, Columnist
The Olympics Have Been a Raging Success — for China
With 600 million Chinese viewers and rabid interest on social media, who cares what Americans think about the Winter Games?
The target audience.
Photographer: Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images
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The most notable record at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics won't be recorded by a skier or skater. Instead it'll be set by NBCUniversal. When the flame goes dark, the U.S. network will likely have recorded the most poorly viewed Winter Games in history.
Covid, half-empty stadiums, human-rights concerns and boycotts have depressed viewers and ratings. They've also battered China's image overseas and led to questions about whether the Olympics themselves are in terminal decline.