More than half-way through the 2008 Beijing Olympics, U.S. fans are continuing to follow the Games online in strong numbers, Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
The top two U.S.-based Olympics online destinations, Yahoo Olympics and NBC Olympics, drew an average of 4.7 million and 4.3 million unique visitors each day between August 8 and August 18.
According to Nielsen, Olympics-related websites in the U.S. are drawing slightly larger audiences on work days than weekends. 
Nielsen also reported that daily traffic to NBC’s Olympics site typically peaked at noon during the first work week of the …

Although it was a work day, online traffic to websites with Olympics-related content and video soared on Monday, August 11, according to Nielsen Online. 
Unique visitors to the video section of NBC’s Olympics site increased by nearly 140% – from 858,000 on Sunday, August 10, to 2,030,000 on Monday, August 11, Nielsen reported.
Meanwhile, traffic to Yahoo’s Olympics section grew 85% on Monday, compared to daily web traffic the prior day.

Rank:
U.A., Aug. 11
Website
Unique Audience:
Aug. 8
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 9
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 10
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 11
(in 000’s)

1
Yahoo Olympics
1,477
3,324
2,839
5,253

2
NBC Olympics
2,664
4,008
3,264
4,560

3
AOL Olympics
395
1,010
1,205
1,192

4
Sports Illustrated Olympics
293
331
667
646

5
Beijing2008.cn
429
780
581
607

6
New York Times Olympics
341
466
301
482

7
ESPN Olympics
273
343
579
368

8
Fox Sports on MSN Olympics
49
95
259
182

9
USA Today Olympics
280
184
231
163

10
CBS …

During the first two days of the 2008 Olympics (August 8-9), NBCOlympics.com was the most visited, Olympics-related U.S. website, Nielsen Online reported Monday.
Yahoo’s Olympics site drew slightly larger unique audiences in the two days leading up to the Opening Ceremony in Beijing (August 6-7), but its popularity was eclipsed by NBC’s site after the Olympics Opening Ceremony aired on NBC on Friday, August 8.

Rank
(by Aug. 9 UA)
Website
Unique Audience:
Aug. 6
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 7
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 8
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 9
(in 000’s)

1
NBC Olympics
841
1,392
2,664
4,008

2
Yahoo Olympics
1,505
1,430
1,477
3,324

3
AOL Olympics
511
718
395
1,010

4
Beijing2008.cn
39
114
429
780

5
New York Times Olympics
432
369
341
466

6
ESPN Olympics
196
80
273
343

7
Sports Illustrated Olympics
458
239
293
331

8
USA Today Olympics
34
55
280
184

9
Olympics.org
NA*
10
16
153

10
BBC …

Date
Athens2004.com
(Olympics.com redirects
to Athens2004.com)
NBCOlympics.com

Fri, 8/13/04
196,000*
332,000

Sat, 8/14/04
182,000*
513,000

Sun, 8/15/04
256,000*
537,000

Mon, 8/16/04
219,000*
399,000

Tue, 8/17/04
180,000*
498,000

Wed, 8/18/04
n/a**
613,000

Thu, 8/19/04
185,000*
572,000

Fri, 8/20/04
n/a**
397,000

Sat, 8/21/04
n/a**
454,000

Sun, 8/22/04
228,000*
418,000

Mon, 8/23/04
200,000*
472,000

Tue, 8/24/04
188,000*
424,000

Wed, 8/25/04
139,000*
187,000*

Thu, 8/26/04
154,000*
367,000

Fri, 8/27/04
n/a**
268,000*

Sat, 8/28/04
n/a**
285,000

Sun, 8/29/04
n/a**
301,000

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

Data includes U.S. home Web traffic only.

*Indicates website does not meet minimum sample size standards, and therefore projected and average measures for this site may exhibit large changes month-to-month as a result.

**Not reportable for daily data.

Date
Saltlake2002.com
(Olympics.com redirects
to Saltlake2002.com)
NBCOlympics.com

Fri, 2/8/02
143,000
267,000

Sat, 2/9/02
226,000
398,000

Sun, 2/10/02
311,000
241,000

Mon, 2/11/02
167,000
342,000

Tue, 2/12/02
280,000
438,000

Wed, 2/13/02
229,000
376,000

Thu, 2/14/02
173,000
254,000

Fri, 2/15/02
135,000
235,000

Sat, 2/16/02
135,000
354,000

Sun, 2/17/02
213,000
347,000

Mon, 2/18/02
175,000
298,000

Tue, 2/19/02
150,000
324,000

Wed, 2/20/02
168,000
291,000

Thu, 2/21/02
262,000
545,000

Fri, 2/22/02
235,000
314,000

Sat, 2/23/02
203,000
360,000

Sun, 2/24/02
333,000
317,000

Mon, 2/25/02
142,000
113,000*

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 8, 2002 – February 25, 2002)

Data includes U.S. home Web traffic only.

*Indicates website does not meet minimum sample size standards, and therefore projected and average measures for this site may exhibit large changes month-to-month as a result.