With the Beijing Olympics now less than a year away, NBC saw a small kick-up in viewership for the 2007 U.S. gymnastics championships over the weekend, though they still drew relatively small crowds.

Last night’s finale averaged 4.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights, up 10 percent over last year’s 4.1 million. (Note: Due to Nielsen processing errors, release of the data was delayed until this afternoon.)

Though NBC was still third in the 7 p.m. timeslot, behind CBS’s “60 Minutes” and a rerun of ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” it capped a weekend of gains for gymnastics.

Saturday’s 8 p.m. telecast of the championships averaged 3.75 million, up 18 percent over last year’s 3.18 million.

Gymnastics are nearly always the top draw at the Summer Olympics, and next year should be no exception despite the fact that the women’s side will have virtually no returners from the 2004 squad that took silver in the team competition.

However, last night’s numbers may have also been artificially inflated by NBC’s live preseason football game at 8 p.m. Nielsen fast nationals measure timeslot data, not actual program data, and so final numbers may fluctuate when they are released tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Fox and CBS tied for first for the night among viewers 18-49, each with a 2.1 average overnight rating and a 6 share. NBC was a close third at 2.0/6, with ABC fourth at 1.7/5, Univision fifth at 0.8/2 and CW sixth at 0.4/1.
 
ABC started the night in the lead with a 1.9 rating at 7 p.m. for a repeat of “Videos,” followed by CBS with a 1.8 for “Minutes.” NBC was third with a 1.2 for gymnastics, Fox fourth with a 1.1 for repeats of “Til Death” and “King of the Hill,” Univision fifth with a 1.0 for “Hora Pico” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for a repeat of “Smallville.”
 
CBS took the lead at 8 p.m. with a 2.9 for “Big Brother,” as ABC fell to second with a 2.4 for a repeat of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Fox was third with a 2.3 for repeats of “The Simpsons” and “American Dad,” NBC fourth with a 2.2 for its first hour of an NFL preseason game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens, Univision fifth with a 0.7 for its first of three hours of “Buscando a Timbiriche” and CW sixth with a 0.3 for a “7th Heaven” rerun.
 
Fox led at 9 p.m. with a 2.9 for an hour of “Family Guy” reruns, with NBC second with a 2.5 for its second hour of football. CBS was third with a 1.9 for a repeat of “Cold Case,” ABC fourth with a 1.5 for a repeat of “Desperate Housewives,” Univision fifth with a 0.8 for its second hour of “Buscando” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for a repeat of “Pussycat Dolls Present: Search for the Next Doll.”
 
At 10 p.m. NBC led with a 2.2 for another hour of football, while CBS finished second with a 1.8 for a “Shark” repeat. ABC was third with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Brothers & Sisters” and Univision fourth with a 0.9 for its last hour of “Buscando.”
 
Among households, CBS led the night with a 5.4 average overnight rating and a 9 share. NBC was second at 4.2/7, ABC third at 3.4/6, Fox fourth at 2.8/5, Univision fifth at 1.0/2 and CW sixth at 0.8/1.