Beijing games top TV viewership stats

MORE than two in three of the world’s population tuned in to watch last month’s Olympic Games in Beijing, according to global information and media company Nielsen.

During the 17-day period from August 8 to 24, ratings exceeded the Athens Games in 2004 by 21 per cent and the Sydney Games in 2000 by 31 per cent. In real numbers, this translates to 1.1 billion more viewers, Nielsen said.

“The incredible number of 4.7 billion viewers who watched the Olympic Games in Beijing translates into around 70 per cent of the global population,” the company said.

China and North Korea had the highest viewer ratings at 94 per cent. High ratings were also recorded in Mexico (93 per cent). Ratings in Cyprus reached 71.5 per cent, 82.7 per cent in Greece and only 30.3 per cent in Turkey.

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The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.