Olympics most-watched TV event

NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- NBC Universal's Beijing Olympic coverage was the most-watched event in U.S. television history, data from Nielsen Media Research suggest.

NBC Universal said its coverage reached 214 million total viewers, breaking the record set by the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which garnered 209 million viewers. About 203 million people tuned in for the 2004 Games in Athens.

Sunday night's closing ceremony had the best rating for any Summer Olympics closing ceremony outside the United States since the 1976 Montreal Games, NBC Universal said Tuesday. About 27.8 million people tuned in Sunday.

"This audience record is something I thought I'd never see again but what really satisfied me is the way in which these Olympics truly captivated and seemed to inspire our country," Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and executive producer of NBC Universal's Beijing Olympics coverage, said in a statement. "For me, the greatest measure of success at an Olympics is the number of messages I receive from parents of young kids who have fallen in love with the Olympics. That child means more to me than anything because I think a love affair with the Olympics is the greatest in all of sports."