NBC is still bringing in big ratings for its coverage of the Rio Olympics, but the network appears to have hit its lowest viewership of the games so far Wednesday night.
The network’s primetime coverage drew 20.5 million viewers on Wednesday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, according to early numbers. This was just shy of the 20.6 million that watched NBC’s primetime coverage on the first night of competition Saturday, August 6. But it was well below the 29.1 million who watched the same night in 2012 during the London games.
Wednesday’s night coverage, which included track and field, beach volleyball and diving, also netted the lowest rating of these Olympics for those in the 18-to 49 year old demo with a 5.8.
Preliminary numbers can change and the network may see an uptick when final numbers for Wednesday night are released later Thursday afternoon.
Even though these ratings were relatively low, NBC still beat its broadcast rivals by a hefty margin.
NBC’s primetime overnight rating of 14.4 Wednesday night more than doubled the combined total of ABC, CBS, and Fox.
NBC’s coverage of the Rio Olympics comes to a close on Sunday.