Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The Beijing Olympics attracted 4.7 billion television viewers worldwide, making them the most watched games, Nielsen Co. reported.

That audience, the equivalent of more than two of every three people on the planet, exceeded the 3.9 billion who tuned in to watch the 2004 Athens games, Nielsen said today in a statement posted on its Web site.

China, the world's most populous nation, led the viewing, with 94 percent tuning in during the 17-day, $70 billion event. The games concluded with China topping the gold-medal standings for the first time with 51. Suspense surrounding swimmer Michael Phelps's successful effort to win a record eight gold medals also bolstered the ratings.

Seven networks of NBC Universal, the media unit of General Electric Co., provided 3,600 hours of coverage in the U.S., 1,000 more than the combined total of every televised summer games since Rome in 1960.

NBC's 17-day average primetime audience of 27.7 million was 13 percent bigger than Athens in 2004. Broadcasts of the Beijing games were watched by a total of 214 million people in the U.S.

GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, rose 18 cents to $27.88 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 25 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 5, 2008 16:10 EDT