NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Friday, August 8, 2008.
The Games’ Opening Ceremony drew 34.9 million viewers — the largest U.S. television audience of any Summer Games Opening Ceremony in more than a decade.  Only the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games (39.8 million viewers) attracted a larger number of U.S. viewers.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM OPEN CEREM(S)-08/08/2008
NBC
34,891,000

2
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS FRI
UNI
4,319,000

3
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,091,000

4
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
3,773,000

5
NUMB3RS 9PM
CBS
3,728,000

6
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
CW
3,642,000

7
ABC FRI MOVIE OF THE WK
ABC
2,977,000

8
SWINGTOWN
CBS
2,825,000

9
ROSA DE GUADALUPE FRI
UNI
2,681,000

10
FOX MOVIE-FRIDAY
FOX
2,247,000

Source: The …

FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” claimed the top slot by a wide margin in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime broadcast TV programs for Thursday, August 7, 2008. 
The telecast drew an audience of 9.69 million viewers, while NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and CBS’s “Flashpoint” were ranked second and third, respectively, with 7.56 million viewers and 6.25 million viewers each.
CBS’s “CSI” and “Big Brother” also made the top five.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-THU
FOX
9,693,000

2
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT 8/7(S)-08/07/2008
NBC
7,567,000

3
FLASHPOINT
CBS
6,256,000

4
CSI
CBS
6,095,000

5
BIG BROTHER 10-THU
CBS
5,528,000

6
HOPKINS
ABC
4,924,000

7
LAST COMIC STANDING 6
NBC
4,557,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS THU
UNI
4,442,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE THU
UNI
4,393,000

10
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU …

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were, respectively, the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, August 6, 2008.
FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” was sandwiched between the two, in second place. 
ABC’s special presentation, “Primetime: China Inside Out,” also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
9,109,000

2
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED
FOX
8,960,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
7,028,000

4
GREATEST AMERICAN DOG
CBS
5,890,000

5
PRIMETIME:CHINA IN-OUT(S)-08/06/2008
ABC
5,367,000

6
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT 8/6(S)-08/06/2008
NBC
5,170,000

7
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
4,781,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS WED
UNI
4,625,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
4,614,000

10
SUPERNANNY
ABC
4,169,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 6, 2008)

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of 8,960,000 viewers, while …

NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” again claimed the top Tuesday night slot by a wide margin.  The telecast, which drew an audience of 12.6 million viewers, placed first in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime broadcast TV programs for August 5, 2008.
CBS’s “NCIS” and ABC’s “Wipeout” were again ranked second and third, respectively, with 8.7 million viewers and 7.3 million viewers each.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT
NBC
12,611,000

2
NCIS
CBS
8,703,000

3
WIPEOUT
ABC
7,337,000

4
BIG BROTHER 10-TUE
CBS
6,445,000

5
CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD
NBC
6,121,000

6
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
5,929,000

7
HOUSE
FOX
5,558,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS TUE
UNI
4,767,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
4,692,000

10
I SURVED-JAPANESE GM SHOW
ABC
4,541,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 5, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an …

NBC’s primetime coverage of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games drew an average audience of 24.6 million viewers over 17 individual telecasts.

DATE
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

Fri, 8/13/2004
NBC
25,384,000

Sat, 8/14/2004
NBC
19,818,000

Sun, 8/15/2004
NBC
25,798,000

Mon, 8/16/2004
NBC
27,109,000

Tues, 8/17/2004
NBC
30,146,000

Wed, 8/18/2004
NBC
28,396,000

Thurs, 8/19/2004
NBC
31,705,000

Fri, 8/20/2004
NBC
23,749,000

Sat, 8/21/2004
NBC
22,544,000

Sun, 8/22/2004
NBC
25,978,000

Mon, 8/23/2004
NBC
25,943,000

Tues, 8/24/2004
NBC
24,972,000

Wed, 8/25/2004
NBC
24,265,000

Thurs, 8/26/2004
NBC
21,491,000

Fri, 8/27/2004
NBC
20,141,000

Sat, 8/28/2004
NBC
18,029,000

Sun, 8/29/2004
NBC
19,563,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 13, 2004 – August 29, 2004)

NBC’s primetime coverage of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games drew an average audience of 21.5 million viewers over 17 individual telecasts.

