Saturday Ratings: The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Plungers Further

Saturday 8/07/21 Fast Affiliate Ratings

Total Viewers:
NBC: 7.37 million, CBS: 1.68, ABC: 1.45, Fox: 572,000

Adults 18-49:
NBC: 1.4 rating/13 share, ABC: 0.2/ 2, CBS and Fox: 0.1/ 1

Excluding streaming, night 15 of the Tokyo Summer Olympics on NBC dipped to its lowest primetime delivery with a modest 7.37 million viewers and a 1.4 rating/13 share in adults 18-49. The bottom line: The overall traditional ratings performance for these games makes you wonder if NBC, or any broadcast network, would want to pay the high cost to air them again.

The only other original telecast of the evening was the PBC Fight Night on Fox, Crowley vs. Maestre, who barely resonated at just 572,000 viewers and a 0.1/ 1 in adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. ET.

For comparative purposes, here is the track for the last six set of Summer Olympics for night 15 in the two categories.

Night 15
Total Viewers
2021 – Tokyo: 7.37 million
2016 – Rio: 15.4 million
2012 – London: 21.8 million
2008 – Beijing: 16.8 million
2004 – Athens: 18.0 million
2000 – Sydney: 16.3 million

Adults 18-49 Rating
2021 – Tokyo: 1.4
2016 – Rio: 3.8
2012 – London: 6.2
2008 – Beijing: 5.1
2004 – Athens: 5.7
2000 – Sydney: 5.9

UPDATED 8/16/2021: What follows are the Live + Seven Day rating results for the night’s network telecasts on Saturday, August 7:

Source: Nielsen Media Research