Friday night's taped opening ceremony -- an event NBC worked diligently to keep out of cyberspace -- attracted 34.2 million people, up 35% from the last summer games.
Viewing figures for the sport were inevitably lower than for the opening ceremony - and on the first Saturday morning there was a noticeable drop in front-page newspaper coverage.
Organizers had said they expected a billion people worldwide to watch the opening ceremony -- which was created by Danny Boyle, best known for directing the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" -- on television.
They say they can keep rain from falling on the Bird's Nest Stadium during the opening ceremony - the stadium has no roof - but scientists elsewhere are dubious about that kind of technology.
The three-hour opening ceremony had an estimated global television audience of one billion people.
BBC: Danny Boyle: Olympics opener 'easier' than movie-making
Following a crowd-pumping opening ceremony, day one of tournament action commenced with group stage play, throwing each competitor into a demanding run of best of three series.
Friday's four-hour long Olympic opening ceremony may have kept audiences away from the cineplex, as a record-setting 40.7 million people stayed home to watch actors Daniel Craig and Kenneth Branagh help kickstart the London games.
So does hip high-fashion boutique Opening Ceremony (platform shoes and architectural neon coats for men and women).
After persistent rain during the day had caused a 20-minute delay, and severely curtailed the opening ceremony, England were put in to bat and raced to 100-0 from 11 overs thanks to Luke Wright (71) and Ravi Bopara (46).
Where did it all go wrong for the Oscar-winning London 2012 opening ceremony director?
Coverage will kick-off with the opening ceremony on 10th June, followed by the first game between Scotland and Brazil.
Yao also captained the Chinese team as hosts at the 2008 Beijing Games, as well as taking the role of flag-bearer in the opening ceremony.
Soon after the London Olympics, Pistorius led his national team onto the track as South African Flag-bearer in the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games.
The Olympic torch did not burn properly during the opening ceremony, an ice-making machine broke down as did several buses, and unseasonably mild weather caused events to be postponed.
The thousand or so, mostly Chinese, attendees were serenaded (inspired?) at the opening ceremony by a 21-piece marching band, participated in the singing of the Chinese national anthem and withstood the glare of dozens of TV and press camera lights.
The two main mathematics-related themes of this opening ceremony will cover Tsunamis and African concerns, in compliance with UNESCO Global Priority Africa.
Instead, it's better to just come out and say it: while watching the swimming event and cut-down highlights of the opening ceremony, there were moments when we could almost have believed we were looking not at a projected image, but rather through a window direct onto the Olympic Stadium or Aquatics Center itself.
ENGADGET: BBC shows off 33-megapixel Super Hi-Vision Olympic footage, we ask: why?
This is the precision and scale and theatre of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics ten-fold.
He described Beijing's opening ceremony as "extraordinarily, eye-wateringly spectacular" and that of Athens 2004 as "incredibly beautiful".
BBC: London 2012: Isles of Wonder theme for Olympic ceremony
There will be an opening ceremony for the first two Graves-designed houses at the end of the month.
The opening ceremony was conducted by HM Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset Mrs Anthony Pitt-Rivers.
The opening ceremony was followed by a three-day community-based inventorying workshop.
UNESCO: Culture Sector - Intangible Heritage - 2003 Convention
"We got to the park-and-ride two hours before the opening ceremony which was very important for us, so missing that because of the enormous queues was a disappointment, " Selvan Moodley, 50, told BBC Sport.
The interest in the Paralympics is not yet as strong as the Olympics - Channel 4's Paralympic opening ceremony coverage was watched by a peak audience of 11.2 million viewers compared with the 26.9 million who watched the Olympics opening ceremony on BBC One.
The distinctive sound of the didgeridoo - part of a welcome to country ceremony performed in the presence of Aboriginal elders - marked the opening day of the new parliament.
Given the prevailing economic climate, some think that this year's opening ceremony should consist simply of an open-topped bus, with Colin Firth, J.
Wasim Akram's Pakistan team twice visited India during the World Cup, first to participate in the opening ceremony and then for a thrilling quarter-final match against India.
Taking place a little over a month before the Euro 2012 opening ceremony in Poland, which is co-hosting the tournament, the row is just one of several controversies that have threatened to overshadow what the Ukrainian government had hoped would be a showcase event for the country.
Today's Olympic opening ceremony is a defining moment for this country - literally.
But all the firestorm was in the past as Semenya -- who is coached by 2000 Sydney Olympics 800m champion Maria Mutola --carried the South African flag in the opening ceremony in London.
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