10 Most Watched Olympics Of All Time
The Olympics are one of the most watched sporting events of the world. The Summer Games have increasingly become popular over time with more athletes and new sports being added to the Games. Here are the ten most watched Olympics of all time.

The Olympics are one of the most watched sporting events of the world. The Summer Games have increasingly become popular over time with more athletes and new sports being added to the Games.
Here are the ten most watched Olympics of all time.
1976 Montreal Olympics (1 billion)
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The Montreal Games were held from July 17 to August 1,1976 and fetched a viewership of one billion, one of the most watched Olympics. According to the Oxford Olympics Study, the outturn cost of the 1976 Summer Olympics is estimated at US$6.1 billion in 2015 and cost overrun at 720% in real terms.
2020 Tokyo Olympics (3.05 billion)
The Tokyo Olympics garnered a viewership of 3.05 billion. The Games were held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan after getting postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Official coverage on Olympic broadcast partners’ digital platforms alone generated 28 billion video views in total. Despite the pandemic, it became one of the most watched Olympics.
2016 Rio Olympics (3.2 billion)
The Rio Games were held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the amount of digital-oriented footage exceeded that of television. Olympic Broadcasting Services, which served as the host broadcaster for the 2016 Games, distributed 40,000 hours of television footage and 60,000 hours of digital footage of the Games to its international rights holders as it became one of the most watched Olympics.
1996 Atlanta Olympics (3.2 billion)
The Atlanta Summer Games were held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Its viewership extended to 3.2 billion. The 1996 Olympics were marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, which occurred on July 27.
1988 Seoul Olympics (3.5 billion)
The Seoul Olympics that were held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea fetched a 3.5 billion viewership to become one of the most watched Olympics. In the United States, NBC became the telecast provider ever since the Games, after a five-Olympics run by the American Broadcasting Company from 1968 to 1984.
1992 Barcelona Olympics (3.5 billion)
Barcelona Olympics were held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In order to guarantee an impartial production of the international signal, for the first time in Olympic history, a host broadcaster was expressly created for each of the 1992 Olympic Games instead of delegating responsibility to a national host. NHK and Panasonic developed the 1/2″ DX digital system used to record the Games digitally for the first time.
2012 London Olympics (3.6 billion)
The 2012 Olympics were held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom and garnered 3.6 billion viewership making it one of the most watched Olympics. The International Olympic Committee wanted television coverage to reach as wide as possible globally as several national and regional broadcasters covered the 2012 London Games.

2000 Sydney Olympics (3.6 billion)
The Sydney Olympics were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It reached a viewership of 3.6 billion, making it the third most watched Olympics.
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2004 Athens Olympics (3.9 billion)
The Athens Games which were held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece as 3.9 billion people tuned in to watch the Games. Athens Olympic Broadcasting served as the host broadcaster for the Games, providing over 35,000 hours of coverage to over 300 television channels around the world. For the first time, major broadcasters were allowed to serve video coverage of the Olympics over the Internet, provided that they restricted this service geographically, to protect broadcasting contracts in other areas.
2008 Beijing Olympics (4.7 billion)
The Beijing Olympics is by far the most watched Olympics in the history of Summer Games. Held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China, the Games generated a whopping 4.7 billion viewership. The 2008 Games were the first to be produced and broadcast entirely in high definition by the host broadcaster. The organizers made sure that there were no restrictions on media reporting and movement of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games.