Fast National ratings for Friday, February 7, 2014.
NBC may have been airing the Opening Ceremony for the Sochi Winter Olympics hours after the rest of the world saw the pageantry and staggered based on time zones, but American viewers appear to have accepted it. The Olympics kick-off, which after a strongly rated “bonus” night of coverage, comfortably swept past the limited competition on Friday night.
The only real network competition against the Olympics on Friday was FOX’s “Enlisted”/”Raising Hope” block and while Sochi took a reasonably large bite out of the comedies overall, “Enlisted” was only down by 0.1 in the key demo and “Raising Hope” was flat.
On to the numbers…
[Remember that NBC’s Olympics coverage started at 7:30 and ran through 11:30, but these ratings reflect the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. portion of that coverage.]
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged an 8.6 rating for Friday night, comfortably winning the key demographic. ABC was second with a 1.1 key demo rating, followed by CBS’ 0.8 key demo rating, FOX’s 0.7 key demo rating and the 0.2 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 31.74 million viewers to go with a 17.1 rating/27 share for Friday primetime. CBS was second with 5.58 million viewers and a 3.7/6, topping ABC’s 2.9/5 and 4.67 million viewers. FOX was fourth for the night with 2.41 million viewers and a 1.6/3, followed by The CW’s 0.6/1 and 826,000 viewers.
8 p.m. – NBC’s Olympics coverage, already in progress, averaged 31.1 million viewers and an 8.0 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 8 p.m. hour. CBS’ repeat of “Undercover Boss” averaged 5.04 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating for second, topping the 4.39 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for two repeats of “Last Man Standing” on ABC. FOX’s repeat of “Bones” averaged 3.07 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating. The CW’s airing of the movie “Attack the Block” averaged 922,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – The Olympics rose to 34.64 million viewers and a 9.4 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS’ repeat of “Hawaii Five-0” was second overall with 4.99 million viewers and tied for third with a 0.7 key demo rating, compared to the 4.63 million viewers and 1.2 key demo rating for ABC’s “Shark Tank” repeat. FOX was fourth overall and tied for third in the key demo with episodes of “Enlisted” (1.8 million and a 0.7 key demo) and “Raising Hope” (1.68 million and a 0.6 key demo). The CW’s movie averaged 731,000 viewers and a 0.1 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – NBC closed primetime in first with 29.49 million viewers and an 8.4 rating among adults 18-49 for the Sochi opening. CBS’ “Blue Bloods” repeat averaged 6.71 million viewers for second and a 0.7 key demo rating for third, compared to the 4.98 million viewers and 1.2 key demo rating for ABC’s “20/20.”
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.