Olympics: 30.1 million Tuesday viewership best in 36 years

Salt Lake City leads all metered markets; Kansas City second; Milwaukee third

Tuesday night's primetime coverage of the London Olympics on NBC drew an average of 30.1 million viewers, the 11^th time in 12 nights that the average viewership for the London Olympics surpassed the Beijing Olympics. This marks the eighth night that the primetime viewership for the London Olympics surpassed 30 million viewers, topping the combined total of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (five nights) and the 2004 Athens Olympics (two nights).

Tuesday night's coverage, which featured Aly Raisman taking the gold medal in the floor exercise, and Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells taking silver and bronze, respectively, in the women's 100m hurdles, drew 30.1 million viewers, the best for the second Tuesday for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

Tuesday night's viewership is up 11 percent from the comparable night at the Beijing Olympics (26.6 million) and up 20 percent from the comparable night at the Athens Olympics (25.0 million).

The primetime coverage on NBC (8-11:22 p.m.) earned a 17.6/29 national rating/share, 8 percent higher than the comparable night from Beijing (16.3/27), and 12 percent higher than the comparable night from Athens (15.7/26), the last European Olympics.

FIRST 12 NIGHTS IN PRIMETIME - BEST VIEWERSHIP AND HOUSEHOLD RATING FOR NON-U.S. SUMMER GAMES IN 36 YEARS:

Through the first 12 days, the London Olympics has averaged 32.8 million viewers in primetime, and a household rating of 18.5/31, making it the most-watched and highest-rated non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

•The 12-day average primetime viewership of 32.8 million viewers is 3.4 million more viewers than the first 12 nights from Beijing (29.4 million) and 6.7 million more than the first 12 nights from Athens (26.1 million).

•The 12-night average household rating of 18.5/31 is 8 percent higher than the first 12 nights from Beijing (17.1/29), and 17 percent higher than the first 12 nights from Athens (15.8/27), the last European Summer Olympics.

HIGHEST RATED BY TIME ZONE (THROUGH 12 DAYS):

12-DAY METERED MARKET AVERAGE (ALL 56 METERED MARKETS):

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.