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Thanks to Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles, the U.S. is on pace to take home the most gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics. When it comes to television ratings, however, NBC may have to settle for a bronze.

Although the Rio Games are dominating everything else on television, the performance is significantly below the 2012 Summer Games held in London, according to Nielsen. Through Saturday, Comcast Corp.'s NBC is averaging 27.9 million for the first nine nights, down about 15.5% from the London Olympics, which finished with an average of 33 million viewers. The Games are also off from the 34.2 million viewers the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing averaged.

So far, NBC isn't delivering the audience it promised advertisers who spent more than $1.2 billion for commercials during the 17-day event. Of particular concern is a roughly 30% drop among viewers age 18-34, a demographic advertisers pay a premium to reach.

The lower-than-expected ratings show that even an institution as big as the Olympics isn't immune to changing media consumption habits and the abundance of choice viewers have on television and online.

"It's not that we're watching less, it's that we're watching more than three channels," said Victor Matheson, a professor who specializes in sports economics at the College of the Holy Cross.

NBC has said it is unreasonable to expect ratings as high as London with such swift changes to viewing habits. But it is taking advantage of the plethora of platforms by putting Olympic events on its cable networks as well as streaming every competition live. Through Thursday, NBC's Olympics live streaming reached 1.28 billion minutes, passing the combined total of the London and Sochi Games.

Combined, the streaming and cable coverage is adding about 2 million viewers a night—still not enough to overtake London.

Heading into the Olympics, headlines focused largely on Brazil's struggle to prepare, with Zika virus concerns, political turmoil and pollution. NBC's ability to promote the Games may have been even more hindered by the bitter U.S. race for president between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

"There were more distractions than usual," said NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus. "The country is so hideously divided I think it took people a little bit of time to get together and rally behind the athletes."

While the first few days were down sharply from London including a 35% drop for the opening ceremony, the gap has tightened as compelling story lines emerged. Mr. Phelps collected his 23rd gold medal in what may be his last Olympics, the U.S. gymnastics team dominated and Ms. Ledecky swept events in the pool.

Despite the ratings decline from four years ago, NBC executives and advertisers aren't upset.

"This will be our most economically successful Games in history," said Mr. Lazarus. "We are extremely pleased with where we are going to end up." Since the Games began, NBC has raked in an additional $30 million in ad sales, he said.

NBC has enough inventory remaining in the Games to fulfill any ratings shortfalls, he added.

Last month, NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke told analysts the Rio Olympics will "make a lot more" than the approximately $120 million profit from London.

The rights to the Rio Olympics were part of a $4.38 billion deal NBCU struck in 2011 for the 2014 Games through 2020. NBC followed that deal up in 2014 with a $7.65 billion pact to lock up the rest of the Games through 2032.

Those large gambles don't intimidate Mr. Lazarus, even with all the uncertainty surrounding traditional media. He notes that NBCU has rights for all platforms and is free to experiment and create new revenue streams that will allow the event to remain profitable.

"Consumption patterns are changing but a company like ours is part of facilitating that change," Mr. Lazarus said. "The set of rights that we hold allows us to be part of whatever is happening today and what's ahead."

Hypothetically, he said, that could even include selling the Games directly to consumers.

Lee Berke, a sports media consultant, said NBCU made a good bet despite the traditional ratings dip this year. NBCU is ahead of the game by embracing streaming and putting more events on more channels.

"You could see them have dedicated channels going forward for every Olympic sport," he said. "There are going to be more dollars down the road."

Ad buyers point out that any ratings shortfall won't damp future interest in the Olympics because the audience is still a rarity in the TV business.

"If you look at the numbers and compare them to the ratings for an average program, the Olympics are far superior," said Rino Scanzoni, chief investment officer of WPP PLC's GroupM, the world's largest ad-buying firm.

Indeed, NBC's rivals are ready to concede more than just a participation trophy.

"Relative to all other television, the Olympics are stronger than ever," said David Poltrack, chief research officer for CBS Corp.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2016 21:45 ET (01:45 GMT)

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