Ratings Gold
Filed under: Zportz > Media Minute
Hot damn!
Friday night's NBC telecast of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was the most-watched and highest-rated non-U.S. summer Olympics opening ceremony broadcast ever.
The Beijing event averaged 34.2 million viewers!
According to the Hollywood Reporter, in the nearly 50 years of televised Olympics, that's higher than any previous non-domestic summer opener — up 35% in viewers from the Athens ceremony in 2004 and 25% higher than Sydney in 2000.
NBC's performance was far above industry expectations. Insiders had estimated that NBC's event last night would drop about 11% from the Athens Games opener.
Plus, NBC has been pissed on for delaying broadcast of the ceremony until primetime while most nations aired the event live.
However, it's argued that NBC's patience may have aided the show in ways not anticipated by the network.
Great reviews and breathtaking images saturated the media on Friday. Many viewers probably tuned in to see if the ceremony could possibly live up to the hype.
We thought it did! It was absolutely breathtaking!
[Image via Pacific Coast News.]
I agree, the ceremony was amazing.
I freggin missed it because of that delay i had it set to record and everything
I had so many favorite parts of the ceremony. I loved the scroll with the colors that the Olympians walked on. I loved the dancers who created the artwork. I loved the colors, costumes, music, lights. The whole thing was so beautiful and gives me hope that China desires to change. The kids were so innocent and sweet.
it was insane!!!!
i looooved it…
The ceremony was spectacular it certainly surpassed my expectations, it's going to be difficult for another country to top that.
it was so cool!!! it made me want to live in china for a minute…. i love watching the olympics and i don't know what i am going to do when school starts back
I was absolutely in awe of what the Chinese accomplished with this year's opening ceremony. I think it just shows how much heart the country has, and only further proves how devoted they are to making this Olympic Games a spectacular experience for all the nations.
The opening ceremonies were spectacular with the exception of the Chinese military goose stepping with the flags. I thought that was the only negative. The best part was when the man with the torch circled the entire stadium and lit the Olympic flame.
How can anyone possibly support this sham of an event in China? While I think the athletes are great and should be rewarded, I can't honestly support it being held in a country that is terrible not only to other countries but its own citizens. If anyone watched the reports on the news, the Chinese government forcibly removed families from their homes to build complexes for this event. Add that to the terrible air quality, the fact that they send tainted drug laced food, toothpaste, dog food, and lead filled toys and items all over the world, China should NOT be supported in any way shape or form!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Oh, and it just figures an American has already died over their on the day of the opening ceremony. Yes, China is just wonderful.
i agree it was so beautiful
=] the chinese did a great job
People watched because the buzz all day was that the opening was going to be amazing. It had all day to become must see tv! And it really was! The Chicoms suck but that was awesome!! The ratings from here on will tank.
It was breathtaking.
It was so amazing!! Unbelievable… it must have taken so long for all the people to rehearse and prepare. What a show!
I hated it. it's slow and boring, couldn't bare it. The lights and fireworks are good but the contents are hard to understand, absolutely unrelated to sports but boasting China using the event. Seems the director Yimo zhang made a movie about the history of the country. As always I found they are very self-centered.
IT WAS AWESOME!
Sweet Fireworks!!!
Be cool & Be Sweet All
-MT
seriously! it was BEAUTFUL!!! chinese people are so talented!!
China deserves a Gold Medal for
the amazing show they put on for
the Olympics!
It will go down in history as the
most amazing breathtaking
Olympics opening ever!
8/8/08 rocked the world!
THE OPENING CEREMONY WAS AMAZINGGGGG…DEF. WORTH WATCHING!
It was beautiful. I shed a tear when Yao Ming came out with that little 9 year old boy who survived the Sichuan earthquake, and went back and SAVED 2 of his classmates from the rubble. That boy is a hero!
It was the greatest show imaginable. It so exceeded my expectations. The sychronization of the dances was dead -on perfect and the costumes were amazing! It would really give one a sense of hope for China. Their people are so beautiful and serene and the children were inspiring, in particular the little boy who saved his classmates in the earthquake. The fireworks and torch-lighting took my breath away. It surely was light years better than anything Hollywood could have come up with.
