Just as Tiger Woods is good for golf ratings, Michael Phelps is great for Olympic ratings. Saturday night, as Phelps went for his historical 8th Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics and his 14th Gold in his swimming career, NBC enjoyed its most viewed Saturday night in 18 years with 31.1 million tuning in, and jumping to 40 million during the half hour Phelps swam. NBC has averaged 30 million viewers each night since the Olympics kicked off on August 8th, thanks in large part to Phelps and the gymnastics teams. NBC certainly is looking for its Week #2 darling as the Olympics heads into its second week.
What did NBC air 18 years ago that drew that kind of audience? It was an episode of "Empty Nest."
