For the past several weeks, NBC Olympics executives had insisted that despite all the problems leading up to Rio Summer Olympics, all indications pointed to viewers being more excited to watch the Games than ever before. But that's not what happened Friday night, as ratings for the opening ceremony dropped 28 percent from the 2012 Summer Games in London, according to metered-marked overnight ratings.
Even more alarming for the network, the 17.2 overnight rating reflects the lowest opening ceremony ratings since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

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