Skip to site menu Skip to page content
Go back
Send enquiry

Subscribed

You have successfully submitted your enquiry. Someone from our company will respond ASAP

TV Audience of Billions Inspired by ATHENS 2004 Paralympics

Bonn, Germany – A study of 17 countries* shows a cumulated TV audience of over 1.8 billion for the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games. Japan enjoying the largest cumulated audience (587 million), followed by France (335  million), Germany (310 million) and China (309 million). In relation to cumulate audiences, the largest market shares, however, were reached in New Zealand (26,4%), Switzerland (21,6%) and Austria (21,1%). Of the 19 countries, Brazil broadcast the most hours (168 hrs) with Spain in second place (125 hrs). Programmes covering Athletics and Swimming drew the largest audiences.

IPC Media and Communication Director Miriam Wilkens Said : “An audience of 1.8 billion in 17 countries is more than we had in total for the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. One has to keep in mind that the final study will include 38 countries, so we are confident that we will be able to see a clear augmentation of the cumulated TV audience. This development confirms that there has been a good growth in interest for the Paralympic Games.”

Although the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony coincided with the middle of the night in some parts of the world, around 10 million Chinese and 8 million Japanese enjoyed the event. Daily highlights programmes attracted millions of viewers. German broadcaster ARD/ZDF reported that the highlights aired on Sunday 19 September, were watched by nearly 1.5 million persons. In Great Britain, the BBC attracted approximately 2
million viewers for their first Sunday Paralympic programme, whereas 634,000 persons watch the summary broadcast in Spain (LA 2) and 784,000 persons in Poland (TVP2). Italian television reported an average of 600,000 viewers for their daily broadcasts of Paralympic highlights.

A total of 3,100 media representatives including more than 50 broadcasters covered the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games from 17-28 September.

*Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pan Europe, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain.

For further information, please contact Miriam Wilkens, IPC Media and Communication Director on +49-228-2097-180, e-mail: mailtMiriam.wilkens@paralympic.org or http://www.paralympic.org/.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the international
governing body of sport for athletes with a disability. It supervises and co-ordinates the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games and other multi-disability competitions, of which the most important are World and Regional Championships. The IPC, situated in Bonn, Germany, also supports the recruitment and development of athletes at a local, national and international level across all performance levels.