Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- NBC Universal, the No. 3 U.S. network, may be forced to give advertisers free or discounted air time to make up for low viewership after its Olympic coverage twice failed to gain top ratings this week.

NBC sold about $900 million of ads for the games in Turin, Italy, aiming to dominate ratings as it has the previous seven Winter Games. The General Electric Co. unit promised advertisers it would make up for low ratings with television time at other events, and media buyers such as Andy Pappalardo said NBC's performance so far puts it at risk of triggering the agreements.

The games in Turin, Italy, drew 16.1 million viewers in the 8 p.m. time slot Feb. 14, compared with 26.3 million for ``Idol'' on News Corp.'s Fox network. A day earlier, the Olympics lost to ``Desperate Housewives'' on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC. Fox will run five hours of ``Idol'' next week to compete against Olympic figure skating, one of the biggest ratings draws during the games.

``Primetime is underperforming,'' said Pappalardo, senior partner and media buyer for Mediaedge:cia, a New York-based communications company. ``It's going to be tough for NBC next week.''

The Turin games drew an average 12.4 percent of U.S. households with televisions in the first seven days of the games, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc. That's down from the 19.5 percent who watched during the same period at the 2002 event in Salt Lake City, Utah. The opening seven days at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 had a 16.4 rating.

Buyers such as Pappalardo said NBC promised advertisers average ratings of 12 to 14 percent during this year's games. Pappalardo bought spots for the Olympics. He declined to say which advertisers he represents.

Drop-Out

An absence of high-profile U.S. victories has pressured ratings. Michelle Kwan, a nine-time U.S. figure skating champion and five-time world title winner, quit the games last week because of a severe groin strain. Bode Miller, last year's overall World Cup winner and a favored U.S. skier, hasn't medaled in two of his five competitions.

``There is a very tight race for No. 1 between ABC, Fox and CBS,'' NBC Universal TV Networks Group President Randy Falco said in a statement yesterday. ``That's why they decided to go with original programming. This is about the competitive nature of our business.''

NBC has struggled to keep up with rivals ABC and CBS Corp. this season since losing popular shows such as ``Frasier'' and ``Friends'' in 2004.

The network ranked third in the 21 weeks through Feb. 12, attracting 6.1 percent of homes with television sets, according to Nielsen. That's down from second place a year earlier, when the network had a 6.7 rating. NBC's highest-rated show is ``Law and Order: SVU,'' which is tied for sixteenth. ``American Idol'' ranks the highest.

`Momentum'

```Idol' has performed better than we expected against the Olympics, but we never took the Olympics into consideration,'' Preston Beckman, chief scheduler for Fox, said in a telephone interview. ```Idol' has momentum all by itself.''

The Olympics may still represent a bright spot for the NBC. Ratings during the event have been on average about double what the network posts during regular-season primetime hours.

``NBC's ratings are so much better than what they were getting with their primetime, so it's a net benefit to them,'' said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports. ``I think they will hit their ad guarantees.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Allan Kreda in New York at at akreda@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 18, 2006 09:41 EST