The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were the most viewed in history, with 763.3 million hours of live coverage consumed by audiences worldwide.
The figure represents an 83% uplift from the previous Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and comes on the back of the Paris 2024 organizing committee securing 225 media rights holders to show the event in more than 160 countries and territories.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The governing body said the increased viewership stemmed from 12,941 hours of coverage broadcast from the Games by rights holders, 10,428 hours of which covered live sport.
The number of hours of coverage is 48% more than the 8,700 hours shown from Tokyo 2020 and 154% more than the 5,100 hours aired from Rio 2016.
Overall, the live audience for Paris 2024 grew by 40% from Tokyo 2020 and 117% from Rio 2016.
The Paris 2024 Paralympics took place between August 28 and September 8.
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games opening ceremony, which took place at the Place de Concorde, drew a record cumulative TV audience of nearly 349.8 million people – a 10% increase compared to Tokyo 2020 and almost double the 185 million people who tuned in to watch the London 2012 opening ceremony.
The closing ceremony, meanwhile, was watched by a cumulative TV audience of 193.6 million people – a 40% uplift from the 139 million who watched the Tokyo 2020 closing ceremony.
In terms of digital platforms, the IPC recorded more than 305 million video views during the event, a 35% increase from the previous edition. The number of engagements also grew to 16.1 million – 24% more than during the previous Games.
IPC’s chief executive Mike Peters has said: “Thanks to the outstanding performances of the Paralympians in those iconic venues in Paris, the tremendous work of media rights holders around the world, the breath-taking images provided by the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), and the dedication of the IPC’s own broadcast team, Paris 2024 broke pretty much every Paralympic broadcasting record.
“The European time zone saw several media rights holders in the region – including France TV, ZDF, ARD, Rai and Channel 4 – significantly increase their live coverage compared to previous Games.
“This led to a massive increase in the number of live hours consumed by viewers, way beyond what was achieved for Tokyo 2020.”
Paris 2024 was the first Paralympic Games to offer some live coverage from each of the 22 sports. At Tokyo 2020, 19 sports were broadcast, while 15 were aired at the Rio 2016 games.
Ahead of the Games, the IPC said the overall revenue raised from media rights sales had increased by more than 20% compared to Tokyo 2020, with those games shown in 154 countries and territories to a cumulative 4.1 billion viewers.
As Peters mentioned, there was significant interest from European broadcasters, with the Paralympics returning to the continent for the first time since London 2012.
In the host country, public-service broadcaster France Televisions showed the games, while Radio France and RMC secured radio rights. UK rights were held by commercial broadcaster Channel 4, while international sports marketing agency Infront, which secured the European rights in 2021, landed coverage in a record 40 countries on the continent for the event.
Other free-to-air channels in Europe included ARD/ZDF in Germany, RAI in Italy, NOS in the Netherlands, NRK in Norway, and SRG in Switzerland.
Media giant NBCUniversal’s (NBCU) coverage of the Paralympics in the US, meanwhile, saw a record 15.4 million total viewers across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC, and Telemundo during the 12-day event – a 31% increase on its coverage of Tokyo 2020.
Looking forward to the Paralympics 2028 in Los Angeles, domestic coverage will also be provided by NBCU, which has committed to offering the most comprehensive Games coverage in US history, including more than 1,500 hours of streaming coverage for all 22 Paralympic sports, plus 140 hours of linear coverage across NBC, USA Network, and CNBC.
