TV Ratings: Olympics Keeps Beating Everything Else—Including Glee!

NBC ratings might be dipping overall, but compared to the 2008 Olympics, London is dominating

The Olympics doesn't have Lea Michele singing and dancing, but apparently that doesn't matter to the 12-17 demographic.

According to the IOC, NBC's ratings for the London Olympics among teenage girls is a whopping 89 percent higher than those for Fox's smash hit Glee. "The younger demographic has come back," IOC marketing director Timo Lumme said in a press conference Tuesday. "Teenage girl viewership is up 54 percent."

Overall, the Olympics continue to dominate primetime, outpacing the ratings for the Beijing Olympics every single night. Forget the fact that critics are bashing the network for their coverage and their spoilers, because NBC is on track to profit from the Olympics, or at the very least break even. NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus even told reporters last Thursday that spoilers might even be helping the ratings.

In a survey conducted on Sunday, those who heard the results of Michael Phelps race said they were more likely to watch the coverage that evening than those who didn't know the results.

And even though the Olympics ratings finally dipped last night on NBC, it still won the night and averaged more viewers than the Beijing Olympics on that night in 2008. Over the first 10 nights of Olympics coverage, NBC has averaged an impressive 33.6 million viewers. With big stories like the U.S. women's soccer team and Usain Bolt to entertain audiences, NBC shouldn't have any problem continuing their ratings streak.

Elsewhere:

• The Newsroom was up slightly on Sunday nights with 1.8 million viewers, while True Blood once again won the night for cable.

• Bachelor Pad hit a new low for ABC on Monday night with 3.4 million viewers , and The Glass House continued to sink with 1.6 million.

• If you're not watching an Olympic event, then you're probably watching something on CBS. Big Brother and reruns of NCIS and Big Bang Theory are also pulling in steady ratings for the network.

Here's a complete rundown of the 10 most-watched broadcast network shows for the week ended Sunday, per Nielsen Media Research:

1. Olympics Primetime (Tuesday), 21.8 million
2. Olympics Primetime (Thursday), 21.1 million
3. Olympics Primetime (Monday), 18 million
4. Olympics Primetime (Wednesday), 17.9 million
5. Olympics Primetime (Sunday), 17.5 million
6. Olympics Primetime (Friday), 16.2 million
7. Olympics Primetime (Saturday), 15.9 million
8. NCIS, 4.6 million
9. 60 Minutes, 4.3 million
10. The Big Bang Theory, 3.7 million