According to the Beijing News, at 9:00 AM on August 9, the authorized domestic television ratings survey organization CSM Media Research released the domestic viewing figures for the 29th Olympic Games opening ceremony. It showed that 842 million viewers all over the country watched the live TV broadcast of the event, which lasted over 4 hours, setting a record in domestic television ratings.

The figures released by CSM Media Research are based on national survey measures of monitoring nearly 1.3 billion television viewers across the country. On the night of August 8, over 30 provincial channels and countless local channels outside of the vast network of China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast the Olympic opening, covering almost every area in the country. Viewers of the opening ceremony constituted 68.8 percent of the total TV viewer population. The lighting of the sacred Olympic flame deeply moved viewers. Representing the host country, Li Ning became the most prominent star in the eyes of millions of TV viewers. As he ran around the Bird's Nest to light the main Olympic flame, the ratings climbed to 90 percent, marking the most viewed moment of the night.

During the live broadcast, almost 10 percent of viewers watched for the whole time (over 4 hours), and 43.6 percent tuned in for over 2 hours. From an analysis of the TV viewing population, 70.7 of urban viewers and 68.0 percent of rural viewers tuned in; 69.7 percent of male viewers and 67.9 percent of female viewers watched; and 61.0 percent of viewers under 25, 72.8 percent of viewers aged 25-55, and 71.1 percent of viewers over 55 years old watched the live broadcast of the Olympic opening ceremony.

By People's Daily Online