About 70 per cent of the Earth’s population watched the Beijing Olympics, making it the most-viewed Games in history.

According to data released Friday by Nielsen Media Research, 4.7 billion people watched some portion of the Games in between the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies and the extinguishing of the flame Aug. 24.

That smashed the previous record of 3.9 billion viewers for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

China topped the list of countries in terms of viewing percentage, with 94 percent of its population of 1.3 billion people tuning in to the Games.

Close behind was South Korea with a 94 per cent audience reach in its much smaller population, and Mexico with a 93 per cent audience reach.

Nielsen said the estimates were based on data its companies and partner firms collected in 37 markets around the world.






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