Austin finishes among top 10 in U.S. in Olympic TV ratings

Austin finished 10th nationally in TV ratings for the 2018 Winter Olympics, which concluded Sunday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

San Diego and Austin were the only Sun Belt cities to pop up in the top 10. San Diego tied Kansas City for fifth place with a 17.1 average Nielsen number for NBC and NBCSN’s primetime coverage. Austin posted a 16.0 average.

Salt Lake City, which was the site of the Winter Games in 2002, led the way with a 21.3 household number for the Feb. 8-24 period, followed by Denver, Minneapolis and Milwaukee.

No other Texas market made it into the top 35.

On 10 of 17 nights, Austin climbed into the top 10, highlighted by a No. 3 ranking on Feb. 16 for the men’s figure skating finale. Austin’s highest Nielsen rating was a 21.5 on Feb. 11 for the team figure skating finals.

Austin posted an 18.5 — good for 13th place in the U.S. — for the opening ceremonies followed by an 11.4 (15th) for the closing ceremonies.

Eric Lassberg, general manager for KXAN — the Austin NBC affiliate — said last week that the reasons for the high ratings are tied to the local station’s strong performance here. KXAN boasts the most-watched newscasts in the city, and Lassberg said the international, upscale demographics of the Austin market fit well with Olympic telecasts.

Overall, ratings for the Pyeongchang Games dipped to near-record lows in the United States.