NBC’s “About a Boy” will not need a look a gift horse in the mouth.
Even though its Winter Olympics lead-in was far weaker than expected, it still managed a solid performance in its special, late-night premiere Saturday.
The television adaptation of the 1998 novel and 2002 Hugh Grant movie opened to a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating with 8.257 million viewers.
And while the support from NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage surely helped matters, it was not nearly as significant as some might have anticipated.
From 8-11PM, the Games coveraged averaged a yearly low 2.7 adults 18-49 rating with 12.85 million viewers. The 10:30PM portion that led into “Boy” drew a 2.9 rating.
“Boy” therefore retained a solid 76% of its special event lead-in. If it can manage a similar number when it begins regularly airing out of “The Voice” this Tuesday (which, in an ideal world, will post stronger adults 18-49 ratings than Saturday’s Olympics coverage), it will keep smiles on the faces of those at NBC.