Maybe my pessimism about the ratings for Olympics was premature.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "More viewers tuned in to watch the first two prime-time Olympics telecasts on General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)'s NBC network than any summer Games in a decade -- even as the Games received record attention on the Internet."

My wife has offered a plausible theory about this performance: people are curious about China and are watching the Olympics because they can not afford other forms of entertainment because of high gas prices. I'm willing to give swimmer Michael Phelps his due as well. Plus, the only other sport competing for the viewer's attention is baseball. Pro football training camps are in full swing as well. The Olympics would be crushed if they occurred during football season or during "American Idol." Americans do have their priorities.

Friday's opening night ceremony attracted 34,2 million viewers, up 35% from the last summer games, according to the paper. I feel bad I missed it because it seems to have been very cool.

Keep in mind that General Electric still may face a tough slog in recouping its $894 million investment in the U.S. broadcast rights. Make goods, free commercial time, are still a possibility if the ratings go south.

The company's Olympic dreams, though, will do little to help the company's suffering shareholders which raises the question of why GE still owns NBC Universal.

Maybe a good Olympics will encourage Chief Executive Jeff Immelt to sell or spin-off the media business which is totally unrelated to the rest of the conglomerate.