Although ratings for NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games appeared to pull out of Tuesday's nosedive -- when they fell to the lowest level since the Mexico City Games in 1968 -- they remained well below expectations and below the level promised to advertisers.

The 7:30 p.m.-to-midnight coverage averaged a 13.9 rating and a 24 share, 30 percent below the figures for the comparable Atlanta coverage in 1996 and 12 percent below Barcelona in 1992. (The network averaged a 15.1/24 for the regular 8:00-11:00 primetime hours.) Advertisers were guaranteed an average 16.1 rating for the entire two-week event.

Meanwhile, ABC added an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to the week on Wednesday, scoring a 9.3/15 for a rerun with celebrity contestants. It is expected to return to first-runs next Wednesday.

Source: Studio Briefing