31.6 million average viewers watch Olympics in primetime on NBC Monday

34.8 million average viewers for the first 4 nights of the London Olympics is most for any Summer Olympics in history

Monday night's primetime coverage on NBC (8-11:23 p.m.) drew 31.6 million viewers, the most for the first Monday of a non-U.S. Summer Games in 36 years (37.7 million for Montreal in 1976). The viewership is 1.4 million more than the first Monday night of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (30.2 million), and is 4.5 million more than the first night of the 2004 Athens Olympics (27.1 million), the last European Summer Olympics.

Through the first Monday of the London Olympics, NBC is averaging 34.8 million viewers, the most of any Summer Olympics in history (since the first televised Olympics in 1960). The 34.8 million tops the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (34.5 million), is 4.3 million more viewers than Beijing (30.5 million) and 10.1 million more than Athens (24.7 million).

Monday night's competition on NBC, which featured a gold medal for the U.S. in the 100m backstroke and the finals of the men's gymnastics all-around, earned a 18.0/29 national rating/share, two percent higher than the first Sunday night of the Beijing Olympics (17.6/29), which featured live coverage three swimming gold medals including Phelps' third in three nights.

• Monday night's national rating of 18.0/29 is also 8 percent higher than the first Monday night in Athens in 2004 (16.6/27), the last European Summer Olympics.

• The four-night average household rating of 18.9/32, is 10 percent higher than Beijing (17.2/30) and 29 percent higher than Athens (14.7/26).

NBC'S DAYTIME AND LATE NIGHT VIEWERSHIP SOARS:

• Noon-5:10 p.m. averaged 9.0 million viewers, an increase of 34 percent over the first Monday morning at the Athens Games (6.7 million from 12:30-4:07 p.m.). The household rating in this time period (6.2/17) is 24 percent higher than the comparable morning from Athens (5.0/15). Note: there was no comparable coverage from Beijing.

• The 10 a.m.-noon window drew 7.0 million viewers and a household rating of 5.1/16, an increase of 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively vs. Beijing Games.

• The late night program (12:35-1:23 a.m.) drew 6.4 million viewers and a household rating of 4.6/15, an increase of 25 percent and 18 percent, respectively vs. Beijing Games.

FOUR-DAY METERED MARKET AVERAGE:

NBCUniversal, presenting its 13^th Olympics, the most by any U.S. media company, will make an unprecedented 5,535 hours of the 2012 London Olympics coverage available across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform, an unprecedented level that surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours.

For the full schedule of NBCUniversal's Olympic coverage, visit NBCOlympics.com.