NBC TAKES THE GOLD FOR THE WEEK OF FEB. 15-21

NBC'S COVERAGE OF THE 2010 VANCOUVER WINTER OLYMPICS PROPELS THE NETWORK TO A DOMINANT VICTORY IN ADULTS 18-49, TOTAL VIEWERS AND ALL OTHER KEY MEASURES

THE OLYMPICS AVERAGE 26.0 MILLION VIEWERS FOR THE FIRST 10 NIGHTS, NEARLY 6 MILLION MORE AND 27 PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE 2006 WINTER GAMES

167 MILLION AMERICANS WATCH THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF THE VANCOUVER GAMES

THROUGH 10 NIGHTS, NBC'S OLYMPICS COVERAGE IS MORE DOMINANT OVER THE COMBINED COMPETITION THAN ANY OTHER WINTER OLYMPICS IN PEOPLE METER HISTORY

NBC'S WEDNESDAY OLYMPIC TELECAST IS #1 PROGRAM OF THE WEEK IN TOTAL VIEWERS, AVERAGING 29.4 MILLION

THE OLYMPICS ON WEDNESDAY BEAT 'AMERICAN IDOL' IN ADULTS 18-49 AND TOTAL VIEWERS, THE FIRST TELECAST TO DO SO IN NEARLY SIX YEARS

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - February 23, 2010 - With potent ratings for its primetime Olympics coverage, NBC ranked #1 in every key measure for the week of February 15-21, averaging a 6.7 rating, 18 share in adults 18-49 and 24.7 million viewers overall, according to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

NBC won the week of February 15-21 in adults 18-49 with a 6.7 rating, 18 share, topping Fox, its closest primetime competitor, by a 109 percent margin (6.7 vs. 3.2). This marks NBC's biggest competitive advantage in adults 18-49 during the regular broadcast season in eight years (since the week of February 18-24, 2002). It is also the network's highest weekly average in primetime's key demographic since the week of January 26-February 1, 2009, when NBC aired the Super Bowl.

NBC also won the week in total viewers, averaging 24.7 million viewers overall. NBC led the #2 network, Fox (8.7 million) by more than 16 million viewers, or 184 percent, and topped the combined viewership of ABC, CBS, Fox and the CW. This marks NBC's top weekly viewership since the week of August 11-17, 2008 and the network's largest competitive advantage in overall viewership during the regular broadcast season in eight years (since the week of February 18-24, 2002).

NBC also ranked #1 for the week in adults, men and women 18-34, men and women 18-49, adults, men and women 25-54 and teens 12-17

NBC's average viewership for the first 10 days of the Vancouver Olympics is 26.0 million, nearly 6 million more, or 27 percent higher than the average viewership for the first 10 nights from Torino in 2006 (20.4 million). This is the biggest average audience for the first 10 days of a non-U.S. Winter Olympics since the 1994 Lillehammer Games.

Through the first 10 days an estimated 167 million viewers watched the Vancouver Winter Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal.

Through 10 nights, NBC's Olympics coverage is more dominant over the competition than any other Winter Olympics in People Meter history (dating back to Calgary in 1988). The 10-night primetime average of 26.1 million is 25 percent higher than the combined delivery of Fox, CBS and ABC (20.8 million). The most dominant prior Winter Olympics was Salt Lake City, which through 10 nights led the three-network competition by 23 percent (Olympics - 29.6 million, Combined three networks - 24.1 million).

With 29.4 million viewers, NBC's Wednesday Olympics coverage was the #1 telecast of the week in total viewers. Altogether, NBC had seven of the top eight telecasts of the week in total viewers with the Saturday Olympics ranking #2 (26.7 million), Monday Olympics #3 (25.2 million), Thursday Olympics #4 (24.8 million), Friday Olympics #6 (23.3 million), Sunday Olympics #7 (23.3 million) and the Tuesday Olympics #8 (20.3 million).

All of NBC's seven primetime Olympics telecasts ranked among the top programs of the week in adults 18-49, with NBC's Wednesday Olympics ranking #2 among all programs, followed by the Saturday Olympics (#3), Monday Olympics (#4), Thursday Olympics (#5), Sunday Olympics (#7), Tuesday Olympics (#8) and Friday Olympics (#9).

Primetime averages for the week of February 15-21 in adults 18-49 were NBC (6.7/18), Fox (3.2/9), ABC (2.1/6), CBS (2.0/5) and CW (0.6/2). In overall total viewers the weekly averages were NBC (24.7 million), Fox (8.7 million), CBS (7.8 million), ABC (6.3 million) and CW (1.4 million).

For the 2009-10 primetime season to date, NBC now ranks #3 among the major networks in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers, tied for #2 in adults 18-34 and #2 outright in men 18-34.

NBC highlights for the week of February 15-21:

* On Monday night, NBC's Olympics telecast averaged 25.2 million viewers, besting the comparable night of the 2006 Torino Games by 20 percent or more than 4 million persons.

* Despite significant competition Monday night, NBC topped its closest primetime competitor by 125 percent in 18-49 rating and by 167 percent or nearly 16 million persons in total viewers.

