The 2012 Olympic Games Begin with a Viral Bang
On Friday, the world watched as the opening ceremony in East London kicked off the 2012 Olympic Games. An estimated one billion people from around the globe watched the spectacular show, produced by British film director Danny Boyle. Friday's opening ceremony broke TV viewership records around the world, but how about in online video?
There were many memorable moments of the ceremony, but a few stood above the rest in terms of views. Among the most viral include James Bond's dramatic entrance with Queen Elizabeth II, which amassed more than 1.7 million views from close to 20 clips. Mr. Bean's bit with the London Sympony Orchestra was also a big viral hit, grabbing nearly 200,000 views from over five videos. We'd include better embeds of these videos, but the International Olympic Committee is cracking down on online video clips of the opening ceremony, and most of these clips have already been removed.
As spectacular as the opening ceremonies were in London, they got us to wondering how they perform against the legendary ceremonies in Beijing in 2008. So, we turned to our Viral Reach Database and dug deep, all the way back to 2008. The results may surprise you, especially with the IOC's attempts to crack down online.
In less than three days, the London opening ceremony has already surpassed the Beijing opening ceremony in online video views. This year's opening ceremony has already hauled in more than 13.6 million online views across more than 150 placements. 2008's opening ceremony has generated 10.1 million views to date across less than 50 placements. This is no small feat, especially for an event taking place four years ago, but considering the IOC's restrictions for Olympic content online, London's opening ceremony seems to take the edge here.
What was your favorite part of the opening ceremonies? Have you seen any Olympic clips online? Let us know in the comments section below!