It really was stunning!!! Politics and sports should never mingle
Re: bbcanada –
"The lights and fireworks are good but the contents are hard to understand"
Some people appreciate learning about other people's cultures. As a Canadian I would think you would understand that. Though I am easily entertained by big explosions too
WhooooHoooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!! Let's all celebrate Press Censorship and Oppression of Human Rights !!! Who needs Freedom when you have Rapid Economic Growth and the worst pollution in the world. WhoooooooHoooooooooo !!!! (and all the putzs celebrating the Chinese,,, badmouth the United States !!!)
It was definitely breathtaking, amazing, wonderful, just great!!
I think the Chinese did a wonderful job.
Hell yea i watched, and y not? i support all the athletes, and the openings were AMAZING, i didn't even know they (anyone) could do what they did.
it was billion times better than disney
later bitchez
superman- go take ur political bickering to where the sun don't shine HATER! we are all here for the athletes, and china did a wonderful job.
I wish I could've been there. They were amazing to watch on tv, and I can't even fathom how they were in person!
It was artistically stunning. I missed the original airing of it, and had to catch it online at the NBC Olympic site. Even watching it from the tiny screen of my laptop, my jaw literally dropped.
The dancers seemed to move as one continuous being… every movement was timed to the second. Although their political situation leaves something to be desired, one must admit… this was a performance of the highest caliber.
Re: superman – I agree that censorship sucks. BUT when I saw the eyes of the 2008 performers at the opening ceremonies, I didn't see the frustration with the lack of freedoms of Chinese government. I saw pride.
it was AWESOME and i plan on watching it everyday :]
It was absolutely breathtaking watching it on tv…I cannot imagine how incredible it must have been to be there…One of my fav parts…They cut to Pres. Bush and his stepford wife…While the parade of nations is going on…He looks bored, looks at his watch, sits back, so un-gentlmen like, then Laura, looking equaly bored, looks at her watch and makes a face…Priceless…They cannot even act Presidential here, with the whole world watching…Figures…Bastard has a few months left and he just dont care…Cant wait for him to be gone…But back to the Olympics…So far, I am enjoying NBC's coverage and I think they are doing a great job. Good luck to all the USA's athletes!!!!
Go Team USA!!!!
xox, ilona rose
P.S. Yes, as far as their human rights policies, their polution, building a new coal plant weekly, yeah, it sucks…But maybe, never know, an event of this scale in this country can maybe open a few eyes over there…We can only pray…Free Tibet!
Ok, I guess I understand the reasons why the Olympics can be such a big deal. By this I mean, I see that being an "athlete" is akin to being a "warrior" and I recognize that there is a large percentage of the population that appreciates this, lives vicariously through this. Despite, I have to insist that China is a f'n bad choice of a country to represent the Olympics! I find it hard to enjoy anything that is represented by a country that doesn't see the error in suffocating people. I find it even more difficult to focus on a country that, despite the obvious outcome, has a death-grip (pun intended) on the belief that boys are better than girls.
It was spectacular.
I thought the opening ceremony was FREAKING AMAZING!!!!!!!! The BEST show ever!! My favorite moment was the flying man running to light the torch!! that was so creative, special and unique!! i was so blown away. I think the Chinese were so honored and happy they got to host the Olympics they made sure not to disappoint the world. They did not and DELIVERED an amazing event for all the olympians! it is such a rare and important event because EVERY COUNTRY is getting together once to do something positive and I think it really needed this spectacular party to celebrate this event. esp with all the wars, economy crashes, food taints, bombings, CAN WE BE POSITIVE FOR ONCE??
It's a shame that China was totally put on hold for the entire time that MAO was in power. I think he totally killed China and stopped any advancement. I believe he was the Hitler of China. But it is slowly changing now. You people have to remember that this country was overpowered by brainwashed communists for many decades. China is 4x the size of America. Imagine 4 times the amount of violence, robberies, poverty, corruption that we have in the US. It is a hard task to have a stable country with that size.
