TV Ratings: Rio Hits Competition Low on Friday

August 13, 2016 9:00am PT by Michael O'Connell

NBC's showing dips at the end of the first full-week of events for the 2016 Summer Games.

The Rio Olympics wrapped its first full week of competition on Friday night with more Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and a primetime kickoff for track and field. 

Fast-affiliate ratings give NBC's primetime showing for the games, between 8 and 11 p.m., 23.9 million viewers and an 6.3 rating among adults 18-49. That's down from the night before and the lowest showing for a competitive night to date, but that's to be expected given the lineup and Friday's status as a typically slower night for TV viewers. (The same Friday four years ago in London averaged 26.9 million viewers and a 8.1 rating in the key demo.)

Coverage also scored an overnight rating of a 15.9 among households, with 28 share placing it in more than a quarter of all TV-viewing homes. 

Heading into Friday night, the NBC-only coverage of the Rio Olympics has been averaging 28.7 million viewers and a 15.9 household rating.

Those numbers are still down from London four years ago, but NBC Sports continues to see record returns from streaming. Live-streamed minutes of the Rio Games have now reached 1.5 billion.