As you may have read, the London Games Opening Ceremony was the most-watched opening to an Olympics ever in the U.S. with 40.7 million viewers tuning in Friday night. That’s a million more than watched the 1996 Atlanta games (39.8 million viewers) and almost 6 million more than watched the Beijing opening ceremony four years ago (34.9 million viewers).
Here are the top 20 metered markets in rating and share (8 p.m. – 12:02 a.m. ET/PT on Friday, July 27, 2012):
1. San Diego (KNSD) 27.8/49
T2. Washington D.C. (WRC) 26.8/48
T2. West Palm Beach (WPTV) 26.8/48
4. Salt Lake City (KSL) 26.6/50
5. Denver (KUSA) 26.4/51
6. Norfolk (WAVY) 26.3/42
7. Sacramento (KCRA) 25.4/47
T8. Kansas City 25.0/44 (KSHB)
T8. Richmond (WWBT) 25.0/41
10. Columbus (WCMH) 24.9/43
T11. Boston (WHDH) 24.8/45
T11. Indianapolis (WTHR) 24.8/45
13. Seattle (KING) 24.4/48
14. Los Angeles (KNBC) 24.2/44
15. Atlanta (WXIA) 24.1/39
T16. Philadelphia (WCAU) 24.0/40
T16. Jacksonville (WTLV) 24.0/39
T18. Austin (KXAN) 23.9/44
T18. Ft. Myers (WBBH) 23.9/43
20. Portland (KGW) 23.8/48
After the jump, the Top 20 markets for Saturday, the first night of competition (8:30-11:28 p.m. ET/PT on July 28, 2012):
1. Salt Lake City (KSL) 23.9/46
2. San Diego (KNSD) 22.8/43
3. Kansas City (KSHB) 22.4/42
4. Columbus (WCMH) 21.5/39
5. Ft. Myers (WBBH) 21.3/40
6. Milwaukee (WTMJ) 20.6/38
7. Denver (KUSA) 20.5/44
8. Indianapolis (WTHR) 20.4/39
9. Sacramento (KCRA) 20.2/41
10. Nashville (WSMV) 19.6/34
11. Oklahoma City (KFOR) 19.2/32
12. St. Louis (KSDK) 18.9/35
13. Richmond (WWBT) 18.7/33
14. Portland (KGW) 18.5/41
T15. San Francisco (KNTV) 18.4/40
T15. Boston (WHDH) 18.4/36
T17. Norfolk (WAVY) 18.3/30
T17. Albuquerque (KOB) 18.3/34
T17. Jacksonville (WTLV) 18.3/31
20. Phoenix (KPNX) 18.1/32