NBC kicked off the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Friday with a vibrant opening ceremony and a scaled-back crowd in the arena due to COVID 19 restrictions.

NBC and the NBC streaming service Peacock broadcast the opening ceremony live from Beijing at 6:30 a.m. ET on Friday and later aired an encore presentation of the event during primetime.

Although the opening event drew in almost 14 million television viewers, it was 43% less than the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games opening ceremony, which pulled in 23.8 million viewers.

The low TV ratings made the 2022 Winter Olympics the least-viewed opening ceremonies in Olympic history since 1988, when NBCUniversal began broadcasting the Olympics.

In total, the opening event drew in 16 million viewers due in part to those who watched the ceremony on digital platforms, including the NBC Sports app and the NBC streaming service Peacock.

Over the summer, the Tokyo Olympic Games held the title for lowest opening ceremony ratings with 17 million viewers. However, the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony viewership set a new record-low.

NBCUniversal is expected to air 2,800 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage from Feb. 2 to Feb. 20 across NBC, USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, and other platforms.

The Games have drawn controversy due to the diplomatic boycott against China over concerns about human rights violations.

Several countries — they include the U.S., Canada, and Australia — announced a diplomatic boycott against the Beijing Olympics. While athletes will be allowed to compete, government and other high-ranking officials from the boycotting countries will not attend the events.

While the TV ratings for the Olympics have dropped over the last few years due to a variety of factors, including streaming services, the coronavirus pandemic has only made things worse.

The 2022 Winter Games are also expected to face further rating issues on Feb. 13, when it will have to compete with the Super Bowl LVI for viewers.

Dinigeer Yilamujiang is a Uyghur cross-country skier from Xinjiang, and was one of the final torchbearers at the Olympics opening ceremony
Dinigeer Yilamujiang is a Uyghur cross-country skier from Xinjiang, and was one of the final torchbearers at the Olympics opening ceremony AFP / Manan VATSYAYANA
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