NBC's Tokyo Olympics viewership gets off to rough start

NBC Universal is still waiting to see if there will be a surge of interest in viewership for the Tokyo Summer Olympics

NEW YORK -- If there's going to be a surge in viewership interest in the Tokyo Olympics, NBC Universal is still waiting. For three straight nights, viewership for the Tokyo Games has been down more than 30% compared to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, and the network has been hit by a steady stream of bad news regarding American competitors. The Nielsen company said 16.9 million people watched Sunday night's coverage on NBC, down 43% from the corresponding night in Rio. Saturday's audience of 12.6 million was down 39%. The numbers improve slightly when alternatives are figured in: People could follow the Olympics Sunday night not just on NBC, but also on USA, NBCSN, CNBC and live streaming. Adding in those alternatives lifts NBC's “total audience delivery” that night to 20 million.