NBC Owes Phelps a Load of Money... Ratings Tanked Without Him

After Phelps, treading water: NBC's Beijing primetime, which produced more than 90% of its total Olympic TV viewing, was averaging 16.2% of U.S. households through Saturday. That's up 7% from the 2004 Athens Games. But that gain came largely from Michael Phelps' live miniseries. After he dried off, Beijing didn't compare so well: In the seven nights after Phelps' last race, NBC's primetime coverage out-rated comparable 2004 Olympics only once.