Primetime Ratings: Douglas, Phelps-Lochte Duel Give NBC Another Gold

London Games outdraw Bejing for seventh straight night

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/3/2012 11:46:10 AM

For the seventh night in a row, NBC's coverage of the 2012 London Olympics outpaced Beijing, with an overall 11.2 rating/32 share from 8-11 p.m. in the 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen overnight numbers, easily taking first on Thursday. NBC's coverage ran until midnight and drew a 21.1 national rating, (18% higher than both Wednesday's coverage and the first Thursday in Beijing) and averaged 36.8 million viewers, which was 24% higher than Beijing and also 19% up over Wednesday.

CBS took the silver medal with an overall 1.4/4, airing only a new Big Brother, which was down 14% to tie its series low 1.9.

A new Wipeout gave ABC the bronze medal, although it fell 41% to a series low 1.3. The network earned an overall 1.0/3.

Fox (0.6/2) and The CW (0.2/1) aired repeats.