QandAs: Buzz

How many people tuned in for the Olympics?

Answer:
The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most-watched event

in U.S. television history, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Nielsen Media Research reports that 211 million viewers tuned in to watch the 16 days of Olympics coverage on NBC and its sister cable channels. Compare that to the previous record-holder for TV viewership, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, which had 209 million viewers.

Average daily viewership in the United States for the first five days of Olympic Games coverage was 31.3 million, compared with 25.8 million for the same period in the Athens Games four years ago.

Not surprisingly, the highest single-day viewership - 82 million people - came as U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps
set the record for most Olympic gold medals.

Chinese television viewers were equally captivated by the 2008 Olympic Games with 680 million Chinese TV viewers tuned in to the country's broadcasting channels in a single day.