70% of World Population Tuned In for These Olympics

When this year's 2024 Olympic Games in Paris officially starts and the games are televised for the world to see, there will be a large audience. For the last several years, billions of people have tuned in to see the Summer Games in all their glory. However, there was one Olympic Games that dominated in the ratings and broke several other records, and they took place in 2008. Here we've compiled some amazing facts about the largest TV audience for an Olympic Games.

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most-viewed Olympic Games in history. Altogether, the games pulled in 4.7 billion viewers, which is a huge chunk of the global population. There's a lot to learn about this astounding event, and we'll fill you in with all the details. We'll tell you which country had the most viewers and the many reasons why people watched. We'll cover the medals that were won, the records that were broken, the athletes who dominated the games, and more.

You may be amazed to find that this Olympic Games was also the most expensive in history, and we'll tell you why. Finally, we'll tell you about other Olympic Summer Games that dominated the ratings and the amazing highlights that took place during those historic events.

To determine the largest TV audience for the Olympics and other fun facts about the event, 24/7 Tempo used many references, including Nielsen Ratings, The Guardian, the Guinness Book of World Records, and more. It's quite astounding to learn just how popular the Olympics were in 2008 and how much history was made, so buckle in and enjoy. (If you want more Olympic fun, check out this list of the oldest Olympic gold medalists in history.)

To date, the largest TV audience ever to watch the Olympic games was during the Beijing Olympics, which were held in 2008 in China. During the duration of the games, 4.7 billion people around the world tuned in. That equates to about 70% of the population who all had their eyes glued to the screen while the games played from Aug. 8-24 that year. That means that about 2 out of every 3 people in the world were watching during that two-week span. This is the largest global audience ever for any televised event.

Since the Olympics were held in China, it's no surprise that much of the audience was from the home country. According to Nielsen Ratings, 94% of Chinese viewers watched the entirety of the 2008 Olympics. The other major country to watch the games was South Korea, where 94% of people watched the games. Also, 93% of Mexico watched the Olympics that year. Many people in the United States also watched. It was the most-viewed TV event ever in the U.S., with 211 million viewers. Every day, about 27 million people in America watched the games during the event.

Even the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics pulled in one of the largest TV audiences ever, especially in the United States. It was the highest-rated event ever for a non-American-hosted Summer Olympics opening ceremony. The opening ceremonies also pulled in the largest audience ever in China. Between 63-69% of Chinese people watched that day. The games were broadcast on NBC, which boasted a large audience in America of about 34.2 million people, the most ever. There was also massive traffic on the NBC.com website, which had 70 million page views.

One of the reasons why the 2008 Beijing Olympics had the largest TV audience for an Olympic Games was because there was a lot to see and enjoy during the event. This Olympics was unprecedented because 87 different countries won at least one gold, silver, or bronze medal. The Chinese Olympians were especially on their game as China brought home 48 gold medals, more than any other country. Overall, China won 100 medals. However, the biggest overall winner was the United States. The athletes here took home 112 medals. Russia came in third.

The Beijing Summer Olympic Games were also a fan favorite due to its many games and events. Overall, there were 302 events and 28 sports during the event. In addition to the typical events, such as aquatics, track, basketball, and tennis, there were many new events. Among the nine new events were two new cycling entries. Plus, women were able to compete in the steeplechase event for the first time ever. There were also new swimming events, including open-water swimming competitions for men and women. Some sports, like boxing and baseball, were only open to men.

Another major milestone is that the 2008 Beijing Olympics were also the most expensive Summer Olympics event in history. According to Reuters, the cost to bring the Olympics to the world was about $40 billion. That cost went to constructing new buildings, stadiums, subways, new roads, and more. The economy in China was so great that they could pay that $40 billion without going into any debt. While a lot of the construction went for the purpose of the Olympics, the new roads and other costs would benefit the country's infrastructure down the road, so it was a good investment.

Another reason why the 2008 Beijing Olympics had one of the largest TV audiences was because many new world records were set and it was a lot of fun to watch. New world records were set for the events of archery, cycling, shooting, swimming, weightlifting, and more. Belarus athlete Andrei Rybakou set world records in several weightlifting events. One of them was the clean and jerk event, where he managed 236 kilograms. It was during this Olympics that famous Jamaican runner Usain Bolt set records in track and field events, including the men's 100- and 200-meter runs.

Likely one of the reasons why many Americans watched the 2008 Olympic games is due to the amazing performances of swimmer Michel Phelps. This was also the incredible year where he won eight gold medals for single and relay events. That was the most gold medals that an athlete ever won during a single Olympics, and it has yet to be broken. People wanted to see if he could set the record. (For other amazing sports records that seem to be unbeatable, check out this list of the longest-standing records in sport's history.)

For our first honorable mention, we have the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, which had the second-largest TV audience for an Olympic Games with 3.9 billion viewers. The large-scale event had 10,557 athletes competing in 301 events in 28 sports. The United States came away with the most medals with 101. Some of the other highlights of the games included:

• Women's wrestling made its debut;
• Afghanistan athletes competed for the first time since 1999;
• The United States lost the basketball games for the first time since NBA players were permitted to play;
• Michael Phelps won 8 medals.

Finally, the third-largest audience for an Olympic Games occurred during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The audience was 3.6 billion people. This time, 10,647 athletes competed in 300 events in 28 sports. There were several highlights during the summer games. One was when North and South Korea came together in a brief sign of unity. There was also athlete Cathy Freeman's incredible 400M final, Ian Thorpe winning five medals, and when the Australian women's field hockey team went undefeated. (Want even more Olympics fun? Check out this list of the youngest gold medalists in history.)