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August 9, 2012
 

The Sked: Olympic Ratings through Night 13 and Preview of “Go On”

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Written by: Mitch Metcalf
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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.



About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.