TV Ratings: NBC's Olympics Closing Ceremony dominates Sunday

Big numbers turn out for the Spice Girls reunion and more

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Aug 13, 2012 11:59 AM

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Fast National ratings for Sunday, August 12, 2012.

NBC's heavily edited and frequently interrupted taped coverage of the London Olympics Closing Ceremony, featuring a Spice Girls reunion and performances by the likes of George Michael and Eric Idle, dominated primetime on Sunday night and provided a big lead-in for a sneak of "Animal Practice" at 10:58.

Everything can now return to normal for NBC on Monday evening.

For Sunday night, NBC averaged a 7.8 rating among adults 18-49, far ahead of FOX's 1.3 rating in the key demographic. CBS averaged a 1.2 rating for third, while ABC averaged a 0.9 key demo rating.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 26.92 million viewers to go with a 15.1 rating/25 share. CBS was second with a 3.1/5 and 4.71 million viewers, beating ABC's 2.2/4 and 3.47 million viewers for Sunday primetime. FOX trailed with 2.81 million viewers and a 1.6/3 for the night.

7 p.m. - Olympics coverage started primetime with 18.45 million viewers and a 5.0 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "60 Minutes" got new juice from an interview with Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, averaging 5.98 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating. ABC's repeat of "America's Funniest Home Videos" averaged 4.24 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, compared to the 1.99 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for FOX's repeats of "American Dad" and "The Cleveland Show."

8 p.m. - NBC stayed in first for the 8 p.m. hour with 28.19 million viewers and a 7.9 rating among adults 18-49 for Olympics coverage. CBS' "Big Brother" averaged 5.65 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating to give itself a bit of a cushion for second. ABC's "Secret Millionaire" was third with 3.97 million viewers and fourth with a 1.0 key demo rating. FOX's repeats of "The Simpsons" and "The Cleveland Show" finished fourth with 2.955 million viewers and third with a 1.5 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - NBC's Olympics telecast averaged 32.47 million viewers for the 9 p.m. portion of the Closing Ceremonies, also rising to a 9.5 rating among adults 18-49. CBS was second overall with 3.565 million viewers for a repeat of "Criminal Minds," which was third with a 1.0 key demo rating. FOX's repeats of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" averaged 3.48 million viewers for third and a 1.7 key demo rating for second. ABC was fourth with the 2.6 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition."

10 p.m. - With 58 minutes of Olympics coverage and two minutes of "Animal Practice," NBC won the 10 p.m. hour with 28.57 million viewers and an 8.9 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' repeat of "The Mentality" averaged 3.66 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating, compared with ABC's 3.055 million viewers and 1.0 key demo rating for "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition."

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

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

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Discuss TV Ratings on HitFix Message Boards »

Kevin

Great ratings for NBC, it'll be interesting to see if they get even a slight bump moving forward.
By the way, is "The Mentality" a spinoff of "The Mentalist" that explains why Simon Baker does the things he does?
August 13, 2012 at 12:30PM EST Reply to Comment
- Balaji K Haha. Talking about spin-offs...I wonder if Dan or Alan will do a review of "Major Crimes." Usually, the review would have been up by now, if there was going to be one. It doesn't hurt asking.
  August 13, 2012 at 1:41PM EST

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TV Ratings: NBC's Olympics Closing Ceremony dominates Sunday

Big numbers turn out for the Spice Girls reunion and more