Most-Watched Events In Television History

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony – 2008

Estimated Number of Viewers: 2,000,000,000

More than two billion viewers tuned in on August 8 to watch the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. That number is nearly a fourth of the world’s population. The program lasted more than four hours and featured roughly 15,000 performers from all around the world. It cost more than $100 million to produce and was praised for its showmanship.

Reportedly, in the Asia-Pacific region, more than five in 10 people tuned in to watch the ceremony.