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Beijing Winter Olympics set record-breaking viewership: OBS
CGTN
People watch the live broadcast of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics through an 8K screen installed outside a shopping mall in Haidian District, Beijing, China, February 10, 2022. /CFP

People watch the live broadcast of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics through an 8K screen installed outside a shopping mall in Haidian District, Beijing, China, February 10, 2022. /CFP

A record number of viewers are watching the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), said on Thursday.

The number of people watching the Games on the official website olympics.com has so far exceeded 45 million, more than the entire run of the 2018 edition in Pyeongchang.

Beijing 2022 is already the most-viewed Winter Olympics in China ever, China Daily also reported.

OBS has been delivering live feeds and digital content to broadcasters amid COVID-19 restrictions. New technologies are being used, including UHD and HDR technologies, for broadcast and content production at the Winter Olympics, Exarchos said at a press conference for the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing. Meanwhile, 3D playback technology has been adopted for the first time during the Games to bring more insight to the viewers.

The organization has provided more than 6,000 hours of content for broadcasters as the first week of the Games drew an end, including 1,000 hours of sports events as well as an array of interviews with athletes. In comparison, the Tokyo Olympics offered 11,000 hours of content throughout the whole event.

Exarchos said that Beijing Winter Olympics in other countries, including Japan, the U.S., Canada and South Korea, have seen high ratings. The event has also attracted 2 billion views on social media platforms as of Thursday, Exarchos added.

The Winter Olympics are usually not as talked-about as the Summer Olympics but Exarchos expressed his satisfaction with what the Beijing Olympics have achieved so far.

Also check out CGTN's special coverage: Beijing 2022

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