Dynamite ratings: The London opening ceremony drew 40.7 million viewers despite being time-delayed.
(Credit: By Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images)
Friday's opening ceremony of the London Olympics drew an average of 40.7 million viewers, a record audience for a summer opening to the Games, according to Nielsen data.
The total is about a million higher than the previous record set by the 1996 Atlanta games (39.8 million) and about 6 million higher than the 2008 Beijing opener (34.9 million).
NBC Sports group chairman Mark Lazarus cited the figures as evidence "that our strategy of driving people to NBC in prime time is working."
The network has been criticized for airing the event on a tape-delayed basis.
