Good-bye to the Paralympics
The 2008 Paralympics closed with a bang on September 17, when the spectacular closing ceremony from high profile mainland director Zhang Yimou played to a packed stadium. It was a fitting end to the Games, which have already been hailed as a strong candidate for the best Paralympics ever by international media organizations as varied as the BBC and Al Jazeera.
The TV ratings in China did the organizers proud too, as 60% of all households tuned in to watch the live broadcasts of the ceremony on five CCTV channels, according to media research firm AGB Nielsen (see Top Rated Paralympics Programs with AGB Nielsen under Statistics).
Around 75% of all Chinese households watched the opening ceremony on September 6 and around 95% of all Chinese households watched Paralympics-related programs over the 12 days of the Games. The opening ceremony was by far the most popular Paralympics program for viewers in urban areas. However, viewers in rural areas preferred Focus on the Paralympics, a special documentary program exploring the lives of the disabled athletes.
Around 83% of all Chinese households watched the actual sporting events during the Games. The gold medal match in the Women's Judo 52kg class received the highest ratings, no doubt because Cui Na of China was the hot favorite to win the medal. The viewers at home were not disappointed as Cui Na did go on to clinch the gold, helping her country top the medal tally with a total of 88 gold medals by the end of the Games. Gold medal events with strong Chinese contenders received highest ratings and swimming events were particularly popular with TV viewers.
The overall ratings for the Paralympics were no doubt helped by the reasonably broad coverage CCTV provided. Although the Paralympics did not receive as much air-time as the Olympics, the central broadcaster took the government motto "Two games, Equal Splendor" as its guide and broadcast the Games across seven channels (see China Media Monitor September 8, 2008). Local channels CCTV-5 (CCTV-Olympics) and CCTV-HD provided 24-hour coverage of Paralympics events and related news, while CCTV-News aired highlights and special reports. International channels (CCTV-4, CCTV-9, CCTV-F and CCTV-E) also aired special reports in Mandarin, English, French and Spanish.
Now the Games are over, their legacy on the media landscape is just beginning to be felt. Sports programming has received a huge boost in China during the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. The average Chinese person has spent up to two and a half hours watching sports programming this summer, compared to around one and a half hours last year. The total reach rate for sports programs has increased 18% year-on-year since the Games began.
Where will sports programming in China go now the big Games are over? That's the question CMM-I plans to explore in upcoming issues through a series of interviews with sports organizations and media providers. First up, we asked Michael Stokes of NFL China how his organization is working to promote America's most popular sport on the mainland.