Sports talk radio hosts, bloggers and media critics lobbed a lot of criticism at NBC for airing the bulk of its Olympic coverage on tape delay in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
But the people in those time zones didn't seem to care.
According to 17-day metered-market ratings issued by Nielsen, the Mountain and Pacific time zones both drew higher numbers than the Eastern time zone, which had the lowest rating of all despite airing the live coverage.
Mountain averaged an 18.8 household rating for 17 nights of coverage, by far the highest of the four time zones. Central, where coverage of events like figure skating and speed skating also aired live, averaged a 15.4, followed by Pacific at 15.2 and Eastern at 14.8.
Event results were available on Twitter, news sites and cable hours before the events aired in Mountain and Pacific time zones.
Yet of the 10 markets with the highest 17-day Olympic average, three were on the West Coast and the top two, Salt Lake City and Denver, were in Mountain.
It would be foolish to say these numbers are absolute proof that NBC should have used the tape delay.
After all, you'd expect Winter Games viewership to be strong in Denver, a skiing stronghold, and Salt Lake, which hosted the Olympics eight years ago.
Still, the numbers do support NBC's stance that the media may have overblown the live viewing controversy.
The New York Times, ESPN, various ESPN Radio shows and more covered complaints over the lack of live coverage.
But NBC's fairly convincing response was hey, people are still watching -- average viewership for these Games was up 20 percent over Turin four years ago.
***
In broadcast ratings for the week ended Feb. 28:
Among adults 18-49, NBC was first with a 5.5 average rating and an 15 share, followed by Fox at 4.1/11, CBS at 2.0/5, ABC at 1.9/5, Univision at 1.4/4, CW at 0.6/2, Telemundo and Telefutura at 0.5/1, Ion at 0.3/1 and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): 1. Fox’s “American Idol - Tuesday” 9.0; 2. NBC’s “Winter Olympics Wednesday” 8.7; Tie-3. NBC’s “Winter Olympics Friday” and Fox’s “American Idol - Thursday” 6.5; 5. NBC’s “Winter Olympics Thursday” 6.1.
Show on the rise: “The Amazing Race” CBS, Sunday 8 p.m. The long-running reality competition boosted its 18-49 rating 10 percent week-to-week, from a 2.9 to a 3.2.
Show on the decline: “Blades of Glory” ABC, Friday 8 p.m. Apparently people preferred real figure skating to the Hollywood version. "Blades" averaged a 1.2 rating among 18-49s, off 25 percent from a 1.6 for the movie “Meet the Fockers” the previous week.
WEEKLY PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 28
Network
Households
People 2+
Adults 18-49
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
NBC
12.4
14270
20
7.3
21320
18
5.5
7260
15
FOX
6.3
7240
10
3.8
11010
9
4.1
5390
11
CBS
4.9
5680
8
2.7
7810
7
2.0
2610
5
ABC
3.6
4170
6
2.0
5700
5
1.9
2550
5
UNI
1.9
2130
3
1.2
3580
3
1.4
1790
4
CW
0.9
1050
1
0.5
1430
1
0.6
780
2
ION
0.7
810
1
0.4
1070
1
0.3
390
1
TF
0.5
630
1
0.4
1100
1
0.5
620
1
TEL
0.5
580
1
0.3
960
1
0.5
600
1
AZA
0.1
140
0
0.1
190
0
0.1
110
0
*Each rating point is equivalent to 1. 149 million homes
Source: Nielsen
SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 28
Network
Households
People 2+
Adults 18-49
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
CBS
7.4
8480
12
4.2
12180
11
3.3
4340
9
FOX
5.8
6710
9
3.4
10010
8
3.7
4870
10
NBC
5.6
6430
9
3.2
9220
8
3.0
3920
8
ABC
5.4
6150
9
2.9
8520
7
2.7
3510
7
UNI
1.8
2080
3
1.2
3540
3
1.4
1800
4
CW
1.3
1510
2
0.7
2010
2
0.9
1230
2
ION
0.7
780
1
0.4
1030
1
0.3
400
1
TEL
0.5
610
1
0.4
1050
1
0.5
630
1
TF
0.5
540
1
0.3
980
1
0.4
560
1
AZA
0.1
140
0
0.1
200
0
0.1
120
0
*Each rating point is equivalent to 1. 149 million homes
Note: Season-to-date estimates are a weighted average of pre-TSV and Live+SD data.