Talking about human rights, which evolving country ever had human rights anyway? Our very own Unites States of America had SLAVES!!! we still have SLAVES!! think of all the mexicans that work the farms in America right now!! They pick our fruits, work 15 hours a day, dying with pesticides. So before you stuff your american fat faces with food, think about all the "modern" slaves that pick it for us. and all the underpaid people that started America. if you hate china so much, then DONT USE YOUR IPODS, IPHONES, TV's, PRINTERS, TOYS, ALL YOUR SNEAKERS, EVERYTHING!! our economy basically depends on fucking CHINA. cuz you know why? yall lazy mofos dont make anythign in america. all we do is sit on our butts and read PEREZ HILTON!!
I hear a lot of complaining about how China spent so much money on the Olympics. Yes they spent millions, Yeah, well we spent BILLIONS going into war. How DARE Bush even make a comment about human rights when we sent hundreds of brainwashed americans to death fighting over GAS?
China has no debt and is emerging as a ever evolving country. In 10 years, America will be so poor because everybody has like 5 credit cards, our country is in a debt we will never get out of, we will always depend on other countries. We're pretty much screwed. Our kids spend most their time watching TV and smoking pot. Is it even a shock that american teen idols are dumb, slutty, and in rehab? its funny how we sit in our own filth and criticize other countries.
such a true brainwashed american to think the Dalai Lama is about peace. right…..he's just a another version of our corrupt religious leaders in America. you ever notice that huge religious organizations is always trying to overthrow the government? These priests sit on their asses for 7 hours a day meditating and yet they complain they are dirt poor…..while all the farmers around them work their asses off to feed/donate to them in fear of the "gods" yep using religion and god to scare farmers. AWESOME!
If America was so into Human Rights, why dont we give California back to the Mexicans!! Why dont we give Hawaii back!!
sorry for the rage, I actually wrote this after i read MS. MCGILLICUTY's comment.
Re: Twinky_sunshine – Focus on what you are saying dumbass. The United States HAD this, they DID that, yeah yeah we all know bad shit has happened here too (name to me one place it hasn't), but the thing is, we've grown and "most" of us have moved on. Pardon me for thinking that any persons working out in fields picking fruit, well they have a chance in America to better themselves.
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For fucks sake, as a middle class Caucasian American I can't beg the government for a scholarship to college, but guess what? being African American, Hispanic, you GET ONE JUST FOR BEING A MINORITY! Tell me they don't have a chance to have a GREAT JOB just like everyone else!! I fucking dare you!! The problem is, they don't want to advance, they are happy crossing the fucking border to work in coffee fields and digging ditches.
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People like you really piss me off, if you are so anti-American, THEN GET THE FUCK OUT. It's not that hard! Go live in Darfur and see how long you survive.
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2 minutes you will be on your knees God blessing America and it's faults, Guaranteed.
I could feel the oneness…..even with Bush in the audience!
MOST STUNNING EVER!!!!!!
The ceremony was so amazing! All the culture brought into it - breath taking!
Well….was ok…:P Ican w8 to see my girl to perform at gymnastics ! Go Romania !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I refuse to watch any part of the Olympics until China reviews and revises it's human rights policies.
They can put on as much of a show as they like…but it won't hide what they really are.
The ceremony was quite somethingl. I re-watched the whole thing on youtube before the videos were removed.
NBC missed 2 segments. One of them being the moving cubic characters…my favourite performance of the night.
Thanks for showing us the stats.
I watched, like, 10 minutes of it. Sometimes I think they're a little melodramatic…
woww yea it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
zzzzzzzzzzzzz the opening waz fantaztic…BUTzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz the killing the next morning zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzz 4/me..ruined all that special shit they did zzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I knew Americanz were going 2/die over there…
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Absolutley amazing. This firework footsteps on the beginning was my favorit - simple, but so brilliant.
GREAT!
We need unity in the World!
But, China needs to quit Poisoning Our Children!
