Even before Nancy and Tonya skated onto center ice, the Winter Olympics were making TV history. For the first 11 days of the Games, prime-time viewership was up 37% over '92. Then, for the women's short program on Wednesday night, ratings soared to an astonishing 48.5, meaning 48.5% of all U.S. homes with TV sets were tuned in, making that broadcast the sixth highest rated TV show of all time. Friday night's figure-skating finale garnered a smaller but still huge 43.9.
After years of fragmenting TV audiences and drooping ratings for even major sports events such as the Olympics and the...
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