SHANGHAI--Over 2 billion people, or one third of the world's population, watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, global media market research company Nielsen said on Thursday.

General view shows the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, 2008. The three-hour show at Beijing's iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium is set to see more than 15,000 performers showcase the nation's ancient history and development.[ Agencies] More photos

The Nielsen Company's survey covered 38 markets around the world, including China, the United States, Brazil, Australia, South Africa and Italy, it said in a statement.

In terms of regions, audience in the Asia-Pacific showed the most interest, with half of them watched the ceremony, followed by Europe (30 percent) and North America (24 percent), the survey found.

As for individual markets, host China had the largest percentage of its population watching audience, followed by the Republic of Korea, Greece and Australia.

A total of 65 million people in the United States also tuned into the broadcast, the company estimated. Viewing levels varied across regions and markets as a result of time zone and broadcast time differences, it said.