A very good night on NBC last night for the final Wednesday from London, a preliminary 9.2 rating with Adults 18-49 in prime time. The number will easily rise to a 9.5 in the official nationals, blowing away the previous high for this night in recent Summer Olympics (8.7 from Athens in 2004). The night was helped by a boatload of gold medals for Team USA, including the third gold in a row for Misty May & Kerry Walsh in beach volleyball and a string of golds at the track, including Alison Felix in the 200 meter.
The Olympic average is holding relatively steady at a very good 10.3 rating through 13 nights.
NBC, the network that (Peacocks) Comedy, previewed Matthew Perry in Go On last night at about 11:04 pm before local news began at 11:30 pm. We don’t have fast national ratings after 11:00 pm, but we do have household ratings from the “overnight market” sample (representing about two-thirds of the country in the largest TV markets). In these markets, the Olympics averaged a 19.6 household rating and 33 share from 10:30-11:00, while the Go On preview averaged a 12.7 rating and 24 share at 11:00 pm. That’s a 35% decline in rating for the comedy from the lead-in, which would translate to an estimated 6.7 Adult 18-49 rating at 11:00 pm for Go On from the 10.4 fast national rating for the Olympics at 10:30 pm. The 35% decline is quite acceptable, and a 6.5 to 7.0 preview rating for the new comedy is phenomenal. The bad news is that so many people watched the show, sampled it, and made a mental note to avoid it in the fall season.
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