NBC's Olympics fray cable

Coverage of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta on NBC took a bite out of cable ratings in July, according to Nielsen statistics.

The cable audience dropped about 20 percent since NBC's coverage of the Olympics started July 19.

For the month, in prime time, Turner Broadcasting's TNT and TBS, and the USA Network tied for the top spot. TBS was off 10 percent compared to a year ago, and USA was down 28 percent. TNT was flat year to year.

Indeed, in prime time for the month, compared to last July, the only networks among the 10 highest-rated to record gains were A&E (up 10 percent) and the Family Channel (up 13 percent).

Pub Date: 8/04/96