The International Paralympic Committee has hailed record audience figures for its 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro stating the organisation has benefited from a change in strategy for its rights deals.
According to figures released by analytics company Nielsen Sports to mark six months on from the Games, the Rio 2016 Paralympics saw the global cumulative television audience increase by seven per cent on the 3.8 billion people that watched London 2012, rising to more than 4.1 billion to set a new benchmark.
Last September’s Games also benefited from more broadcast coverage than ever before. In total 154 countries showed the Games, 39 more than London 2012 and nearly double the 80 who covered Beijing 2008. As a result, the total number of hours broadcast increased to nearly 5,110 – more than the total hours broadcast for Beijing 2008 and London 2012 combined.
In addition to the record television audiences on traditional platforms, more than one billion people globally were engaged in the Games via digital media channels.
Alexis Schaefer, the IPC’s commercial and marketing director, said: “We are delighted that the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games smashed all broadcast records, especially at a time when audiences for many sport events are decreasing across traditional linear platforms.
“To put the growth into perspective, the cumulative audience watching the Paralympics has grown by 127 per cent in the last 12 years. The Athens 2004 Games were watched by 1.8 billion people in 25 countries, whilst last September’s Paralympics were seen by 4.1 billion in 154 countries.
“For Rio 2016 we saw a shift away from relive and delayed broadcasts towards more live viewing and digital consumption. The coverage the Games also received through news and sport magazines shows increased significantly whilst the numbers consuming the Games via digital media also reached record highs.”
Looking ahead to Tokyo’s next edition of the Games in 2020, Japanese broadcasters, including the rights holder, public-service broadcaster NHK, showed more than 401 hours of coverage from Rio 2016 reaching a cumulative 708 million people. Only Italy, with 557 hours, broadcast more. Domestically, Brazilian broadcasters screened 247 hours of coverage, reaching a cumulative audience of 472 million people.
Schaefer added: “In Japan, NHK showed more hours than ever before and achieved record audiences. To have so many people engaged in the Paralympic Games in the domestic market with four years to go is an outstanding platform from which to build towards Tokyo 2020.
“Ahead of Rio 2016, the IPC purposefully moved away from single Games agreements, to multi-Games partnerships with broadcasters. The result was stronger and continuous engagement from many broadcasters who helped build their audiences with para sport programming in between the Games. Due to its success, this is something we will certainly be continuing as we look ahead to Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.”