The Super Bowl lead-out window is often the most coveted timeslot of the year. Networks typically use the window to promote a new show they’re excited about. Past programs that have graced the timeslot include Friends, The Office, and Survivor. In terms of non-live programming, the Super Bowl lead-out is sure to be among the most-watched television windows of the year.
But for the second time ever, NBC is approaching the lead-out window a bit differently. Instead of using it to promote a new season of The Voice or another reality singing competition, NBC will air the Winter Olympics from Italy. The network first employed this tactic in 2022, when it aired the Winter Olympics from Beijing immediately following Super Bowl LVI between the Rams and Bengals.
Four years later, NBC is doing it again, and for good reason. NBC’s post-Super Bowl Olympic broadcast earned 24 million viewers in 2022. The Super Bowl lead-out has failed to crack the 20 million viewer threshold ever since. In 2023, Fox secured 15.7 million viewers for the season premiere of Next Level Chef. The following year, CBS debuted Tracker to an audience of 18.4 million viewers. And last year, Fox had the least-watched Super Bowl lead-out on record, despite airing the most-watched Super Bowl in history, holding onto just 13.9 million viewers for the season premiere of The Floor.
It’s natural to think the Olympics this year will provide a big rebound for the window. NBC’s Primetime in Milan broadcast is set to begin with the medal round of the women’s downhill competition in alpine skiing, which will likely feature American star Lindsey Vonn competing at 41 just days after tearing her ACL. Vonn’s return from retirement was one of the biggest stories going into this year’s Olympics, and her incredible perseverance through injury has only made her story more compelling.
Following the women’s downhill competition, NBC will show the men’s free skate round of the figure skating team event featuring “Quad God” Ilia Malinin, who will attempt to land the first-ever quadruple axel in Olympic competition. NBC has been promoting both Vonn and Malinin incredibly hard throughout its marketing campaign for these Games, and the network will fortunately be able to highlight both athletes after the Super Bowl.
The quality of events is a departure from the Super Bowl lead-out in 2022, which featured women’s monobob and ice dance, two events in which the United States ultimately earned medals, but lacked the star power of Vonn and Malinin.
One thing NBC had going for it in 2022, however, was the time zone difference. Both women’s monobob and ice dance were shown live, as it was mid-morning in Beijing when NBC ended its Super Bowl coverage at 10:24 p.m. ET. The same can’t be said for this year’s Games in Italy. NBC will have to show taped coverage from Sunday morning for alpine skiing and from Sunday afternoon for figure skating.
Regardless, taped programming has never significantly hurt NBC’s primetime Olympics telecasts in terms of viewership. There will undoubtedly be plenty of viewers who did not catch Vonn’s run (airing at 5:30 a.m. ET) or Malinin’s routine (at 3:55 p.m. ET). And considering it’s a Super Bowl audience, which isn’t exactly a bunch of sports junkies, there will likely be a reasonably large contingent that doesn’t even realize NBC is airing taped coverage.
Given that two superstar athletes are set to be featured, NBC could eclipse its 2022 lead-in. That’s a big ask, especially given that the Super Bowl lead-out has historically been weak in recent years, but it’s within the realm of possibility. (Not to mention, the recent Nielsen changes should help NBC’s audience compared to 2022.)
The official Awful Announcing prediction believes NBC will fall just short of the 2022 mark: 23.7 million viewers.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.