NBC’s Olympics coverage slipped Wednesday without gymnastics, hitting a new low for Rio.
Usain Bolt did appear in a semifinal race last night, and Team USA swept the women’s 100-meter hurdles and took the bronze in women’s beach volleyball. But those simply weren’t enough to help the broadcast match Tuesday’s 6.8 rating/24 share in the key 18-49 demographic, or its 23.8 million total viewers.
NBC was first in ratings with a 5.8 rating/21 share in the main demo and in total viewers with an average of 20.5 million, according to preliminary numbers.
CBS was second in ratings with a 0.9/3 and in viewers with 3.7 million. “Big Brother” at 8 p.m. ET posted a 1.8/7 and 5.9 million viewers. After a rerun, “American Gothic” at 10 got a 0.4/2 and 2.4 million viewers.
Telemundo was third in ratings with a 0.7/3 but fifth in viewers with 1.7 million.
Fox and Univision tied for fourth in ratings, both with a 0.6/2. Fox was fourth in total viewers with 1.9 million, airing reruns; Univision was sixth with 1.6 million.
ABC was sixth in ratings with a 0.5/2, but third in total viewers with 2 million, running just repeats.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 1 million. “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” at 8 p.m. ET had a 0.3/1 and 1.5 million viewers.
7 Most Exciting Non-US Olympics Stories You Didn't See on NBC (Photos)
There's been plenty of criticism over NBC's Olympic coverage, but aside from near-constant commercials and tape delays, many viewers are upset that they're missing out on the action from countries that don't fly the stars and stripes. TheWrap has the best stories from the 2016 Rio Games involving athletes who are't American.
The 100m butterfly swimmer Yusra Mardini stole the heart of the world when she went from Syrian refugee to Olympic athlete, winning her heat in her first games. But her story still wasn't compelling enough to air during primetime on NBC, though she eventually got a segment on "NBC Nightly News."
Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent Or Sasson, a display of unsportsmanlike behavior so egregious that the crowd roared with boos and the International Olympic committee reprimanded the athlete -- reportedly even sending him home, though the Egyptians deny this.
The men's gymnastics team finals were barely covered in NBC primetime, since the U.S. team ultimately didn't medal. Subsequently, the Ukraine team throwing several competitions and purposely taking last place, which angered fans across social media, was not acknowledged at all. NBC did recount the incident a few days later, during individual finals, however.
While NBC heavily covered diving one night, when U.S. team David Boudia and Steele Johnson won silver, the event became persona non grata again the next night, when no Americans were in contention for a medal. Primetime audiences completely missed out on one of the biggest stories of the day, when an algae outbreak in the diving pool turned the water a mysterious murky green. NBC ultimately caught up on the story days later, when American Abby Johnston was in contention.
With no Americans in contention for medaling in women's rugby, there was no chance that the heartwarming proposal from a venue manager to her Brazilian rugby player girlfriend would have made NBC primetime. But everywhere else, it was a huge, great moment at the games.
Countries who received their first gold medals this year included Puerto Rico, Kosovo, Vietnam, Fiji and Singapore - whose Joseph Schooling beat Michael Phelps in the 100m butterfly. Only Schooling got a big moment on NBC primetime, probably because everyone was expecting another Phelps victory.
Brazilian judoka Rafaela Silva won the first gold of the Rio games for the host country, and the win was extra poignant since the athlete had been subjected to so much racist bullying after the 2012 Games that she almost left the sport. More stories like this please, NBC.
From countries winning their first medals to a heartwarming proposal, here are some golden moments from Rio that were passed over during primetime
There's been plenty of criticism over NBC's Olympic coverage, but aside from near-constant commercials and tape delays, many viewers are upset that they're missing out on the action from countries that don't fly the stars and stripes. TheWrap has the best stories from the 2016 Rio Games involving athletes who are't American.
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