Simone Biles and her Team USA gymnastics teammates captured the gold medal Tuesday in the team final, and they helped propel NBC to a historic afternoon ratings performance.
According to an NBC Sports release, Tuesday’s live coverage of the women’s gymnastics team final, broadcast from 12:15-2:30 p.m. (ET), averaged 12.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, ranking it among NBC’s most-watched Olympic weekday day events in history. It’s important to note most of that fell outside the 2-5 p.m. (ET) “Paris Prime” window that’s more viewer-friendly.
Those are huge numbers, not just for gymnastics, or the Olympics, but for any sports event, especially in that weekday daytime slot.
More comparisons to consider: The 2023 World Series averaged a record-low 9.1 million viewers while the gymnastics viewership ranked slightly behind the men’s NCAA Tournament championship game between UConn and Purdue, which averaged 14.8 million viewers. (The South Carolina-Iowa women’s national title game drew a record 18.9 million viewers.)
NBC posted a Total Audience Delivery of 34.7 million viewers Tuesday, with competition also including several U.S. medals in swimming and a bronze medal for the U.S. women’s rugby team.
To say the Paris Olympics are off to a smashing start for the network is an understatement. NBC averaged 32.4 million viewers for Saturday’s opening day of competition, an 83% increase for the Tokyo Olympics opening day in 2021.
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.