Saturday Ratings: The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Hits a Series Low

Saturday 7/31/21 Fast Affiliate Ratings

Total Viewers:
NBC: 9.29 million, CBS: 1.49, ABC: 1.27, Fox: 568,000

Adults 18-49:
NBC: 1.9 rating/17 share, ABC: 0.2/ 1, CBS and Fox: 01/ 1 each

Excluding streaming, night 8 of the Tokyo Summer Olympics on NBC dipped an estimated 9.29 million viewers and a 1.9 rating/17 share in adults 18-49 in primetime. No matter how NBC tries to spin this, this performance could very well be 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 8
Total Viewers
2021 – Tokyo: 9.29 million
2016 – Rio: 25.5 million
2012 – London: 28.0 million
2008 – Beijing: 31.6 million
2004 – Athens: 22.5 million
2000 – Sydney: 21.5 million

Adults 18-49 Rating
2021 – Tokyo: 1.9
2016 – Rio: 6.8
2012 – London: 8.6
2008 – Beijing: 10.6
2004 – Athens: 8.1
2000 – Sydney: 8.4

Elsewhere, the only other original program of the evening was PBC Fight Night (Coffie vs. Washington) at a mere 568,000 viewers and a 0.1/ 1 in adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m.

UPDATED 8/09/2021: What follows are the Live + Seven Day rating results for the night’s network telecasts on Saturday, July 31:

Source: Nielsen Media Research