NBC's Tokyo Olympics viewership gets off to rough start

Olympics, NBC Universal got the kind of picture that it pays for: Kevin Durant, draped in the American flag, exulting in the U.S.

Viewership for NBC’s coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics continued to fall as Thursday evening delivered both the lowest-rated and least-watched day. Per overnight numbers, NBC’s Thursday night coverage aired to 10.4 million viewers and earned a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demo. Thursday’s numbers fell below last Friday and last Saturday, which first marked the showings with the  smallest audience and lowest ratings, respectively.

As the 2020 Olympics start to wind down, more athletes are awarded with shiny gold, silver and bronze medals and fans might be wondering just how much they make from their wins.

Let’s just say that Liam Hemsworth‘s look-alike at the Olympics is as close to a fourth Hemsworth brother as we’ll ever get. Fans of the Hunger Games alum were stunned when they spotted his doppelgänger during the Tokyo Summer Games, and honestly, we can see why.

She is the first American woman to win the 800m since the 1968 Mexico City Games. #TokyoOlympicspic.twitter.com/WmJq2dYulrPrior to earning bronze in this 800-meter final, the 24-year-old Rogers earned a second-place finish in the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

UPDATED, 3:52 PM: NBC’s Tokyo Olympics primetime coverage netted around 10.5 million linear viewers on Friday, the smallest audience of the games for the network so far. Over the same night of the Rio Olympics, NBC’s primetime viewership was down 56%.

All that shines eventually loses its luster over time and viewership for NBC’s coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is no exception. Wednesday evening continued a downward trend in primetime ratings for the global sporting event on NBC, airing to 12.5 million viewers and earning a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 demo, per overnight numbers. Viewership fell 16% in viewers and six tenths in rating from Tuesday (3.5, 14.9M).

Sunisa “Suni” Lee is officially an Olympic gold medalist. The 18-year-old American gymnast won the women’s all-around title at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday (July 29), thus securing her first-ever individual Olympic gold medal.

Olympic Games title in the women's gymnastics all-around. She edged Rebeca Andrade of Brazil in an entertaining and hotly contested final while Simone Biles cheered from the stands.

Sunisa Lee – who goes by Suni - has won the gold medal in the Olympic women’s all-around gymnastics final on Thursday (July 29) in Tokyo, Japan!

Coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on NBC stabilized Tuesday evening airing to 14.9 million viewers and earning a 3.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic in overnight ratings. Tuesday’s viewership stats matched Monday’s, but fell six tenths in ratings from the previous night. With a steadying viewership and despite a dip in ratings, NBC continues to shine in primetime.

Luciana Alvarado took advantage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rule that now allows athletes to protest for a passionate cause. Right after finishing her floor routine, the 18-year-old sport star wrapped up by taking a knee and lifting her fist in support of Black Lives Matter and demand justice and equal rights to Black and Brown communities.

Simone Biles' shocking withdrawal from the team gymnastics competition at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, her fellow athletes and famous fans are sending messages of support.The defending gold medalist in vault, floor exercise, all-around and the team competition, Biles left the competition floor with the Team USA medical trainer after her first rotation on the vault.

Trouble in Tokyo. Athletes and celebrities are speaking out after Simone Biles withdrew from the gymnastics final at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, July 27.

Team USA – Sunisa Lee, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum – took home the silver medal at the 2021 Olympics for the women’s team all-around gymnastics final on Tuesday (July 27) in Tokyo, Japan.

UPDATE, 06:03AM: Russia caused an upset in the Olympic Gymnastics Team Final by scooping the gold medal ahead of favorites the U.S., who lost star Simone Biles to an injury earlier today. The result ends a decade of dominance in the event for the American team, which won golden in 2012 and 2016. Great Britain took the bronze, its first medal in the competition since 1928, finishing narrowly ahead of Italy.

The primetime ratings for the opening ceremony at the Tokyo Olympics aren’t modeling the Games’ time-honored motto. They’re not being delivered faster, and they certainly aren’t stronger or higher.