VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA—Half of all Americans (152 million) have watched the Vancouver Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal through the first seven days of the Games; six million more than watched the first seven days of the 2006 Winter Games (146 million) according to data available today from The Nielsen Company.

NBCU's Thursday broadcasts were seen by 77 million total viewers, 14 million more than the first Thursday from the 2006 Games (63 million), on a night that faced original competition including Survivor on CBS and Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice on ABC.



Seven-day average best since tabloid-fueled Lillehamer games: The 26.6 million average viewers for the first seven nights of the Vancouver Games is the most for a non-U.S. Winter Olympics since the *tabloid-fueled 1994 Lillehammer Games (37.5 million). The 26.6 million is nearly six million more and 27 percent higher than the average viewership of the first seven nights from Torino in 2006 (20.9 million).

*Fueled by the tabloid coverage of the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal.

Olympics dominates primetime: A night after defeating American Idol by 12 million viewers, Thursday night's Olympic coverage (8-11:31 p.m.) drew 24.8 million viewers, more than five million more viewers and 28 percent higher than the first Thursday night of the 2006 Winter Games (19.4 million), on a night that faced original competition including Survivor on CBS and Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice on ABC.

Head-to-head last night (8-9 p.m.), the Olympics more than doubled the viewership of Survivor (24.2 million vs. 11.9 million). On the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games, Survivor led the Olympics by eight percent (17.0 million to 15.8 million).

Head-to-head last night (9-10 p.m.) the Olympics nearly tripled the viewership of Grey's Anatomy (28.4 million vs. 10.2 million). At the 2006 Games, Grey's Anatomy out-drew the Olympics on three separate nights.

On this comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games, three programs—"Survivor," "Dancing With the Stars" and "CSI" (tie)—drew more viewers than the Olympics.

The national household rating of 14.5/24 for Thursday night is an increase of 22 percent over the first Thursday night in Torino in 2006 (11.9/19). The 14.8/24 average household rating to-date is more than two full ratings points and 19 percent higher than 2006 (12.4/20).

The site has also delivered 18.2 million video streams to date—nearly 15 million more and 452% higher than Torino's first seven days (3.3 million).

Metered Market Ratings by Time Zone (Seven-Day Average):
Mountain Time Zone 20.1/33
Pacific Time Zone 16.7/30
Central Time Zone 16.7/26
Eastern Time Zone 16.0/25

Top 25 Metered Markets (Seven-Day Average):
1. Denver, 23.3/38
2. Milwaukee, 23.2/36
3. Salt Lake City, 22.9/38
4. Seattle, 21.7/40
5. Minneapolis, 21.5/36
6. St. Louis, 20.2/31
7. Columbus, 19.8/31
8. San Diego, 19.5/33
9. West Palm Beach, 19.3/28
10. Portland, 19.0/35
T11. Cleveland, 18.6/29
T11. Nashville, 18.6/27
13. Boston, 18.2/32
14. Kansas City, 17.9/27
T15. Washington D.C., 17.7/29
T15. Phoenix, 17.7/29
T15. Austin, 17.7/29
T15. Providence, 17.7/30
19. Sacramento, 17.5/31
20. Ft. Myers, 17.2/27
T21. Chicago, 17.1/27
T21. Indianapolis, 17.1/28
T21. Cincinnati, 17.1/26
T21. Oklahoma City, 17.1/25
T21. Tulsa, 17.1/26
T21. Richmond, 17.1/26

NBC Universal, broadcasting its record 12th Olympics the most Olympics broadcast by any network, will present more than 835 hours of Vancouver Olympic Winter Games coverage—representing the most total hours ever for a Winter Olympics, more than the last two Winter Olympics combined, and the most live hours ever for a Winter Games. The Vancouver Games are the first Winter Olympics to be presented entirely in high definition.