Friday Ratings: The Summer 2020 Tokyo Olympics Spirals Downward

Friday 7/30/21 Fast Affiliate Ratings

Total Viewers:
NBC: 10.52 million, ABC: 2.26, Fox: 1.91, CBS: 1.70, CW: 611,000

Adults 18-49:
NBC: 2.3 rating/19 share, Fox: 0.5/ 4, ABC: 0.3/ 3, CBS: 0.2/ 2, CW: 0.1/ 1

Excluding streaming, night 7 of the Tokyo Summer Olympics on NBC dipped an estimated 10.52 million viewers and a 2.3 rating/19 share in adults 18-49 in primetime. No matter how NBC tries to spin this, this performance could very well be one of the lowest-rated nightly telecasts in the history of The Olympics — Summer and Winter.

As a reminder, results for any live sporting event via these fast affiliate results are always approximate.

For comparative purposes, here are the national rating results for the five most recent night 7 national rating results. While the inclusion of streaming will certainly give the Tokyo Summer Olympics a boost, it still pales in comparison the summer games in Rio, London, Beijing, Athens and Sydney.

Night 7
Total Viewers
2021 – Tokyo: 10.52 million
2016 – Rio: 31.2 million
2012 – London: 36.8 million
2008 – Beijing: 29.7 million
2004 – Athens: 31.7 million
2000 – Sydney: 23.0 million

Adults 18-49 Rating
2021 – Tokyo: 2.3
2016 – Rio: 9.1
2012 – London: 11.9
2008 – Beijing: 10.4
2004 – Athens: 11.7
2000 – Sydney: 9.3

In competing sports ratings, “WWE Friday Night Smackdown!” had a typical showing despite facing the Summer Olympics. See network averages above.

Elsewhere, CBS featured “Secret Celebrity Renovation” (Viewers: #3, 2.06 million; A18-49: #4, 0.2/ 2) and “Love Island” (Viewers: #4, 1.44 million; A18-49: #3t, 0.3/ 2 from 8-10 p.m.). And The CW aired the season premiere of drama “Burden of Proof” (Viewers: 633,000; A18-49: 0.1/ 1 at 8 p.m.) into “Dynasty” (Viewers: 590,000; A18-49: 0.1/ 1 at 9 p.m.).

UPDATED 8/08/2021: What follows are the Live + Seven Day rating results for the night’s network telecasts on Friday, July 30:

Source: Nielsen Media Research