Nielsen ratings: Olympics help NBC skate to top

The first three nights of the Winter Olympics are spelling gold for NBC. But Fox is also pleased with the number of viewers for another kind of competition on "American Idol."

The Nielsen Co. said the Winter Olympics' opening ceremony was last week's most-watched program. It was seen by nearly 33 million viewers.

NBC's Sunday and Saturday prime-time coverage ranked third and fourth, respectively. But Tuesday's "American Idol" ranked second for the week, and Wednesday's episode ranked fifth.

NBC averaged 16 million viewers overall last week and could look forward to two more weeks of Olympic domination.

CBS was in second place and was followed by Fox, ABC and the CW. NBC's "Nightly News" held its usual lead among the evening newscasts.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony (NBC)

3 Winter Olympics -- Sun. (NBC)

4 Winter Olympics -- Sat. (NBC)

5 American Idol -- Wed.(Fox)

6 NCIS (CBS)

7 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

9 The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

10 The Mentalist (CBS)

11 Undercover Boss (CBS)

12 The Good Wife (CBS)

13 Criminal Minds (CBS)

15 House (Fox)

16 CSI: Miami (CBS)

17 CSI: NY (CBS)

18 Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

19 The Bachelor (ABC)