London Paralympics Sets Audience Records On Channel 4, Around The World

The London 2012 Paralympic Games was a TV ratings winner, as it scored record audiences for the U.K.'s Channel 4, and excluding the host market, it was watched by an int'l audience of 3.4 billion people. The cumulative global audience saw a 37% increase from the Beijing Paralympics in '08. In total, the London Paralympics was watched by 3.8 billion people. The top five countries in terms of cumulative viewers were China, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and France, and the two most-watched sports were swimming and athletics. The London 2012 Games set a record by being broadcast in more than 115 countries and territories, and the number of hours broadcast outside of the host market grew by 82% to more than 2,500 (Int'l Paralympic Committee).