ArchivesRaw athleticism faced off against raw, sometimes fetid, musical talent on Tuesday night, and talent won. American Idol 5 was watched by 26.6 million people, compared to 16.1 million who watched the Olympics on NBC. That’s “the biggest advantage any competing net has had over an Olympics network since at least 1992, according to Nielsen data,” Variety reports.
To be fair, Olympic coverage is spread over 1,251 networks in the NBC family, so perhaps the audience was fragmented. Also not helping: NBC’s continual efforts to push viewers away, like the hour of bullshit they showed Friday night which delayed the start of the actual opening ceremony to after 9 p.m., instead of the announced 8 p.m.
FOX’s show was hurt slightly, dropping 12 percent last week, but “Fox still beat the combined 18-49 averages of the other five broadcasters from 8 to 9 (11.2 to 10.5),” according to Variety.
Join reality blurred on Facebook
![The Mole [TV Soundtrack]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005O54G.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