* On Tuesday, despite competition from a two-hour edition of "American Idol" on Fox and a first-run episode of ABC's "Lost," NBC's Olympics coverage was up 10 percent, or nearly 2 million more persons in total viewers versus the first Tuesday night of the 2006 Winter Games in Torino

* On Wednesday night, when Team USA captured six medals, NBC's Winter Olympics coverage averaged 29.4 million viewers, up 65 percent, or more than 11.5 million persons versus the comparable Wednesday night of the 2006 Winter Games.

* On Wednesday the Olympics on NBC broke "American Idol's" nearly six-year unbeaten streak. In head-to-head competition, NBC's Olympics coverage topped "Idol" by more than 11.5 million viewers for an advantage of 62 percent. In adults 18-49, the Olympics coverage topped "Idol" by 2 full rating points. This marks the first time that any programming on any network has topped an episode of "American Idol" in total viewers or in adults 18-49 since May 2004.

* On Thursday, one night after topping "Idol," NBC's Olympics coverage again faced tough competition. In the 8-9 p.m. ET hour, the Olympics more than doubled the viewership of CBS's "Survivor" and from 9-10 p.m., the Olympics nearly tripled the viewership of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." On the comparable night of the 2006 Torino Games, "Survivor" topped the Olympics by more than one million viewers and in 2006 "Grey's Anatomy" beat the Olympics on three separate nights.

* NBC's Thursday Olympics coverage averaged 24.8 million viewers, 5.4 million more viewers, or 28 percent higher than the comparable Thursday night of the 2006 Torino Games.

* On Friday, NBC's Olympics coverage averaged 23.3 million viewers, 23 percent higher than the comparable Friday night of the 2006 Torino Games. NBC's Friday Olympics coverage nearly doubled the viewership of the other three major broadcast networks combined.

* On Saturday, NBC's Olympics coverage averaged 26.7 million viewers, up 36 percent, or seven million viewers versus the comparable Saturday night of the 2006 Torino Games.

* NBC's Saturday Olympics coverage again dominated the primetime landscape, more than doubling the combined primetime deliveries of ABC, CBS and Fox in both adults 18-49 and total viewers.

* With an average 23.3 million viewers, Sunday's primetime coverage of the Vancouver Olympics topped the comparable Sunday night of Torino by 4 million viewers, or 21 percent.

* NBC's Olympics coverage faced tough competition Sunday night, that included first-run episodes of "60 Minutes," "Amazing Race," "Undercover Boss," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Desperate Housewives," "Brothers and Sisters," and "The Simpsons." The Olympics won every half-hour in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures.

* Despite the formidable competition Sunday night, NBC topped its closest primetime competitor, CBS, by 97 percent in adults 18-49 and by 117 percent in total viewers.

Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live plus same day."

Additional NBC highlights for the week of February 15-21:

On Monday, February 15, NBC's primetime coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics averaged a 7.1 rating, 18 share in adults 18-49, 25.5 million viewers overall and a 14.3/22 household rating/share from 8-11 p.m. ET. For its full duration from 8-11:16 p.m., NBC's Monday Olympics coverage averaged a 7.1/18 in adults 18-49, 25.2 million viewers overall and a 14.2/22 household rating/share.

Monday's 25.2 million average viewers bested the comparable night of the 2006 Torino Olympics (21.1 million) by 20 percent, or more than 4.1 million persons.

Despite significant primetime competition that included first-run episodes of ABC's "The Bachelor" and Fox's "24," NBC topped its closest competitor Monday by 125 percent in adults 18-49 (7.2 for NBC vs. a 3.2 for ABC.) and by 167 percent or nearly 16 million persons in total viewers (25.5 million vs. 9.6 million for ABC).

On Tuesday, February 16, NBC's primetime coverage of the Vancouver Olympics averaged a 5.5/14 in adults 18-49, 20.5 million viewers overall and a 12.2/19 household rating/share from 8-11 p.m. ET. For its full duration from 8-11:24 p.m., NBC's Tuesday Olympics coverage averaged a 5.5/14 in adults 18-49, 20.3 million viewers overall and a 12.2/19 household rating/share.

Despite competition from a two-hour edition of "American Idol" on Fox and a first-run episode of "Lost" on ABC, NBC's Tuesday Olympics coverage was up 10 percent, or nearly 2 million persons in total viewers versus the first Tuesday night of the 2006 Winter Games in Torino (20.3 million vs. 18.4 million).

On Wednesday, February 17, NBC's Olympics coverage averaged a 9.0/24 in adults 18-49, 29.4 million viewers overall and a 16.7/27 household rating/share for its full duration from 8-11:17 p.m. ET. The 8-11 p.m. primetime portion of NBC's Wednesday Olympics coverage averaged an 8.9/23 in adults 18-49, 29.3 million viewers overall and a 16.6/26 household rating/share.

The Olympics on NBC Wednesday broke "American Idol's" nearly six-year unbeaten streak. In head-to-head competition from 9-10 p.m. ET, NBC's Olympics coverage topped "Idol" by more than 11.5 million viewers (30.1 million vs. 18.6 million) for an advantage of 62 percent. In adults 18-49, NBC's Olympics coverage topped "Idol" by 29 percent, or 2 full rating points (9.0 vs. 7.0).

