Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Usain Bolt and Simone Biles all struck gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. And while NBC’s wall-to-wall coverage across 11 linear networks with 6,755 hours of programming was herculean, the prime-time ratings for the Peacock’s broadcast ultimately fell short of the 2012 London Games.
Through the first 13 nights of Rio 2016, including the opening ceremony, NBC averaged 26.7 million total viewers, a 14 percent drop from the 2012 average of 31.1 million.
