The Olympics and American TV: 7 Factoids You May Not Know

With tonight’s Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics, another historic Summer Games comes to its end. There have been myriad history-making moments and memorable competitions, from Michael Phelps taking the record for most Olympic career medals (he has 22- the previous was 18) to Oscar Pistorius’s precedent-setting role as the first amputee to compete in Track at the Olympics. To help say goodbye to the Games, for a couple years at least, here are seven interesting facts you may not know about the history of the Olympic Games on television:

1. When CBS aired the first US coverage of the Olympics in 1960 (Winter Games), the States were pretty far behind the pack. The 1936 Summer Games in Berlin aired via closed circuit television to designated halls around the city, Londoners got to see the 1948 Summer Games broadcast live from Wembley Stadium thanks to the BBC, and Australia got TV in time to watch the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne.

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