NBC’s ratings plummet for Rio opening ceremony; U.S. shooter gets first gold of games

Virginia Thrasher of the United States competes during the Women's 10m Air Rifle Qualification in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (Hassan Ammar/The Associated Press)

Norway's Sven Erik Bystrom, right, leads the pack during the men's cycling road race at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (Patrick Semansky/The Associated Press)

NEW YORK — An estimated 26.5 million people watched NBC’s coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony, a sharp 35 percent drop from the record-setting viewership of the curtain-lifter in London four years ago.

The opening ceremony of the London Games was seen by 40.7 million people in the U.S. NBC suggested Saturday that the gap will be narrowed when details about time-shifted viewing and people who streamed Friday night’s telecast on mobile devices become available in coming days.

“To compare linear TV viewership today versus four years ago isn’t logical,” NBC Sports spokesman Greg Hughes said.

The four-year difference was much kinder to NBC the last time around; the Beijing opening in 2008 reached 34.9 million people, according to the Nielsen company.

One of NBC’s pre-games fears came true: viewership dropped off after the entrance of the United States team in the Parade of Nations. But because the Portuguese alphabet was used, the U.S. team (Estados Unidos) appeared much earlier in the broadcast than is typical.

NBC also front-loaded many of its commercial breaks early in the broadcast so there were fewer during the Parade of Nations. Judging by the harsh social media reaction, that may have backfired. It was a culture shock to binge-watchers and time-shifters who have become accustomed to television without commercials.

The ceremony also ran long, and wasn’t helped by NBC’s decision to air it on tape-delay so it started in prime time. The lighting of the Olympic cauldron wasn’t shown until after midnight. A joke by Matt Lauer during the teams’ entrance had a ring of truth: “Are we at Timor-Leste (East Timor) already?” he said. “Time is flying by.”

The London Games proved a smash success for NBC. Viewers may simply be less interested in the Olympics from Rio — and that won’t become clear for a few more days.

U.S. SHOOTER WINS FIRST GOLD MEDAL OF GAMES

American shooter Virginia Thrasher has won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics in the women’s 10-meter air rifle.

Thrasher shot 10.5 on her first shot of the final elimination round and smiled after 10.4 on her second shot put her comfortably ahead of China’s Li Du. Thrasher had a cumulative score of 208.0 to beat Du, a two-time gold medalist, by a point. China’s Siling Yu earned the bronze.

The 19-year Thrasher became the first freshman to win both individual NCAA rifle titles and helped West Virginia win the team title. She followed that by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials less than a month later, earning a trip to Rio.

U.S. WOMEN TOP FRANCE IN SOCCER

Goalkeeper Hope Solo came up big as the United States fought off France 1-0 in a group stage match at Mineirao Stadium. Carli Lloyd scored the lone goal for the Americans.

Solo became the first goalkeeper, male or female, to reach the 200th-cap mark in international play. Despite the milestone, Solo was still peppered with jeers from the crowd, which was riled up about social media posts she made about the threat of the Zika virus.