China is spinning viewership for the Beijing Winter Olympics as a win

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics may have been overshadowed by geopolitical tensions, including a diplomatic boycott by countries including the US over human rights violations, and the prospect of Russian beginning a war in Ukraine. But they may also have been among the most watched Winter Games—at least in China.

Around 600 million or nearly half of the country’s 1.4 billion population, watched the Games on TV, Timo Lumme, managing director of television and marketing for the International Olympic Committee, told a press conference (link in Chinese) last week. The opening ceremony of the Games, directed by renowned film director Zhang Yimou, was also the most viewed program in China since state broadcaster CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala in 2012, which was seen by nearly 500 million people, according to Lumme.

Outside China, over 140 million people in Japan watched the Games, according to state-owned Global Times. Even in the US, which didn’t send an official delegation due to concerns over China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, more than 100 million people watched the Games through networks on NBCUniversal, the media conglomerate that has exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics in the US through 2032.

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