Oprah may be Jesus, but Michael Phelps is the second coming. NBC's hype surrounding the 23-year-old swimmer, already the most decorated Olympian thanks to his success at the 2008 games so far, is paying off. What the network thought to be enormous ratings — 35 million viewers during Beijing's opening ceremonies — were trumped by the average of 40 million who tuned in on Tuesday night to watch Phelps win the 200-meter butterfly for his 10th Olympic gold medal. And things didn't stop there: Viewership then increased to an average of 41.2 million when Phelps went on to win another gold with his relay team. Before these games started, we asked "How much is NBC banking on Michael Phelps?" We answered our own question with, "everything." Turns out, it's true.