Yes, Michael Phelps's quest to win eight gold medals has helped give NBC much higher than expected ratings for the Beijing Olympics. And his eighth gold medal on Saturday was a bonanza. According to Variety, "You have to go back to 1990 — when Phelps himself was 4 years old — to find the last time NBC drew a larger aud for a Saturday program. That was with an episode of 'Golden Girls' spinoff 'Empty Nest,' which averaged 31.4 million viewers." Viva Dreyfuss! You can watch Phelps' various races here or you can revel in the New Yorker's Nancy Franklin's complaints about the Olympics telecast (Gawker says the review is so curmudgeonly, it "sounds… very New Yorker circa 1990!").
Published Aug 18, 2008
Modified Aug 18, 2008
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