Sports

Shaun White Helps NBC Soar To Highest Olympics Ratings

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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Shaun White’s hunt for another gold medal helped NBC rake in its highest ratings of the 2018 Winter Olympics to date, according to Deadline.

White won his third gold medal in men’s snowboarding Tuesday as he landed back-to-back 1440s.

PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 14: Shaun White of the United States celebrates after his first run during the Snowboard Men's Halfpipe Final on day five of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics at Phoenix Snow Park on February 14, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Shaun White of the United States celebrates after his first run during the Snowboard Men’s Halfpipe Final on day five of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics at Phoenix Snow Park on February 14, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

That kind of excitement led to an overnight rating for NBC and NBCSN of 15.2/25 in metered market results. Those combined numbers are up by 5 percent from the same night of Winter Olympics coverage in 2016 from Sochi, Russia, which scored a 14.5/22. However, Sochi coverage was just on NBC, and the overnight ratings for just the network Tuesday night fall short of the coverage four years ago, with only a 14.0 rating.

With men’s snowboarding and pairs figure skating on the air, the network peaked from 10-10:15 p.m. Eastern Time with an overnight rating of 19.6/31.

In Nielsen’s fast national ratings, which are not timezone adjusted, Tuesday night’s coverage of the 23rd Winter Olympics drew a 5.2 rating among adults ages 18-49 and 20.1 million viewers.