27 August 2008 10:35 AM, PDT | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news
NBC's telecast of the Beijing Olympics last week left its competition in the dust as each day of coverage took one of the top-seven spots on Nielsen Media Research's ratings list. The "Beijing Closing Party" took an eighth. Overall, the network's primetime coverage averaged 23.3 million viewers with 27.8 million tuning in to Sunday's closing ceremonies. While the ratings of all of the other networks' primetime programs sagged under the weight of the Olympics' audience, the Fox and CBS coverage of preseason football was particularly hard hit, with each game drawing just over 4 million viewers. But the biggest loser of all may have been ABC/Disney's High School Musical: Get in the Picture, which debuted with critics' predictions of a sure-fire hit. But initial ratings for the show proved to be lackluster, and by last week fewer than 2 million viewers tuned in. Commented Washington Post TV writer Lisa de Moraes, "Since July, this show has managed to frighten off almost 50 percent of the crowd that was at least curious enough to watch the first episode."
The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. Summer Olympics (Tuesday), NBC, 16.3/27; 2. Summer Olympics (Monday), NBC, 15.8/26; 3. Summer Olympics (Closing Ceremonies), NBC, 15.5/25; 4. Summer Olympics (Wednesday), NBC, 15.2/26; 5. Summer Olympics (Thursday), NBC, 13.8/23; 6. Summer Olympics: Beijing Closing Party, NBC, 12.3/21; 7. Summer Olympics (Friday), NBC, 10.7/19; 8. Summer Olympics (Saturday), NBC, 10.3/19; 9. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 5.3/8; 10. NCIS, CBS, 5.2/9.
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