Chinese sprinter Su Bingtian may not have won a medal in the men’s 100m final but he topped the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games television ratings back home.
Data published by China Central Television (CCTV) put Su’s 100m sprint showpiece in first place of its top 10 most-watched events from the Tokyo Games.
Su entered the final after posting a new Asian record time of 9.83 seconds in his semi-final but missed out on a medal in the final. The event had a 4.8 per cent share of the audience.
The men’s team table tennis final between China and Germany was the second most-watched event, with the women’s team table tennis final between China and Japan third.
The fourth to sixth most-watched events were the women‘s 4x100m relay final, men’s 4x100m relay final, and women’s 1,500m final respectively.
China’s female sprinters ended a 21-year wait to reach the final, where they finished sixth, while China’s men, led by Su, finished fourth in their 4x100m relay final.
China’s sprinters equal national record but miss out on medal
The all-Chinese finals in the men’s and women’s singles table tennis events were seventh and eighth on the list. The men’s high jump final – which saw a stunning ending, where Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi shared gold – and women’s javelin final – won by China’s Liu Shiying – rounded out the top 10.
China Media Group, which owns CCTV and has the broadcast rights for the Olympics, reported a total audience of 883 million for the dedicated sports channel and a 44 per cent increase in viewing time per viewer.
CCTV Sports, also known as CCTV-5, topped all channels on Chinese satellite television for 18 days with the channel also reporting an 11.6 per cent share of the audience, its best viewership in four years.
The data showed that 273 events had more than 1 per cent share of viewers with all of the top 10 clocking more than 3.5 per cent.
China Media Group’s website also reported more than 30 billion clicks during the Games, as shared on their English-language channel CGTN’s Sports Scene programme.
In Japan, Nikkan Sports reported that the three most-watched events for host broadcaster NHK were the opening ceremony, closing ceremony and the men’s baseball final between Japan and the US
