Olympics ratings see first dip

The 20.1 overnight Nielsen rating for NBC’s Monday night coverage of the London Olympics was down five percent from the same night four years ago at the Beijing Games, according to the Sports Business Daily.

Monday night’s coverage featured swimmer Miss Franklin winning her first gold medal, in the 100-meter backstroke, in tape delayed coverage. The day four coverage in Beijing featured a live telecast of Michael Phelps winning the third of his eight gold medals during those Olympics.

Through three nights, NBC had a 19.2 final rating and 35.8 million viewers. Those marks were up 17 percent and 12 percent from four years ago, according to the Daily.

Meanwhile, NBC Sports Chair Mark Lazarus defended the network’s decision to use tape-delayed coverage.

“I think what we’ve proven is that the American viewing public likes the way we tell the story and wants to gather in front of the television with their friends and family -- even if they have the ability to watch it live either on television or digitally,” Lazarus told The Daily. “I inherently trust that decision is the right one and that people want to see these events.”