NBC Olympics’ #1 Streak Continues: NBC Summer Olympics Tops in Primetime for 134 Consecutive Nights
Primetime Coverage of Tokyo Olympics Closing Ceremony Tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBC
STAMFORD, Conn. – August 8, 2021 – NBC’s Tokyo Olympics coverage continued its dominance of primetime TV through Saturday’s final night of competition, which featured the U.S. women’s basketball team winning its seventh consecutive gold medal and the U.S. women’s volleyball team capturing gold for the first time.
NBC’s Tokyo Olympics competition coverage delivered 11 of primetime TV’s 25 most watched shows in 2021 (chart below).
In addition, the Tokyo Olympics has extended the event’s streak as the most dominant in media, easily winning primetime for 134 consecutive Summer Olympics nights.
NBC concludes its Tokyo Olympics coverage tonight at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT with the Closing Ceremony, hosted by Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski, and Johnny Weir from Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Lewis Johnson serves as reporter.
Mike Tirico opens tonight’s primetime coverage on NBC at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT with Tokyo Gold, a look back at the Games’ most memorable performances, including Steve Kornacki with some of the Games’ most unique stories.
MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME SHOWS IN 2021, TV ONLY
| Show, Date | Avg. Viewers |
| CBS Super Bowl LV (Chiefs-Bucs), 2/7/21 | 92.5 million |
| CBS AFC Championship (Bills-Chiefs), 1/24/21 | 42.3 million |
| FOX NFC Divisional (Bucs-Saints), 1/17/21 | 36.3 million |
| NBC AFC Divisional (Ravens-Bills), 1/16/21 | 26.3 million |
| NBC AFC Wild Card (Browns-Steelers), 1/10/21 | 24.9 million |
| NBC NFC Wild Card (Bucs-WFT), 1/9/21 | 21.5 million |
| CBS The Equalizer (post-Super Bowl), 2/7/21 | 20.5 million |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 2 (Sunday), 7/25/21 | 19.5 million* |
| ESPN CFP Semifinal (Ohio State-Clemson), 1/1/21 | 19.4 million* |
| ESPN CFP Championship (Ohio State-Alabama), 1/11/21 | 19.0 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 6 (Thursday), 7/29/21 | 18.9 million* |
| CBS Oprah Interview with Meghan & Harry, 3/7/21 | 17.9 million |
| CBS NCAA Men’s Bask. Champ. (Baylor-Gonzaga), 4/5/21 | 16.9 million |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 11 (Tuesday), 8/3/21 | 16.9 million* |
| NBC Sunday Night Football (WFT-Eagles), 1/3/21 | 16.6 million |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 4 (Tuesday), 7/27/21 | 16.2 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 3 (Monday), 7/26/21 | 16.1 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 9 (Sunday), 8/1/21 | 15.6 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 10 (Monday), 8/2/21 | 15.3 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 1 (Saturday), 7/24/21 | 15.2 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 7 (Friday), 7/30/21 | 15.0 million* |
| CBS NCAA Men’s Bask. Semi (UCLA-Gonzaga), 4/3/21 | 14.94 million |
| CBS 60 Minutes, 1/10/21 | 14.82 million |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 5 (Wednesday), 7/28/21 | 14.5 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 8 (Saturday), 7/31/21 | 14.4 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 12 (Wednesday), 8/4/21 | 14.2 million* |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 13 (Thursday), 8/5/21 | 12.9 million* |
| ABC NBA Finals Game 6 (Suns-Bucks), 7/20/21 | 12.5 million |
| NBC Tokyo Olympics Day 14 (Friday), 8/6/21 | 12.0 million* |
| CBS 60 Minutes, 1/17/21 | 10.6 million |
Source: Nielsen, Live + Same Day Data; Excludes Pre- and Post-Shows (Official viewership for 8/6 will be available on Monday)
*Viewership across multiple television networks
ABOUT NBC OLYMPICS
A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic & Paralympic Games. NBC Olympics is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032. NBC Olympics also produces thousands of hours of Olympic & Paralympic sports programming throughout the year, which is presented on NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.
--NBC OLYMPICS–
