Viewership of NBC’s Olympics coverage soared on Saturday as fans turned out for Michael Phelps final outing in an Olympic competition.
Holding the all-time Olympic record for most individual gold medals with 13, Phelps helped Team USA take the gold in the men’s 100-meter relay, adding a 23rd overall gold medal to Phelps’ trophy case. Phelps, who is 31, has not confirmed whether he intends to compete in the 2020 summer games.
Viewership of NBC’s primetime coverage of the Rio games spiked to a 16.4 household rating and 30 share, up nearly a point from the 15.6 household average for the games to date.
The crowd peaked at 20.4/36 from 10-10:15 p.m. ET, when Phelps was in the pool.
Phelps’ swan song (at least for Rio) also drove a spike in streaming viewing. NBC’s Olympics streaming sites have served up 2 billion streaming minutes since the games began.