Television viewing in the U.S. spiked by 17% during the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games in 1996, while TV viewing in Australia during the 2000 Sydney Summer Games jumped by 39%, according to a recent Nielsen report analyzing media trends from past Olympics.

Nielsen’s report also found that advertising spending in Olympic host countries grew significantly in both the U.S. and Greece in the years following the 1996 and 2004 Olympics. 

Only Australia saw declines in ad spending following the 2000 summer Games.  Those decreases can be attributed to general cutbacks in spending in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Following this year’s Olympics, ad spending in China is also expected to surge, according to Nielsen. 

In the past nine years, ad expenditures in China have increased by an average of 18% annually — the largest growth of any market worldwide.  That record puts China on track to set a new global advertising record with the Beijing Games, Nielsen’s report notes.

View an excerpt from Nielsen’s report.

Read more about the Olympics’ effect on media in Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” newsletter.