• by Ken Liebeskind , February 20, 2002

NBC should consider replacing the peacock with the Olympic torch as its symbol, considering the success it's been having.

The Olympics won the top three spots in this week's Nielsens, with shares from 28 to 42, household ratings of 10.9 to 16.9 and audiences of 29.4 million to 45.6 million. During the first 10 nights, the Olympics averaged a 29 share and 18.3 rating, ten percent higher than the last Winter Games in Nagano, Japan four years ago.

It's been reported that two out of every three Americans have watched some of the Olympics.

NBC had a 23 share and 14.4 household rating for the week, far surpassing the other networks. CBS was 13/8.1, ABC 9/5.7 and Fox 8/5.2.

The strength of NBC's prime time lineup enabled it to win the top seven spots for the week, with Friends, a Friends special, E.R. and Will & Grace following the Olympics. CBS's CSI and Everybody Loves Raymond were next, with NBC's Frasier rounding out the top 10.

NBC's winning sports lineup doesn't stop with the Olympics. A Daytona 500 stock car race on Sunday afternoon scored a 26 share and 10.9 household share, the highest rating for the event in 24 years. The NBA All-Star game, on Sunday night, scored a 15/8.2, making it the fifth highest ranked sports show for the week, following four Olympics broadcasts.

Cable winners for the week were Wild Wild West (TBS), WWF Entertainment (TNN), Budweiser Shootout (TNT) and Spongebob (NICK). Wild Wild West scored a 3.9 household average with 41 million viewers.

Syndicated winners for the most recent week were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, Seinfeld and Entertainment Tonight. Wheel had a 10.5 household rating and 11 million viewers.

Other sports winners were the AFC/NFC Probowl (ABC) and WWF Smackdown (UPN).