NBC Stays Golden With Olympics

As predicted, NBC’s coverage of the Summer Olympics won the gold, silver and bronze medals in network competition last week, landing in the Top 3, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Last Friday’s opening ceremonies show featuring the surprise appearance of former heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist Muhammad Ali was the top-rated program and was viewed by 84 million people, making it the most watched Olympics opening ever. The HUT (homes using television) level during the ceremonies was up 4% from the same week a year ago. NBC’s Olympic coverage stole viewers from the other networks, who were also hurt by a declining number of viewers. NBC’s overall ratings, however, were up 6.2% from last year.

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Southland Ratings

Here are A.C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 50,064 households. *--*

Sta- Rat- Program tion ing 1. Channel 4 News at 9 KNBC 22.0 2. Summer Olympics (Fri.) KNBC 17.9 3. Roggin’s Road to Atlanta KNBC 14.5 4. Seinfeld KNBC 13.5 5. 3rd Rock From the Sun KNBC 12.8 6. ER KNBC 12.0 7. “Awake to Danger” KNBC 11.5 8. Home Improvement KABC 11.1 9. Frasier KNBC 11.0 Friends KNBC 11.0 20/20 KABC 11.0

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Weekly Averages

NBC: 14.7

CBS: 6.5

ABC: 6.4

FOX: 3.9

WB: 2.3

UPN: 2.2

Season to Date

NBC: 11.3

ABC: 9.9

CBS: 9.1

FOX: 6.8

UPN: 2.9

WB: 2.4

Note: This abbreviated version of the TV ratings will appear each week until the fall season begins.

SI GREG BRAXTON