Athens Is Most-Watched Non-U.S. Summer Games

Television coverage for the Olympics attracted 203 million total, unduplicated viewers in the U.S., according to NBC and Nielsen Media Research.

That made the Athens Games, which were televised on seven NBC networks, the most-watched non-U.S. Summer Olympics, topping the 194 million for the 1988 Seoul Games.

The 203 million represents about 70% of the U.S. population of 293 million. The cable coverage drew an estimated 69-million viewers.

NBC said the Athens Games were watched at one time or another in 86% of the 93-million U.S. television households.

NBC’s 17-day prime-time coverage dominated the competition, winning all 101 half-hours in prime-time. There was an average of 24.6-million viewers per half hour, a 14% increase from the 21.5 million for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“The multiple platform strategy worked exactly the way we hoped it would,” said Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports and Olympics chairman.

NBC’s 17-day Athens telecasts averaged a 15.0 national rating and 26 share, up 9% over the 13.8/24 for Sydney in 2000. Sunday’s closing ceremony telecast got an 11.9 rating.

Salt Lake City drew the highest average rating and share among the nation’s 55 metered markets, a 26.0 with a 45. Five West Coast markets finished in the top 10 -- Portland second at 21.8/38, San Francisco fourth at 21.5/37, San Diego eighth at 20.1/35 and Sacramento ninth at 19.5/33.

Los Angeles ranked 20th with an 18.5/32.

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Larry Stewart

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Erin Mirabella of La Habra left Athens on Monday without the bronze medal that the International Olympic Committee declared one day earlier she should have gotten. Colombia’s Maria Luisa Calle Williams was disqualified from the Athens Games after testing positive for a prohibited stimulant, a move that bumped Mirabella from fourth place to third.

“I am very excited, but I am disappointed that I didn’t get a medal ceremony,” Mirabella said to friends and relatives in an e-mail obtained by Associated Press.

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Cornelius Horan, 57, a defrocked Irish priest, was given a one-year suspended sentence and fined $3,600 Monday for grabbing a runner who was leading the Olympic marathon.

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From Associated Press