TNT	265	MTV	168
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-34 Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta	VH1	1536
2	Keeping Up With The Kardashians	EN	1333
3	Family Guy	ADSM	1242
4	Family Guy	ADSM	1189
5	Family Guy	ADSM	1172
6	Family Guy	ADSM	1132
7	Family Guy	ADSM	1122
8	Teen Mom Season 4	MTV	1119
9	Family Guy	ADSM	1026
10	American Dad	ADSM	943
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-49 Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	USA	941	ADSM*	591
2	TBSC	781	NICK	446
3	TNT	680	DSNY	391
4	AEN	601	USA	389
5	ADSM	587	TBSC	371
6	FX	565	TNT	368
7	TRU	554	AEN	359
8	DSNY	509	NAN *	354
9	HIST	486	FX	335
10	FAM	467	TOON	326
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-49 Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta	VH1	2257
2	WWE Raw	USA	1962
3	WWE Raw	USA	1944
4	Keeping Up With The Kardashians	EN	1912
5	WWE Raw	USA	1829
6	Falling Skies	TNT	1666
7	Burn Notice	USA	1648
8	Single Ladies 2	VH1	1629
9	Family Guy	ADSM	1594
10	Family Guy	ADSM	1574
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 25-54 Week Ending Aug. 5
	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	USA	1017	TNT	439
2	TNT	807	USA	411
3	TBSC	767	ADSM*	387
4	AEN	641	AEN	364
5	HIST	618	TBSC	360
6	TRU	547	HIST	354
7	FX	528	NICK	354
8	SYFY	514	DSNY	319
9	AMC	501	FX	294
10	FOOD	447	NAN *	291
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 25-54 Week Ending Aug. 5
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	WWE Raw	USA	2119
2	WWE Raw	USA	2096
3	NASCAR Sprint Cup	ESPN	2059
4	Falling Skies	TNT	1853
5	WWE Raw	USA	1838
6	Burn Notice	USA	1826
7	Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta	VH1	1784
8	Keeping Up With The Kardashians	EN	1715
9	The Closer	TNT	1640
10	Suits	USA	1486
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data