Games viewers drop

for NBC’s prime-time Summer Olympics coverage is down significantly from the record figures of four years ago but substantially ahead of the competition.

NBC averaged 26.7 million viewers for its first three nights of Summer Olympics coverage, 25.4% less than the record 35.8 million average for the first three nights of coverage of the 2012 London Games, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen on Tuesday.

Friday’s opening ceremony averaged 26.49 million viewers, 34.8% less than the record 40.65 million average from 2012. NBC expects a 7% increase in viewership from delayed viewing.

NBC presented the first live stream of an opening ceremony for American viewers, which generated 42 million minutes of streaming, the second-most for an NBC Olympic stream behind the U.S.-Canada semifinal men’s hockey game in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

Saturday’s prime-time coverage averaged 20.63 million viewers, 28.1% less than the record 28.72-million average for the first Saturday of competition in the 2012 Games.

Sunday’s prime-time Olympics coverage was the most-watched prime-time program between Aug. 1 and Sunday, averaging 29.78 million viewers, 17.4% less than the 36.05 million average for the first Sunday of the 2012 Olympics.

NBC’s digital platforms on Sunday had 12.2 million unique users, a 24% increase from 2012, and 231 million live and replay streaming minutes, a 307% increase from the comparable day in 2012, both records.

Factors cited by NBC for the declining broadcast viewership is that these are the first Summer Olympics in U.S. television history with broadcast network coverage, including prime time, being streamed simultaneously on digital platforms and cable coverage opposite the primetime broadcast coverage.

One example of how NBC’s Olympics coverage has overwhelmed the competition is NBC’s 7.8 rating for the first three nights among viewers ages 18-49, the group NBC, ABC and Fox target and advertisers covet, is 500% higher than the combined rating for the other three major broadcast networks.

NBC averaged 15.28 million viewers for the week, the most by any network since CBS averaged 25.17 million viewers for the week of Feb. 1-7, when its programming included Super Bowl 50, which was the third mostwatched program in U.S. TV history.