While down from previous Winter Olympics, the Pyeongchang Games proved the ever-increasing dominance of live programming for broadcast TV, particularly sports, compared to scripted and reality TV programming.
Looking at just the NBC-only average in prime time over 18 nights, the network was 82 percent ahead of its competition on broadcast TV (ABC+CBS+Fox). That is nearly double the gap from Sochi, and well above the 9 percent seen eight years ago for the Vancouver Games, which were primarily live in the U.S. As recently as 2006, the Winter Games were well below viewership on those competing networks in prime time.
Prime-Time Winter Olympic Viewership Vs. Broadcast TV Competition