TV viewership for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics averaged 56.4% in the capital and its surrounding areas, the highest for the event since the previous Tokyo Olympics in 1964, an audience ratings firm said Monday.
Video Research Ltd. said the preliminary rating for public broadcaster NHK's live broadcast of the ceremony, held in the spectatorless National Stadium on Friday, in the Kanto region in eastern Japan eclipsed the 47.9% for the 1984 Los Angeles Games and drew near the all-time high of 61.2% for the previous Tokyo Games opening ceremony.
The solid rating came despite mixed attitudes in the lead-up to the Olympics and Paralympics over whether they should go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a string of scandals involving games officials.