In fact, the highest-rated night for the Olympics [Saturday] reached only seventh place for the week, behind episodes of "Idol" [first and third], "CSI" [second], "Grey's Anatomy" [fourth], "Desperate Housewives" [fifth], and the medical drama "House" [sixth], according to Nielsen Media Research.

Friday's opening ceremony was 11th on Nielsen's list, translating to about 22.7 million viewers, less than half of the 45 million viewers who saw the opening ceremony for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

But while the flame is flickering elsewhere, Olympic interest still burns in Utah.

According to NBC affiliate KSL Channel 5, which is broadcasting the Turin Games locally, Salt Lake City was the most-watched television market in the country for the opening ceremony. Friday's broadcast here generated a 21.9 rating and a 36 share, meaning about 177,000 of the market's 810,000 households with televisions watched the pageantry.

But overall viewership of the Turin Games also is down in Salt Lake City compared to the 2002 Games, because there is less local hype four years later.

KSL research director Jenny Love believes viewership of the Olympics may be down nationally in part because the U.S. athletes are not as well known in these Games.

"We have some great U.S. athletes in the Games, but there's not any big names. And Michelle Kwan dropped out, and Bode Miller is having problems," she said. "There's not a lot of personal detail out there on the athletes where there's a compelling reason to watch. The stories are coming out during the competition but we didn't know a lot about them before." But she predicts viewership for the Turin Games will rise as the event progresses.

"They save the best for last," she said. "They'll have women's figure skating, for example. It does pick up momentum. The ratings have been increasing each day since the opening ceremony." vince@sltrib.com