NBC Hits Ratings Gold With Olympics Coverage

It may be chilly in Vancouver (well, if you consider low-50s chilly), but NBC's ratings for the opening weekend of the Winter Games have proved to be surprisingly hot stuff.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, NBC has averaged an unexpected 28.6 million viewers over the first three days of its Olympics coverage, which marks a 25 percent increase over the 2006 Torino Games.

Reports indicate that those numbers also mark the highest non-U.S. Winter Games debut since as far back as 1994, when the Lillehammer Games got a boost from the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding Figure Skating scandal, in which Harding allegedly covered up a conspiracy between her ex-husband and bodyguard to attack her competitor, Kerrigan, during a practice session.It may be chilly in Vancouver (well, if you consider low-50s chilly), but NBC's ratings for the opening weekend of the Winter Games have proved to be surprisingly hot stuff.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, NBC has averaged an unexpected 28.6 million viewers over the first three days of its Olympics coverage, which marks a 25 percent increase over the 2006 Torino Games.

Reports indicate that those numbers also mark the highest non-U.S. Winter Games debut since as far back as 1994, when the Lillehammer Games got a boost from the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding figure skating scandal, in which Harding allegedly covered up a conspiracy between her ex-husband and bodyguard to attack her competitor, Kerrigan, during a practice session.

Although this year's event is so far lacking any ratings-bumping conspiracy theories, the Games may have received publicity following the tragic death of Georgian luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili on Friday, an incident that dominated headlines over the weekend.

NBC decided to show footage of the crash twice over the course of the weekend: once on the 'Nightly News' and again before the start its Opening Ceremony coverage. Critics seem divided over whether the decision was exploitative or tasteful.

According to THR, NBC boasted an impressive 117 million viewers over the first three days of coverage, if counting the number of viewers who sampled at least six minutes of the show. For viewers interested in home victories, Sunday's coverage saw Johnny Spillane win the first ever U.S. medal (Silver) in the sport of Nordic Combined Skiing. The U.S. currently leads the medal count, with eight (two Gold; two Silver; four Bronze).

Good ratings for NBC? Now might be a good time for one of those USA! chants.