DATE 
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2008
(OPENING CEREMONY)
NBC
34,891,000

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 2008
NBC
24,082,000

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2008
NBC
32,256,000

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2008
NBC
30,173,000

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2008
NBC
34,014,000

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2008
NBC
27,656,000

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008
NBC
29,708,000

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2008
NBC
26,071,000

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008
NBC
31,593,000

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2008
NBC
27,184,000

MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008
NBC
26,374,000

TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2008
NBC
26,629,000

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2008
NBC
24,755,000

THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2008
NBC
22,438,000

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2008
NBC
17,876,000

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2008
NBC
16,756,000

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2008
(CLOSING CEREMONY)
NBC
27,834,000

AVERAGE OF PRIMETIME OLYMPICS COVERAGE
NBC
27,690,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 8, 2008 – August 24, 2008)

NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” and “America’s Toughest Jobs” were, respectively, the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Monday, August 25, 2008.
CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” was sandwiched between the two, in second place.
NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DEAL OR NO DEAL-MON
NBC
10,999,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
9,030,000

3
AMERICA’S TOUGHEST JOBS
NBC
7,298,000

4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
6,631,000

5
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
5,545,000

6
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
5,481,000

7
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS MON
UNI
5,342,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
5,167,000

9
DECISION ‘08 DEM CONV MON(S)-08/25/2008
NBC
4,706,000

10
PRISON BREAK SP-8/25 9P(S)-08/25/2008
FOX
4,288,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 25, …

As athletes continued to break world records in the last days of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Beijing Games’ set a record of its own – as the most-watched Olympics ever.   
Global television broadcasts during the first ten days of the Games (August 8 – 17) attracted a cumulative TV audience of 4.4 billion viewers — or almost two-thirds of the world’s population, according to Nielsen.
In contrast, the 2004 Athens Summer Games attracted a total of 3.9 billion viewers worldwide, while the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney drew 3.6 billion total viewers.
Nielsen’s global audience estimates are …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Friday, August 22, 2008.
CBS’s “NFL Pre-Season Special” and FOX’s “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM FRI PRIME 2(S)-08/22/2008
NBC
17,876,000

2
NFL PRE-SEASON(S)-08/22/2008
CBS
4,825,000

3
SMARTER THAN 5TH 8/22-9P(S)-08/22/2008
FOX
4,120,000

4
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,094,000

5
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS FRI
UNI
4,006,000

6
20/20-FRI
ABC
3,844,000

7
SMARTER THAN 5TH 8/22-8P(S)-08/22/2008
FOX
3,843,000

8
ABC FRI MOVIE OF THE WK
ABC
3,790,000

9
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
CW
3,617,000

10
ROSA DE GUADALUPE FRI
UNI
2,700,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 22, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of almost 17.9 million viewers, while …

During the second week of the Beijing Summer Olympics, American swimmer Michael Phelps continued to dominate online Olympics buzz, The New York Times reported Monday.
Between August 8 and 21, Phelps was the most-buzzed about Olympic athlete — with a 38% share of all blog posts about gold medal winners, according to Nielsen Online.
Jamaican runner Usain Bolt (5.04% share) and American gymnast Shawn Johnson (3.75% share) were the second and third most buzzed-about athletes, respectively, Nielsen reported.
Gymnast Nastia Liukin, basketball players Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, swimmers Jason Lezak and Alain …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Thursday, August 21, 2008.
CBS’s “CSI” and “Flashpoint” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM THU PRIME 2(S)-08/21/2008
NBC
22,438,000

2
CSI
CBS
7,294,000

3
FLASHPOINT
CBS
7,208,000

4
BIG BROTHER 10-THU
CBS
6,167,000

5
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS THU
UNI
4,813,000

6
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE THU
UNI
4,779,000

7
NFL ON FOX PRESEASON 3(S)-08/21/2008
FOX
4,606,000

8
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
3,248,000

9
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
3,178,000

10
UGLY BETTY
ABC
3,051,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 21, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of just over 22.4 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 6.9 million average viewers. FOX and Univision claimed …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Wednesday, August 20, 2008.
CBS’s “CSI: NY” and “Criminal Minds” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM WED PRIME 2(S)-08/20/2008
NBC
24,755,000

2
CSI: NY
CBS
6,055,000

3
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
5,918,000

4
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS WED
UNI
5,056,000

5
GREATEST AMERICAN DOG
CBS
4,993,000

6
BONES SP-8/20 8P(S)-08/20/2008
FOX
4,760,000

7
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
4,516,000

8
PRIMETIME: CRIME
ABC
4,086,000

9
SUPERNANNY
ABC
3,711,000

10
WIFE SWAP
ABC
3,346,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 20, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of just under 24.8 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 5.7 million average viewers.  Univision and FOX claimed third …

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 …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Tuesday, August 19, 2008.
CBS’s “NCIS” and “Big Brother” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM TUE PRIME 2(S)-08/19/2008
NBC
26,629,000

2
NCIS
CBS
7,610,000

3
BIG BROTHER 10-TUE
CBS
6,117,000

4
WIPEOUT
ABC
5,214,000

5
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS TUE
UNI
4,668,000

6
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
4,555,000

7
PRIMETIME: MED MYST-8/19(S)-08/19/2008
ABC
4,376,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
4,191,000

9
HOUSE-TUE 8P
FOX
3,302,000

10
WANNA BET
ABC
3,106,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 19, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of 26.6 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 6.1 million average viewers.  ABC and Univision claimed third and fourth places …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Monday, August 18, 2008.
CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” and “CSI: Miami” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM MON PRIME 2(S)-08/18/2008
NBC
26,374,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
8,162,000

3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
6,380,000

4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
5,749,000

5
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
5,468,000

6
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
5,429,000

7
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS MON
UNI
4,486,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
4,388,000

9
ABC MON MOVE-WK-8/18(S)-08/18/2008
ABC
3,140,000

10
CRISTINA MON
UNI
2,662,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 18, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of just under 26.4 million viewers, while CBS took second place …