9 Million Equals 34.2 Million?

The amazing and astounding Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony was a big draw for NBC, who bought all the television rights for the United States at a hefty price of $9 million. The amount of people who tuned in for the spectacular ceremony was 34.2 million, more than the Super Bowl. That's bigger than the number of people who tune into a opening ceremony when the olympics are in the USA. That's bigger than the number of people who tuned into the finale of "American Idol." That's bigger than the number of people who tuned into the Academy Awards also.

The Athens 2004 Opening Ceremony only had 25.4 million viewers, and the 2000 games in Sydney only gained 27.3 million viewers. The Opening Ceremony contained nearly 2 hours of performances featuring over 15,000 people. The director of the opening ceremony was Zhang Yimou, one of the greatest directors of chinese films. The cost of the ceremony was a astounding $300 million USD, or about 2100 million RMB. The ceremony featured one of the largest LCD screens in the world, at an astounding 250-sumthing feet long. It featured intricate paintings and a brief introduction of the history of China. These ceremonies really have set a nearly impossible standard for future Olympic cities.