Source: Nielsen
TOP 25 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 28
#
PROGRAMS
Net
HOUSEHOLDS
PERSONS 2+
Rtg%
Shr
(000)
#
Rtg%
(000)
1
WNTR OLYM FRI PRIME 2(S)
NBC
13.9
24
15952
1
8.4
24522
2
WNTR OLYM THU PRIME 2(S)
NBC
13.6
23
15647
4
7.8
22920
3
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
13.4
20
15439
2
8.3
24213
4
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
12.8
20
14703
3
7.9
22959
5
WNTR OLYM TUE PRIME 2(S)
NBC
12.6
20
14467
5
7.3
21279
6
WNTR OLYM MON PRIME 2(S)
NBC
12.5
20
14418
7
7.2
20926
7
WNTR OLYM CLOSE CEREM(S)
NBC
12.1
19
13881
5
7.3
21403
8
WNTR OLYM WED PRIME 2(S)
NBC
11.9
19
13659
9
6.8
19808
9
WNTR OLYM SAT PRIME 3(S)
NBC
11.7
21
13477
8
7.1
20630
10
AMERICAN IDOL THU SP-2/25(S)
FOX
10.3
16
11797
10
6.2
18033
11
VANCOUVERGOLD(S)
NBC
10.2
17
11730
10
6.2
17994
12
UNDERCOVER BOSS
CBS
8.7
13
9992
12
5.2
15154
12
MARRIAGE REF
NBC
8.7
16
10027
13
4.9
14448
14
NCIS
CBS
7.3
11
8347
14
4.0
11586
15
BACHELOR, THE
ABC
7.1
11
8172
16
3.9
11266
16
60 MINUTES
CBS
6.8
11
7818
17
3.7
10811
16
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
6.8
10
7792
17
3.7
10894
18
SURVIVOR: HEROES-VILLAINS
CBS
6.7
10
7723
14
4.0
11599
19
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
6.5
10
7514
19
3.5
10287
20
MENTALIST, THE 9PM-SPCL(S)
CBS
6.2
10
7117
23
3.3
9654
21
COLD CASE
CBS
6.1
10
7011
21
3.4
9831
22
LOST
ABC
5.8
9
6662
21
3.4
9947
22
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
5.8
9
6638
24
3.1
9158
24
AMAZING RACE 16
CBS
5.7
9
6584
19
3.5
10213
25
NCIS: LOS ANGELES
CBS
5.6
8
6380
26
2.9
8609
Source: Nielsen
TOP 25 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST Adults 18-49
Week Ending February 28
Rank
Program
Net
Rtg%
(000)
1
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
9.0
11873
2
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
8.7
11425
3
AMERICAN IDOL THU SP-2/25(S)
FOX
6.5
8498
3
WNTR OLYM FRI PRIME 2(S)
NBC
6.5
8556
5
WNTR OLYM THU PRIME 2(S)
NBC
6.1
8089
6
WNTR OLYM TUE PRIME 2(S)
NBC
5.5
7200
6
WNTR OLYM CLOSE CEREM(S)
NBC
5.5
7298
6
WNTR OLYM WED PRIME 2(S)
NBC
5.5
7175
9
WNTR OLYM MON PRIME 2(S)
NBC
5.4
7043
10
UNDERCOVER BOSS
CBS
5.1
6673
11
MARRIAGE REF
NBC
4.9
6384
12
VANCOUVERGOLD(S)
NBC
4.8
6353
12
WNTR OLYM SAT PRIME 3(S)
NBC
4.8
6266
14
LOST
ABC
4.6
6014
15
BACHELOR, THE
ABC
3.9
5130
16
SURVIVOR: HEROES-VILLAINS
CBS
3.7
4873
16
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
3.7
4843
18
KITCHEN NIGHTMRS-2/25 9P(S)
FOX
3.4
4461
19
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
3.3
4337
19
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
3.3
4342
21
AMAZING RACE 16
CBS
3.2
4200
22
FAMILY GUY
FOX
2.8
3674
22
24
FOX
2.8
3706
24
BROTHERS & SISTERS
ABC
2.5
3346
25
COLD CASE
CBS
2.4
3118
Source: Nielsen
SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION (WEEKLY COLLAPSED) Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 21
#
PROGRAMS
Net
Rtg
P2+ (000)
1
SORTILEGIO M-F
UNI
25.0
5907
2
PREMIO LO NUESTRO 10 2/18(S)-02/18/2010
UNI
24.8
5435
3
EN NOMBRE DEL AMOR M-F
UNI
19.1
4226
4
NOCHE DE ESTRELLAS 2/18(S)-02/18/2010
UNI
18.5
3572
5
HASTA DINERO SEPARE M-F
UNI
17.6
4142
6
LO QUE NO VIO P NTRO 2/19(S)-02/19/2010
UNI
14.6
3054
7
AQUI Y AHORA TUE
UNI
14.5
3036
8
CRISTINA MON
UNI
14.1
3044
9
DON FRANCISCO PRESENTA WE
UNI
12.8
2558
10
CINE ESPECIAL SUN 8PM
UNI
12.0
2782
11
SABADO GIGANTE SAT
UNI
11.1
2258
12
IMAGENES DE IMPACTO SUN
UNI
9.7
2145
13
FAMILIA P. LUCHE SAT
UNI
7.4
1657
14
HORA PICO SUN
UNI
7.3
1391
15
CAPO, EL M-F
TF
6.0
1301
16
CLON M-F
TEL
5.7
1157
17
FUTBOL LIGA MEX WED
TF
5.4
1206
18
CINE EN CASA
TEL
5.3
1362
19
FUTBOL ESTELAR II
TEL
5.0
1022
20
CINE DE LAS ESTREL SUN
TF
4.7
945
20
JLO&MARC CNTRA V.Y.M 2/21(S)-02/21/2010
TF
4.7
996
22
CINE DE LAS ESTREL SAT
TF
4.6
1027
23
VECINOS M-F
TF
4.5
1086
23
CINE DE LAS ESTRELLAS M-F
TF
4.5
999
25
PERRO AMOR M-F
TEL
3.8
827
Source: Nielsen
HISPANIC ENGLISH-LANGUAGE VIEWING Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 21
