The International Paralympic Committee is anticipating a cumulative global audience of four billion people for the Rio 2016 summer Paralympic Games, which get underway in the Brazilian city tomorrow (Wednesday).
A record 154 countries will cover the Games through television, radio and online platforms. The figure represents a 30 per cent increase on the London 2012 Games, which were available in 115 countries and reached a cumulative global audience of 3.8 billion.
The IPC also anticipates Rio 2016 to break new ground in terms of multi-platform coverage of the Games. “Existing partners have recognised the demand and potential of Para sport by boosting their coverage, utilising new technologies and spreading it across platforms,” Alexis Schaefer, the IPC’s marketing and commercial director, said.
He added: “Overall digital output is increasing, alongside our own social media coverage with even more behind the scenes content and real-time videos than ever before and a record 680 hours of livestreaming at Paralympic.org on 15 high definition channels.”
Contributing towards the legacy of Latin America’s first Paralympic Games, Mexican telecommunications company América Móvil will provide coverage to 21 countries in the Americas. In the host nation, Brazilian media company Globo’s pay-television broadcaster SporTV will broadcast the event, which runs until September 18.