Washington (AFP) - The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony was watched by an impressive 31.7 million viewers in the United States, despite the fact that it aired hours after the fact, NBC said Saturday.
The figure puts the Sochi event "as the most-watched Opening Ceremony for a non-live Winter Games since the 1994 Lillehammer Games," the statement from the network that airs the games on US television said, citing figures from the Nielson Company.
The viewership was just slightly below the 32.7 million Americans who watched the live telecast of the Vancouver Games opening ceremony in 2010.
The strong ratings are "an early sign that our strategy of emphasizing primetime viewing is working," said NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus, justifying the delay in broadcasting the show.
The world press hailed the Sochi opening ceremony as a triumph and show of power for Russian President Vladimir Putin seeking to showcase the post-Soviet revival of the former superpower.
Despite an embarrassing technical glitch at the start -- when one of five illuminated snowflakes which were supposed to morph into the Olympic rings failed to appear -- there was general praise for the spectacle in the Black Sea resort.
That included cheers from Russians, who gushed at the "fairy tale" spectacle, saying it restored pride missing for too long in the former superpower.
After a build-up dogged by controversies on issues ranging from Russia's gay rights record to security, the successful ceremony took some pressure off the organizers, who have been under unprecedented scrutiny.
There was, however, some criticism of the staggering $50 billion price tag for the games, amid cries that corruption has seen much of the money siphoned off and that concerns about the environment had been disregarded.
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