London Olympics 2012 Ratings: Most Watched Event In TV History

The Most-Watched Event In US TV History
U.S. gymnasts, left to right, Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross raise their hands on the podium during the medal ceremony during the Artistic Gymnastic women's team final at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 31, 2012, in London. Team U.S. won the gold. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
U.S. gymnasts, left to right, Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross raise their hands on the podium during the medal ceremony during the Artistic Gymnastic women's team final at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 31, 2012, in London. Team U.S. won the gold. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The 2012 London Olympics won gold in the ratings race this year.

More than 219.4 million Americans tuned in, making this year's Olympics the most-watched event ever in US TV history, according to Nielsen. The 2012 Olympics beat out the 2008 Beijing games, which brought in 215 million viewers.

The NBC primetime broadcast of the Olympics averaged 31.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-US Summer Olympics in 36 years. The closing ceremony brought in 31.0 million viewers, also making it the most-watched closing ceremony for a non-US Summer Olympics in 36 years.

The London Olympics boasted an unprecedented 5,535 hours of coverage across NBC and its affiliates, surpassing the 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage by an amazing 2,000 hours.

"The London Olympics was a wonderful 17 days for NBCUniversal, exceeding all our expectations in viewership, digital consumption and revenue," NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke said in a statement. "Every part of our company contributed to our success ... We are proud to have been part of the last two weeks, and we couldn't have asked for a better start to our long run of Olympic Games through 2020."

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