And with network viewership fraying, a 17.2 can't be a disappointment, even if the game was hyped as if it were the Super Bowl, which rated a 44.5 last year.

And the networks are hoping that by attracting new 14-year-old viewers, they will halt the slip in network viewership and maybe lock in future adult TV watchers.

When the mass market is long gone, and network viewership is at an all time low, probably not.

NBC Expects 16.9 Rating NBC's Olympic advertisers need not worry whether the Triplecast will crimp network viewership.

The downward trend for network viewership is going to continue but the level of decline will moderate.

Independent stations, cable television and changing viewer habits eroded network viewership.

Can they all be victims of the erosion of network viewership, or is something more sinister afoot?

Perhaps more to the point, network viewership for these events has been in steady decline since 1992.

The combined network viewership on Saturday nights has been falling for years.

Advertisers counter that with the decline in network viewership and an audience dispersed over a greater number of networks, they must show a commercial more often to reach viewers.