This marks the first time that any programming on any network has topped an episode of "American Idol" in total viewers or adults 18-49 since Monday, May 17, 2004.

On Wednesday night, when Team USA captured six medals, NBC's Winter Olympics coverage averaged 29.4 million viewers, up 65 percent, or more than 11.5 million persons versus the comparable Wednesday night of the 2006 Winter Games (17.9 million). On that night, when the Olympics competed head-to-head with "American Idol" from 8-9 p.m., "Idol" had more than doubled the average viewership of the Olympics (28.9 million vs. 14.3 million) and had nearly tripled the adult 18-49 rating of the Olympics (12.0 vs. 4.1).

On Thursday, February 18, NBC's Olympics coverage averaged a 7.0/19 in adults 18-49, 24.8 million viewers overall and a 14.5/24 household rating/share for its full duration from 8-11:31 p.m. ET. The 8-11 p.m. primetime portion of NBC's Thursday Olympics coverage averaged a 7.1/19 in adults 18-49, 25.3 million viewers overall and a 14.7/23 household rating/share.

NBC's Thursday Olympics coverage averaged 24.8 million viewers, 5.4 million more viewers, or 28 percent higher than the comparable Thursday night of the 2006 Torino Games (19.4 million).

One night after topping "American Idol," NBC's Thursday primetime Olympics coverage again faced some tough competition. In the 8-9 p.m. ET hour, the Olympics more than doubled the viewership of CBS's "Survivor" (24.2 million vs. 12.0 million). On the comparable night of the Torino Games, "Survivor" had topped the Olympics by 8 percent or more than one million viewers (17.0 million vs. 15.8 million). And from 9-10 p.m., NBC's Olympics coverage nearly tripled the viewership of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (28.4 million vs. 10.3 million). During the 2006 Torino Games, "Grey's Anatomy" had topped the Olympics in viewership on three separate nights.

On Friday, February 19, NBC's Olympics coverage averaged a 5.4/17 in adults 18-49, 23.3 million viewers overall and a 13.4/23 household rating/share from 8-11 p.m. ET.

NBC's Friday Olympics coverage averaged 23.3 million viewers, 4.4 million more viewers, or 23 percent higher than the comparable Friday night of the 2006 Torino Games (18.9 million).

On Friday, NBC's primetime Olympics coverage nearly doubled the viewership of the other three major broadcast networks combined (23.3 million vs. 12.5 million for ABC, CBS and Fox combined).

On Saturday, February 20, NBC's Olympics coverage averaged a 7.4/23 in adults 18-49, 26.7 million viewers overall and a 14.7/26 household rating/share for its full duration from 8:30-11:25 p.m. ET. The 8:30-11 p.m. primetime portion of NBC's Saturday Olympics coverage averaged a 7.2/22 in adults 18-49, 26.6 million viewers overall and a 14.6/26 household rating/share. (Note: The 8-8:30 p.m. half-hour on Saturday ran as sustaining programming and is not included in the nightly or weekly averages.) .

The average viewership for Saturday's Olympics coverage was up 36 percent, or seven million persons, versus the comparable Saturday night of the 2006 Torino Games (26.7 million vs. 19.7 million),

In primetime Saturday, NBC more than doubled the combined viewership of ABC, CBS and Fox (26.6 million for NBC in primetime vs. 11.5 million for ABC, CBS and Fox combined). In adults 18-49, NBC in primetime outperformed the other three broadcast networks combined by 125 percent (7.2 vs. 3.2)

On Sunday, February 21, NBC's primetime coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics averaged a 5.9/15 in adults 18-49, 23.3 million viewers overall and a 13.2/21 household rating/share from 7:30-11 p.m. ET. (Note: The 7-7:30 p.m. half-hour on Sunday ran as sustaining programming and is not included in the nightly or weekly averages.)

With an average 23.3 million viewers, Sunday's primetime coverage of the Vancouver Olympics topped the comparable Sunday night of Torino by more than 4 million viewers, or 21 percent (23.3 million vs. 19.2 million).

NBC's primetime Olympics coverage faced significant competition Sunday night that included first-run episodes of "60 Minutes," "Amazing Race" and "Undercover Boss" on CBS, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" on ABC and "The Simpsons," "The Cleveland Show" and "American Dad" on Fox. Despite these formidable line-ups, the Olympics won every half-hour in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures.

Of note, in the 9-10 p.m. ET hour, The Olympics topped a first-run episode of "Desperate Housewives" by more than 13 million viewers (24.7 million vs. 10.9 million). On the comparable night of the 2006 Torino Olympics, "Desperate Housewives" outdrew the Olympics in head-to-head competition (24.4 million for "Housewives" vs. 18.6 million for the Olympics).

Despite the formidable competition, NBC topped its closest rival in primetime Sunday by 97 percent in adults 18-49 (5.9 for NBC from 7:30-11 p.m. vs. a 3.0 for CBS from 7-11 p.m.) and by 117 percent in total viewers (23.3 million vs. 10.7 million for CBS).