TV Ratings: Another Friday Olympics rout for NBC

'Smallville' tops the NAACP Image Awards in the key demo

Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 12:06 PM

Daniel Fienberg

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TV Ratings: Another Friday Olympics rout for NBC

Apolo Anton Ono knows how many Olympic medals he owns

Credit: Mark Baker/AP

Fast National ratings for Friday, February 26, 2010.

For the third consecutive week, NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics dominated the Friday night ratings race, outdistancing last Friday's Vancouver telecast in most measures. Unfortunately for NBC, next week will be back to programming as usual.

Among adults 18-49, NBC won the night with a 6.1 rating, far ahead of the 1.2 rating for ABC and CBS' 1.1 rating. The CW spent a rare night in fourth, doing a 0.9 rating in the key demographic, nipping the 0.8 rating for FOX.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 23.47 million viewers to go with a 13.4 rating/23 share. CBS' 3.1/5 was a distant second, with ABC's 2.3/4 and the 1.9/3 for FOX close behind. The CW was fifth with a 1.2/2.

NBC swept the primetime hours starting at 8 p.m. with an 11.3/19 for the Olympics coverage, which also did a 4.5 demo rating. CBS' "Ghost Whisperer" repeat was second with a 3.4/6, beating ABC's airing of the movie "Blades of Glory." FOX's coverage of the NAACP Image Awards had a 1.8/3 to edge the 1.5/3 for The CW's "Smallville," but "Smallville" did a 1.1 demo rating, topping the 0.8 for FOX.

The Olympics were up to a 14.6/24 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour, adding a 6.7 demo rating. CBS' "Medium" repeat was second with a 2.8/5. FOX's NAACP Image Awards coverage had a 2.0/3 for third, just in front of the 1.9/3 for ABC's movie. The CW's "Smallville" repeat took fifth.

In the 10 p.m. hour, the Olympics did a 14.2/24 and a 7.0 demo rating. CBS' "Numb3rs" repeat was second. ABC's "20/20" had a 2.8/5 for third, but finished second in the key demographic.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.