Date: 20th September 2000

Olympics Pick Up The Pace


Faced with competition from ABC's Monday Night Football, NBC's fourth night of Olympic Games coverage this week nevertheless recovered somewhat from its disappointing ratings on Sunday.

The primetime telecast averaged a 15.6 rating and a 24 share, up from Sunday's 14.9/24, but still below the minimum ratings guaranteed to advertisers. While the football contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins did not attract more viewers than the Olympics, it did produce strong numbers in its own right, a 12.2/19, significantly higher than last year's figures for the third week of the NFL season.

Meanwhile, CBS's decision to rerun its Survivor series on a nightly basis during the Olympics appears to have backfired. Monday's episode produced a disappointing 4.5/6, the worst ratings among all programs airing on the major networks. (In fact, the first half hour even fell behind UPN's The Hughleys.)

Source: Studio Briefing