The closing ceremony for the London Olympics posted a significant improvement over the closer for the 2008 games in Beijing, according to preliminary numbers.
Between the "Summer Olympics: London Gold" recap show and the closing ceremony, NBC easily took first place in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 demographic with a 7.8 rating/22 share and in total viewers with 27 million. "Summer Olympics: London Gold" drew a 5.7/18 in the demo, while the closing ceremony posted a 9.1/22 — a 32 percent leap over the capper for the 2008 Beijing finale.
Fox, which ran repeats Sunday night, drew second place in the demo and fourth in total viewers with a 1.3/4 and 2.8 million total viewers.
CBS came in third in ratings and second in total viewers with a 1.2/3 in the demo and 4.7 million. At 7, overrun from the PGA tournament combined with the beginning of "60 Minutes" drew a 1.0/4 in the demo and 6 million total viewers. The following hour saw the conclusion of "60 Minutes" combined with the beginning of "Big Brother," which drew a combined 1.9/6 in the demo and 5.6 million total viewers. At 9, the conclusion of "Big Brother" matched with a "Criminal Minds" repeat drew a 1.0/3 with 4 million total viewers. The conclusion of "Criminal Minds" and a repeat of "The Mentalist" closed out the night.
ABC drew fourth place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 0.9/3 and 3.5 million. Following an "America's Funniest Home Videos" repeat at 7, "Secret Millionaire" posted a 25 increase in the demo with a 1.0/3 and drew 4 million total viewers. "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" from 8 to 10 was likewise up, climbing 13 percent to a 0.9/2 and receiving 2.8 million total viewers.