Olympic viewing: NBC sets opening ceremony record

Source: AP-Excite

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - A look at media coverage of the London Olympics:

An opening ceremony from the mother country with a Beatle, a queen and Mr. Bean proved irresistible for viewers in the United States, with a record-setting 40.7 million people watching NBC's first night of summer Olympics coverage.

The Nielsen company said Saturday that London's opener was the most-watched opening ceremony of any summer or winter Olympics. It topped the previous mark of 39.8 million people who watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics begin, and the 34.9 million who watched the colorful first night from Beijing four years ago.

The London ceremony featured an unusual made-for-TV stunt featuring actor Daniel Craig portraying James Bond escorting the real-life Queen Elizabeth II to the ceremony and ended with Paul McCartney's anthemic "Hey Jude." But according to Twitter, the biggest spike in tweets came when actor Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean") appeared in a "Chariots of Fire" homage.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120728/DA0A69K80.html

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U.S. supporters cheer during the group G women's soccer match between the United States and Colombia at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 28, 2012, at Hampden Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland. (AP Photo/Chris Clark)