Rio Olympics Provides BBC With Record Television, Digital Audiences

The BBC achieved a record TV audience for an overseas Olympics as 45.24 million people tuned in for Rio 2016. A total of 11.1 million people watched Jason Kenny win keirin cycling Gold on BBC One, while BBC Two and BBC Four had their highest viewing figures of '16. BBC Sport's online coverage set new records, reaching 68.3 million devices in the U.K., and 102.3 million globally. The biggest single day for digital traffic was Aug. 14 -- with 19 million unique browsers across the world (BBC).

HANDBALL AUDIENCE: L’ÉQUIPE reported despite the French men’s handball team’s defeat to Denmark in the Gold Medal match in Rio, the match “drew the best peak audience of the Olympic Games for France Télévisions.” On France 3, 6.2 million viewers “watched the second half of the game.” The match drew an average audience of 5.17 million viewers and obtained a 26.3% market share. The French women’s handball team lost the Gold Medal match to Russia on Saturday in front of an average of 4.9 million viewers on France 3 (L’ÉQUIPE, 8/22).