With 97 million viewers tuning in for the first two days of the Vancouver Olympics on NBC networks, the total audience is up 9 million over the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. That marks the highest viewership since the 1994 Lillehammer games, which were fueled by the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding scandal. Saturday night’s average 26.2 million viewers put it 13 percent higher than the first Saturday night of the 2006 games.
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These Olympics are awesome – way better than any other ones. Especially Salt Lake City. Those ones sucked.
Could you elaborate on that? I have no idea what you mean.
I mean that the Olympics in Salt Lake City SUCKED. As in, they were horrible. And Vancouver’s RULES! So to recap: Vancouver rules, USA sucks!
Holly is the reason you didn’t like the Salt Lake Olympics was because they actually ‘sucked’ or because you hate the U.S? You didn’t say anything about Torino so I’m assuming it’s the U.S. The Salt Lake Olympics were great and so are the Vancouver. Why is this a war? If I remember right when I went to the SL Olympics there were a very large amount of Canadians there. Did they suck too?
Canada is winter all the time, and yet it took forever to finally win a gold medal on home turf – major suckage
I think Holly is 12.
Being a Candian.. I loved the Salt Lake City winter games!!! Torino was boring and we came in 3rd overall. The only thing that was interesting was that USA wasn’t number one which is like every year.
Holly’s A HO sorry to burst your bubble but Canada isn’t winter all the time. Sure some of it is but where I live we hardly ever get snow! The area that I live in is a desert. Our sister city is Palm Springs.
Sorry Vancouver is known as the city that rains. Very unusual for Whistler but don’t assume that all of Canada is a snow covered place.
Oh and Holly please don’t give us Canadian’s a bad name!! Thank you.
Rude people suck!!
Holly you are ignerent Canadian USA rules go back to Canda and your Eskimo igloo you dumb spearchuckers at least we have a army unlike you wimps
lol @ “ignerent”
You see Juan, you are a typical American who proves my point – you can’t even spell! And we have an army; in fact we were in World War I and II before you guys! And we have never lost a war – Vietnam much? Face it: Canada rules “suckas”!
I am Canadian and two of you are are acting like ignorant children. The Olympics are a time to set aside differences and compete in honour of your country. No country sucks. Juan and Holly, grow up. You embarass your country and Olympic athletes with your ignorance.
Holly you do realize you’re from Canada right? Like…Canada. Our hat.
Holly I’m a Vietnam Vet and you need a good smack upside your head – I can tell your a young kid but we saved you guys back in Vietnam, we didn’t lose nothing. You Canucks seem to forget that we could wipe you out anytime we like.
First off… I LOVE how an ignorant American spelt ignorant as “ignerent.” JUST PRICELESS. But I must say, I’d much rather be American (which I am) than a Canadian.
Earl, some might say bragging about your big guns might be overcompensation for something else.
Juan, everything you said was racist and rude. Holly everything you said was rude and not very Canadian! Play nice, get into the spirit of the games or step off! You are killin’ my buzz!
Go screw yourself. We don’t live in freaking igloos you racist loser.
Hey Holly, I would LOVE to see your country even try and pick a war with the US. How dare you even bring up Vietnam you ignorant little b****. And these games are for countries to put their differences aside and just compete for the sake of sport. I’m sure Canadians that read your comments will be so proud of you.
Holly, if you were half intelligent, you might actually use a REASON or some LOGIC to support your statement. Saying the Salt Lake games sucked and the Vancouver ones rule tells us nothing. It’s like saying you hated a movie “because it sucked” without a reason. “I hate Canada because it’s bad!” Well, what’s bad? See what you’re missing there? Either you’re 12 years old, or you’re insanely infantile and ignorant.
NBC might lose money, but for a few weeks at least they’ll have good ratings. The endless promos for “Parenthood” and “The Marriage Ref” are tiresome. I feel like I have already seen these shows.
Oh I know – the Marriage Ref show looks awful! I mean, they are showing us the “highlights,” and I’m like, that looks so bad! Jerry Seinfeld has had years off to think of a new project, and that’s the best idea he could come up with? Yikes.
It’s cause the games are live. When they are not, people don’t really watch when they can just go online and see the results. Being in the western hemisphere doesn’t hurt and Canadians are family.
Aww, thanks Sharlin
Not all are live. I’ve already checked to see who won the men’s downhill, though I am emjoying the cross-country right now.
Oops! “enjoying”
I agree….it is so nice to see most of the stuff live! NBC hasn’t been spending a ton of time with all the sob story packages…they are busy jumping back and forth showing a ton of competitors. I don’t mind a small background story here or there but some years they are just ridiculous. I love seeing all the events live!
They aren’t live on the WEST coast. I know I have enjoyed them much more than past games, My husband is Canadian so there is a little more excitement in our house. GO WORLD!!! I do want to hear when countries other than the US’s National Anthems!!
Actually only last night’s Pairs Figure Skating Short Program was aired live. Everything else was aired 1.5 hrs after the event actually happened. It’s annoying because by logging on the internet at any point, you’re bound to see the results before the event!!!
I’m also convinced that HD is part of this. I haven’t cared about the Olympics since I was 12 (almost 20 years ago). Now I can’t stop watching because they just looks so phenomenal on the flat panel HD TV.
I am a big fan of the Olympics in general, but I have to agree with jim- they look awesome in HD. That’s got to be helping the ratings.
Totally loving the Olympics in HD – even more amazing with surround sound, too!!
agreed!!! Love it
Loving the Olympics right now. But is there anyone else wishing there could be another crazy Olympic scandal like the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding one? Not that I want to see someone get hurt, but seriously, that was such an entertaining scandal. Who didn’t have a good time making fun of Jeff Gillooly?
