Olympics: 38.7 million viewers is most for first Tuesday for any non-U.S. Summer Olympics in history

Through five days, 168.1 million Americans have watched the Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal

Tuesday night's primetime Olympics coverage on NBC (8-11:43 p.m.) earned a 21.8/35 national rating/share, the highest-rated night in any Summer Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games, and drew 38.7 million viewers, the most for the first Tuesday of a non-U.S. Summer Games in the history of televised Summer Olympics (Rome, 1960).

• The household (21.8) rating last night was the best Tuesday night telecast, on any network, since the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics (22.3 rating on 2/19/02).

• Tuesday night's 21.8/35 household rating is 9 percent higher than the first Tuesday night of the Beijing Olympics (20.0/34), and 19 percent higher than the first Tuesday night in Athens in 2004 (18.3/30), the last European Summer Olympics.

• The five-night average household rating of 19.5/33 is the highest for any non-U.S. Summer Olympics through the first Tuesday since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The average rating is 10 percent higher than Beijing (17.8/31) and 27 percent higher than Athens (15.4/27).

With 38.7 million viewers, Tuesday night was the most-watched first Tuesday for any non-U.S. Olympics in the history of televised Olympics (Rome 1960). The viewership is 4.7 million more than the first Tuesday night of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (34.0 million), and is 8.6 million more than the first night of the 2004 Athens Olympics (30.1 million), the last European Summer Olympics.

Through the first Tuesday of the London Olympics, NBC is averaging 35.6 million viewers, the most of any non-U.S. Summer Olympics since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The 35.6 million is 4.3 million more viewers than Beijing (31.3 million) and nearly 10 million more than Athens (25.8 million).

Through five days, 168.1 million Americans have watched the Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal, ahead of Beijing's 167.8 at the same point through the Games.

NBC'S DAYTIME AND LATE NIGHT VIEWERSHIP SOARS:

• NBC's daytime coverage Tuesday drew an average 7.7 million viewers and a household rating/share of 5.4/15 (10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.). There is no direct comparison to any past Olympics.

  • For Beijing, the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. daytime program drew an average of 5.9 million viewers and had a household rating/share of 4.3/14.

  • In Athens, the 12:30 to 4 p.m. program drew an average of 5.1 million viewers and had a household rating/share of 3.8/12.

• The late night program (12:45 to 1:28 a.m.) drew 6.7 million viewers, 22 percent higher than the comparable night in Beijing (5.5 million). The household rating of 4.6/15 is 15 percent higher than the same night in Beijing (4.0/17).

FIVE-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.