• by Wayne Friedman , August 22, 2008

NBC's Beijing Olympics still dominates the prime-time scorecard--although hitting its next-to-lowest viewing levels on Wednesday, the 13th day of the sporting event.

NBC posted a Nielsen household 15.2 rating/26 share for its Olympic coverage and 24.7 million average viewers. The first Saturday of the event, August 9, NBC earned a 13.9 rating/27 share and 24.1 million average viewers.

NBC's Wednesday performance was down from a 16.7 rating/28 for the Olympic coverage of August 13, when gymnastics and swimming coverage (including the pursuit for eight gold medals by Michael Phelps) were in full swing.

NBC was also at its next-to-lowest levels for 18-49 viewers--at 8.2/23. (Saturday took in a 7.7 rating.) Still, the other network competitors did little to compete. All were in reruns, except for ABC at 10 p.m. with "Primetime: Crime," which earned a 1.4/5 among 18-49 viewers, CBS with "Greatest American Dog" taking in a 1.3/4 and MyNetworkTV earning a 0.7/2.

After the Olympics, the best-rated show of the night was a tie between CBS' "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: NY," both earning a 1.5/4. All this gave CBS a bit of an edge over other networks--ending the night with a 1.4/4, second to NBC.

After that came ABC at a 1.3/4; Fox at a 1.2/4; MyNetworkTV with a 0.7/2, and CW at a 0.3/1.