We already had a death-not cool
I’m not hoping for someone to die. I explicitly said that in my post. I don’t want to see athletes getting hurt. Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death was tragic. All I said is that it would be interesting if there were some kind of scandal.
I still refuse to watch them because NBC has decided to tape delay them on the west coast. I just get all the information I want online.
BOYCOTT THE NBC IF YOU LIVE ON THE WEST COAST!!! DO NOT WATCH THESE GAMES!!!
Aw sucks to be you. At least you don’t live in the midwest where they just make you watch everything an hour early. Who the hell wants to watch TV at 7?
If our neighbours to the South have a way to do it and can pick Canadian signals up on satellite, try watching CTV out of Canada – all live, no sob stories, no blathering announcers….I mostly watch that, but I flick to NBC to see what I might have missed earlier in the day…LOL
Normally I’d agree sarah, but this time things are different. NBC is covering the entire event (seriously, they seem to really love us), and the non-event stories are for the most part pretty good. I find that with CTV bringing in the eTalk hosts and MuchMusic people they’ve made things kind of tacky and annoying. There are only so many shots of drunk people in Whistler I can handle.
What events are you watching that NBC is showing all of? (Sorry if the grammar is bad.) Not figure skating, speed skating, ski jumping, Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing . . . And the background stories get a bit much when you have to see them every time the event is shown or, if the athlete in question is Apolo Ohno, every ten minutes regardless of the event being broadcast – I swear, I probably will know his bathroom schedule by the end of the Olympics.
Sarah – you’re right on when it comes to CTV – I watched lots of live Olympic events in previous years when I lived near Detroit. Much more exciting live, as long as you can stand the “ehs” and “aboots.”
Three channels in canada TSN, CTV, and Sportsnet. Usually get all the events you want to watch
ZZZZzzzz….
That Seinfeld show is going to be a huge disaster for that network and they want to preview it in two weeks time. I hope it tanks bad and Parenthood just doesn’t have a chance. As for Chuck, if the writers are screwing around with the storylines, people aren’t going to be too happy and will be turning that showboff as well. Besides the Olympics, can’t NBC do anything right these days?
I don’t seethat Seinfeld-raden trashfest of a show surviving past a few weeks and as for parenthood, that show will be DOA after two episodes. Chuck fans, I’m hearing are furious over changesin storyline and that doesn’t bode well for NBC either. Can’t this network do anything right nowadays?
Watching all those NBC promos make me not want to watch those shows actually
I’m sick of results being plastered on front of every news webpage. For Gawd’s sake just put a link “Latest Vancouver Results Here” and let the rest of us be surprised when we watch TV. If I know who will win, why bother watching later???
As an Olympics fan, I am thoroughly disgusted by NBC’s coverage. Let me count the ways that it sucks:
1) Too many commercials – seriously, we should see MORE sports coverage than commercials
2) Tape Delay – we live in Seattle. By the time NBC decides that it is time for us to be allowed to watch the Olympics, it has happened three hours ago for us. And then, NBC posts all of the results on their website. Not to mention everyone else in the world. It is OBSCENE THAT NBC TAPE DELAYS FOR THE WEST COAST. Half of the magic of the Olympics is watching events LIVE – even if it is in the middle of the day.
3) NBC has prohibited the CBUT affiliate (CBC in Vancouver) from broadcasting the Olympics in our market. We have no chance of seeing any decent Olympic coverage.
4) Did I mention the commercials??? TOO MANY DAMN COMMERCIALS
5) Over-produced exposes done by the likes of Al Michaels and Brian Williams. I have heard enough hard luck stories about athletes overcoming obstacles to be their best, but do you have to make a mountain out of a mole hill??? Case in point – Bode Miller. Yes the guy partied in Torino – wouldn’t you? Give the guy a break and stick to reporting the sports action and NBC shouldn’t try and be TMZ.
6) TOO MANY COMMERCIALS
7) Edited sports coverage. Just because I live in the US doesn’t mean that I ONLY want to see the US teams compete. The Olympics is an opportunity to see athletes from around the world compete. Apparently NBC doesn’t think that we’re interested though.
8) Fluff pieces and cross marketing with that new dragon movie. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! Isn’t it enough that NBC is airing commercials ad nauseum – they have to do this crap with a cartoon movie?? Seeing Bob Costas introduce “what snowboarding may have been like 1000 years ago” was not only ridiculous but insulting.
9) Commercials. Seriously. Too Many Commercials!!!!!!!!
10) Tape Delay – I’ve said it already, but you know, I can’t stay up until 11:00 to watch the Olympics. We couldn’t even stay up to watch all of the opening ceremonies. We just went online to see who lit the torch (since it happened THREE HOURS PRIOR).
Instead of playing down to the audience, why doesn’t NBC smarten it up a bit? It may have surprising results for NBC and it will keep my poor husband from having to hear my rants as SOON as the Olympics start.
P.S. Did I mention that there are too many commercials?? Just checking…
Ha. Agree with the tape delay. Very annoying since it’s so close away. It’s really hard to get excited over things that have already happened and you can find out results online. The dragon movie tie in’s are annoying too. At first it was like ‘oh, that’s interesting’, pixar-yay. Now it is annoying and has nothing to do with the Olympics even if Bob Costas into’s them. One other thing that has bugged me, is since it’s taped…do they need to cut away to other events? Can’t we watch ice skating and then afterwards go to snowboarding? Going back and forth takes away any excitment for the event I’m watching. Then when they cut back it feels like we missed stuff. Didn’t they used to have events on other chanels so they didn’t have to do that? Love the Olympics though…just wish it was live.