DATE
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

Fri, 9/15/2000
NBC
27,275,000

Sat, 9/16/2000
NBC
21,019,000

Sun, 9/17/2000
NBC
23,883,000

Mon, 9/18/2000
NBC
21,042,000

Tues, 9/19/2000
NBC
24,081,000

Wed, 9/20/2000
NBC
22,315,000

Thurs, 9/21/2000
NBC
22,955,000

Fri, 9/22/2000
NBC
23,153,000

Sat, 9/23/2000
NBC
21,452,000

Sun, 9/24/2000
NBC
25,741,000

Mon, 9/25/2000
NBC
24,420,000

Tues, 9/26/2000
NBC
18,633,000

Wed, 9/27/2000
NBC
20,423,000

Thurs, 9/28/2000
NBC
20,859,000

Fri, 9/29/2000
NBC
15,551,000

Sat, 9/30/2000
NBC
16,296,000

Sun, 10/1/2000
NBC
16,706,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 15, 2000 – October 1, 2000)

CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” “Old Christine,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “The Big Bang Theory” claimed the top five slots in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime broadcast TV programs for Monday, August 4.
FOX’s tenth annual “Teen Choice Awards” also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
9,979,000

2
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
7,891,000

3
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,599,000

4
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
6,362,000

5
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
6,299,000

6
NASHVILLE STAR
NBC
6,212,000

7
AMERICAN GLADIATORS
NBC
5,435,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
4,844,000

9
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS MON
UNI
4,559,000

10
2008 TEEN CHOICE AWARDS(S)-08/04/2008
FOX
4,436,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 4, 2008)

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of …

For the second Friday in a row, CBS’s “Numbers” and “Ghost Whisperer” were, respectively, the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV.
NBC’s “Dateline” was again sandwiched between the two, in second place.  The network’s back-to-back telecasts of “Most Outrageous Moments,” which claimed the 5th and 10th spots, also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NUMB3RS 9PM
CBS
6,107,000

2
DATELINE FRI
NBC
5,550,000

3
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
4,986,000

4
20/20-FRI
ABC
4,169,000

5
MOST OUTRG MOMENTS 830P
NBC
4,155,000

6
SWINGTOWN
CBS
4,062,000

7
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
CW
4,020,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS FRI
UNI
3,839,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
3,530,000

10
MOST OUTRG MOMENTS 8P
NBC
3,519,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 1, 2008)

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of …

FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” claimed the top spot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime broadcast TV telecasts for Thursday, July 31, 2008 — beating out CBS’s “CSI” and “Flashpoint,” which placed second and third, respectively.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-THU
FOX
8,694,000

2
CSI
CBS
8,033,000

3
FLASHPOINT
CBS
7,677,000

4
BIG BROTHER 10-THU
CBS
6,392,000

5
DON’T FORGET LYRICS 7/31(S)-07/31/2008
FOX
5,895,000

6
HOPKINS
ABC
5,578,000

7
LAST COMIC STANDING 6
NBC
5,016,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE THU
UNI
4,717,000

9
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS THU
UNI
4,467,000

10
FEAR ITSELF
NBC
3,856,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 31, 2008)

Overall, CBS (7,369,000 viewers) edged past FOX (7,306,000 viewers) to win the night.  NBC and ABC claimed distant third and fourth places — with …

FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” (8,841,000) edged past CBS’s “Criminal Minds” (8,702,000) to claim the top spot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime broadcast TV telecasts for Wednesday, July 30, 2008.
CBS’s “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED
FOX
8,841,000

2
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
8,702,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
7,785,000

4
PRIMETIME: CRIME
ABC
6,284,000

5
GREATEST AMERICAN DOG
CBS
5,811,000

6
BABY BORROWERS
NBC
5,413,000

7
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT 7/30(S)-07/30/2008
NBC
5,187,000

8
SO YOU THINK ENCORE-7/30(S)-07/30/2008
FOX
4,722,000

9
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS WED
UNI
4,566,000

10
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
4,298,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 30, 2008)

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of 7,433,000 viewers, while FOX took second place with 6,781,000 average viewers. …