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Skiing Tops Olympic TV Viewership, While Hockey Scores Online
Freestyle skiing, which includes men’s and women’s moguls competition, was the most popular Olympic sport among U.S. TV weekend viewers through February 15, according to a minute-by-minute analysis of viewing conducted by The Nielsen Company. Nielsen reported that during NBC’s primetime broadcast coverage, an average of 26.9 million viewers watched the freestyle events in the first weekend of Olympic competition.
Downhill skiing was the second most popular sport, with an average of 26.7 million viewers watching coverage of the event. Luge coverage earned an average of 26.2 million viewers on NBC through Monday night.
MOST VIEWED OLYMPIC SPORTS(through 2/15/10) | ||
---|---|---|
Rank | Sport | Avg. # of Viewers |
1 | Freestyle Skiing | 26,928,346 |
2 | Downhill Skiing | 26,689,344 |
3 | Luge | 26,157,455 |
4 | Snowboarding | 25,469,008 |
5 | Figure Skating | 25,448,801 |
6 | Speed Skating | 22,557,252 |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
Skiing might be most popular on TV, but in the blogosphere and in other online forums, the landscape is different. A Nielsen analysis of Internet buzz from February 9th to 18th shows that hockey is the most discussed Olympic sport online. Among all online messages related to winter Olympic sports, more than 30% were linked to hockey. Luge generated the second highest amount of buzz over that time, with almost 18%, followed by figure skating with 10% of Olympics sports buzz.
![olympic-buzz-by-sport olympic-buzz-by-sport](https://develop.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/olympic-buzz-by-sport.png)
Nielsen also found that Sony was the most watched primetime advertised brand, on average, in the first three nights of Olympic events. The company ran one ad that was viewed by 30.7 million people. A spot run by “We are the World’s” Haiti relief effort earned the second most viewers with 29.7 million viewers. Meanwhile, Nike’s advertising was viewed by 28.9 million viewers. On average, commercial brands were viewed by an average of 24.7 million viewers.
A ranking of average audiences for all ads run by each brand during primetime broadcast Olympic coverage through the first three nights of competition is listed below:
Average Prime Commercial Viewership, By Advertiser | |
---|---|
Parent Company | # of Persons 2+ (000) |
SONY CORP | 30,702 |
NEW BRAND PARENT (We Are The World) | 29,742 |
NIKE INC | 28,899 |
LIBERTY MEDIA CORP | 28,291 |
BEST BUY CO INC | 27,623 |
DAIMLER AG | 27,504 |
E TRADE FINANCIAL CORP | 27,500 |
DIRECTV HOLDINGS | 27,319 |
SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC | 27,022 |
VOLKSWAGEN AG | 26,819 |
NATL AMUSEMENTS INC | 26,612 |
KELLOGG CO | 26,400 |
SEARS HOLDINGS CORP | 26,399 |
MARQUIS JET PARTNERS INC | 26,399 |
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE CO | 26,250 |
TIME WARNER INC | 26,159 |
US GOVERNMENT | 26,116 |
AT&T INC | 26,001 |
MICROSOFT CORP | 25,798 |
AMERICAN COALITION FR CLN CL ELCTRY | 25,655 |
STICHTING ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV | 25,626 |
PROCTER & GAMBLE CO | 25,605 |
DOMINOS PIZZA INC | 25,581 |
APPLE INC | 25,545 |
PFIZER INC | 25,454 |
WAL-MART STORES INC | 25,429 |
ALLSTATE CORP | 25,203 |
PROGRESSIVE CORP | 25,123 |
FORD MOTOR CO | 25,120 |
SWATCH GROUP LTD | 24,993 |
PROMO | 24,960 |
AFLAC INC | 24,849 |
HERSHEY CO | 24,813 |
DOCTORS ASSOC INC | 24,732 |
HALLMARKS CARDS INC | 24,725 |
Average | 24,717 |
TARGET CORP | 24,677 |
BMW | 24,563 |
CARNIVAL CORP | 24,523 |
MCDONALDS CORP | 24,506 |
BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB/SANOFI PHRMCTL | 24,486 |
GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO | 24,418 |
FMR CORP | 24,386 |
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO | 24,208 |
COCA-COLA CO | 24,205 |
HONDA MOTOR CO LTD | 24,119 |
ZALE CORP | 24,100 |
GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC | 23,964 |
BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCE OF | 23,959 |
ASTRAZENECA PLC | 23,954 |
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD | 23,699 |
CHATTEM INC | 23,658 |
KIA MOTORS CORP | 23,521 |
PEPSICO INC | 23,309 |
MACYS INC | 23,262 |
VISA INTL | 23,140 |
SIGNET GROUP PLC | 23,092 |
FENWAY PARTNERS INC | 23,024 |
BANK OF AMERICA CORP | 22,801 |
CONAGRA FOODS INC | 22,589 |
AMERICAN PETROLEUM INST INC | 22,475 |
JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 22,225 |
WALT DISNEY CO | 21,531 |
BAIN CAPITAL LLC | 21,323 |
CH BOEHRINGER SOHN | 21,176 |
INTUIT INC | 20,975 |
TOYOTA MOTOR CORP | 20,852 |
H&R BLOCK INC | 20,610 |
NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD | 19,071 |
Source: The Nielsen Company |