I caught the middle of it. yes it was great to see all the smiles and love on the worlds faces as they were walking in there countries clothing it was so cute i wish for world peace why cant we always have smiles and friendly atomsphere like that towards everyone at all times.
it was pretty good! i'm not a big olypics fan but the chinese know how to put on a show.
Re: Ms. McGillicutty – WOW. i don't know if you were actually trying to sound intellectual or just outright ignorant. if you arent a minority please don't pretend for one second that you know hispanics or african americans don't want to advance. it is so bad in our home countries that coming to america to do just that (pick fruits) is considered a good job. now i'd like to see any caucasian go pick fruit. its such bullshit when people use that against hispanics when thats the only job that our people can get. if it wasn't for that your near albertson's or ralphs or whole foods would have no fruits, vegetables, don't be such an ass.
Re: Twinky_sunshine – i second that. thank you for taking your time to put all of that into writing for all the ignorant people out there.
Re: Ms. McGillicutty –
Im not anti american you retard. I was pointing out America has done worse things than China historically speaking. SO STOP POINTING YOUR FINGERS AT PEOPLE WHEN OUR OWN GRANDFATHERS DONE THE SAME THING!
its like a CRACKHEAD making fun of another CRACKHEAD
"The problem is, they don't want to advance, they are happy crossing the fucking border to work in coffee fields and digging ditches."
HUH!!??
Hispanics don't want to advance??!?! aRe you saying African Americans and Hispanics get diplomas handed to them just for being minorities???!….Hispanics are happy working on the farms getting sprayed with pesticides for pennies a day!??!?!
you're saying its OKAY because they're happy doing it because its better than being in Mexico. It's okay we take advantage of minorities cuz they are happy doing it??!?!
uh you need to check your head and stop fisting yourself.
shame on you ms. McGillicuty!
you make middle class caucasions look bad.
Its because of Americans like you that fuck up America.
You need to go download that song "Icky Thump" from the White Stripes. Maybe that will knock some sense into you. or maybe you should goto Safeway and buy more fruits so you can support all the slaves that are happy to pick it for you.
:)
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It was the best opening ceremony ever. I was awed.
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That's because finally Katie Couric was NOT sitting in this time and commenting about ceremony. She is too cutsie!
It was an awesome ceremony, it gave me the chills the whole time I watched it in awe…
and to the FUCKTARDS who are telling us to not watch it, screw you. Last time I checked, both Canada and the United States are FREE COUNTRIES. If WE want to cheer for our athletes, let us cheer. Put aside this fucked up world for a minute and let the athletes do their thing. They didn't train 4 years to get the cold shoulder from their own citizens. Support them, embrace them and cheer for them. So don't be a hypocrite and order people not to watch something like a commie. Go Team Canada, love you guys no matter what and good luck Team USA
Re: Ms. McGillicutty –
I don't think he is anti American, he just point out the fact.
I‘m chinese, I know you don't like me nor my country, but it's your opinion, I can not change . But you can't denied what we have done for Olympic, and the show is amazing.
I know some people complain that our government force us to do it for our show. It's not true, everyone here want to contribute what we can to the ceremony, government just invite people to do something for the games, but I don't think anyone would reject. we are appreciate the invitation. because everyone knows that 4years period in one region ,if china still has chance to hold another Olympic ,it will be at least 80 years later. So how can I miss it.
I would like to invite you to come and visit our country, it's much different from what the west media are trying to report.
I got our human right our freedom. like I can surf on Perez to read some negative comment about our country,although we have done well.
Please forgive my grammar mistakes, and thanks for some friendly Americans, welcome to China too
Re: Ms. McGillicutty – Re: Ms. McGillicutty – Re: Ms. McGillicutty –
fucken haters. fuck u
fuck ur brain washed ass. y don't u go make a ceremony for your whiteass country next time?
fuckin hater bitch.
i completley agree…this was the most breathtaking opening ceremony i have ever seen! i couldn't pick a forvorite part if i had to. it was all so awesome!
love ya perez…keep doin what you're doin!