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Thursday Ratings: The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Picks Up Stream From Wednesday, but Still Well Below Anticipated

Thursday Fast Affiliate Ratings

© by Image courtesy of NBCUniversal

Thursday 7/29/21 Fast Affiliate Ratings

Total Viewers:
NBC: 14.36 million, CBS: 2.31, ABC: 1.35, Fox: 1.18, CW: 445,000

Adults 18-49:
NBC: 3.2 rating/22 share, CBS: 0.5/ 3, ABC and Fox: 0.3/ 2 each, CW: 0.0/ 0

Excluding streaming, night 6 of the Tokyo Summer Olympics on NBC dipped an estimated 14.36 million viewers and a 3.2 rating/22 share in adults 18-49 in primetime. 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 5 national rating results. While the inclusion of streaming will certainly give the Tokyo Summer Olympics a boost, it still does not compare to the summer games in Rio, London, Beijing, Athens and Sydney.

Night 5
Total Viewers
2021 – Tokyo: 14.36 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: 3.2
2016 – Rio: 7.7 
2012 – London: 9.9
2008 – Beijing: 9.4
2004 – Athens: 10.4
2000 – Sydney: 8.8

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics will easily be the lowest rated Olympic games since they were first rated by Nielsen.

In competing sports ratings, the NBA Draft on ABC barely registered at 1.35 million viewers (#3) and a 0.3/ 2 in adults 18-49 (#3t) from 8-11 p.m. ET.

Elsewhere, CBS summer staple “Big Brother” was on the fast affiliate ratings map with 3.72 million viewers and a 0.9/ 6 in adults 18-49 — second in both categories — in the Wednesday 8 p.m. ET hour. And it led into also second place “Love Island” at 1.71 million viewers (#3) and a 0.4/ 3 in the demo (#2) at 9 p.m.

The only other original telecast of the evening was The CW drama “The Outpost” at just 447,000 viewers with no rating in the demo in the 9 p.m. hour.

UPDATED 8/07/2021: What follows are the Live + Seven Day rating results for the night’s network telecasts on Thursday, July 29:

NBA Draft on ABC (S) (ABC)
• Updated Live+Same Day: 1.467 million viewers, 0.37 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+3: 1.476 million viewers, 0.37 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+7: 1.476 million viewers, 0.37 adults 18-49 rating
• Gains: +0.009 million viewers (+1%), +0.00 adults 18-49 rating (+1%)

Big Brother 23 (CBS)
• Updated Live+Same Day: 3.858 million viewers, 0.89 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+3: 4.754 million viewers, 1.22 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+7: 4.957 million viewers, 1.29 adults 18-49 rating
• Gains: +1.099 million viewers (+28%), +0.40 adults 18-49 rating (+45%)

Love Island (CBS)
• Updated Live+Same Day: 1.778 million viewers, 0.40 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+3: 2.177 million viewers, 0.54 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+7: 2.301 million viewers, 0.59 adults 18-49 rating
• Gains: +0.523 million viewers (+29%), +0.19 adults 18-49 rating (+46%)

Summer Olympics Thursday Prime 1 (S) (NBC)
• Updated Live+Same Day: 16.186 million viewers, 3.64 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+3: 16.729 million viewers, 3.77 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+7: 16.833 million viewers, 3.79 adults 18-49 rating
• Gains: +0.647 million viewers (+4%), +0.15 adults 18-49 rating (+4%)

The Outpost (CW)
• Updated Live+Same Day: 0.445 million viewers, 0.04 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+3: 0.545 million viewers, 0.05 adults 18-49 rating
• Live+7: 0.600 million viewers, 0.05 adults 18-49 rating
• Gains: +0.155 million viewers (+35%), +0.01 adults 18-49 rating (+38%)

Source: Nielsen Media Research

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