It seems the denizens of the Washington, D.C. television market did not care a bit that NBC chose to air the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremonies on tape delay, as D.C. posted the second highest ratings for Friday evening's dramatic, powerful, and at times over the top, opening spectacle. Via @NBCSportsPR:
Top markets for Opening Ceremony on NBC: San Diego 27.8 Washington D.C. 26.8 West Palm Beach 26.8 Salt Lake City 26.6 Denver 26.4 #Olympics
— NBCSportsPR (@NBCSportsPR) July 28, 2012
John Ourand of Sports Business Journal adds this on the overall ratings:
BC's much maligned tape-delay strategy around the opening ceremony brought in a huge overnight rating. The network says that it delivered a 23.0 rating/40 share for Friday night's event, the biggest overnight for a non-U.S. Olympics opening ceremony.
Viewers with a cable, satellite, or telco subscription can also view all of Saturday's Olympic events live online by going here.
For more on the Olympics, head over to SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.