CHN/USA - Historic TV audience for China/Team USA game?
BEIJING (Olympics) - Sources at Chinese television station CCTV believe the game between Olympic hosts China and the United States drew a record audience of close to one billion viewers. If the final numbers confirm this, it will have been the largest global TV audience ever for a basketball game. By comparison, the 2006 FIFA World Cup ...
BEIJING (Olympics) - Sources at Chinese television station CCTV believe the game between Olympic hosts China and the United States drew a record audience of close to one billion viewers. If the final numbers confirm this, it will have been the largest global TV audience ever for a basketball game.
By comparison, the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final had a global audience of 715 million viewers (source FIFA press release).
The game of basketball is hugely popular in China with national team center Yao Ming the country’s most famous sportsman while USA Basketball’s `Road to Redemption’ tour of Kobe Bryant and his fellow NBA superstars has made big waves in America.
There were huge numbers of fans outside those two countries who watched as well.
Detailed figures will be published as soon as available.
FIBA