68.8% Opening ceremony viewership in China - 21.5% US

According to peopledaily quoting the IOC.......the viewership of the opening ceremonies in China is 68.8%, climbing to 90% when Li Ning lit the Olympic torch (68.8% is around 840 million viewers). This is amazing considering the largest viewership of any Olympic opening ceremony from American viewers is an abysmal 27%. Actually Beijing's opening ceremony comes second at 21.5%, more than any other Olympic opening ceremony not held in the US. This 21.5% apparently does not include the 70 million viewers of the online live feed on MSNBC.
15% of the world watched the opening ceremonies according to Reuters.
While practically every major media outlet is praising the stunning opening ceremonies shows....some saying how it was the best ever, most Chinese people hardly find it surprising. Basically the expectation has been building so high for the Chinese that this spectacular show for Western audience is not really anything shocking to the Chinese....they know and they want the most spectacular, grandeur show ever. In fact, some would say that it could've/should've been even better...especially when the Chinese athletes entered and the crowds were cheering very loudly but not deafening.