August 18, 2008, Beijing China – National TV Ratings for China from CSM Media Research (a part of TNS Media Research), China’s leading audience measurement organization, show that close to 356 million (unduplicated) Chinese viewers tuned in to watch part of China’s Pool A Volleyball game, volleyball being one of China’s stronger women’s events – Table 1.
Pierre Justo, Director of CSM Sport Research comments: “High viewing levels are generally the case for host countries, but the effect in China may be greater than usual as China is hosting the Olympics for the 1st time, which has generated strong enthusiasm for the Olympic Games among the Chinese people. This in turn has translated into high levels of nationwide viewing. All the top 10 most watched events so far have involved Chinese athletes, most of them being gold medallist contenders. It will be interesting to check if this viewing ‘’Chinese athletes trend’’ remains robust through the 2nd week, especially in track in field, and other events where China faces tougher competition.”
Table 1 - Beijing Olympics Viewing Data Top 10 Programmes from August 8 -17, 2008
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About CSM Media Research
CSM Media Research is a joint venture between CTR Market Research (the leading market research company in China) and the TNS Group. Dedicated to TV & radio audience measurement research, CSM Media Research offers reliable and uninterrupted rating information for Hong Kong SAR and China. As the “trading currency” of the TV, radio broadcasting & advertising trade, CSM Media Research operates the world's largest TV & radio audience measurement panel, covering China 's 1.2 billion TV populations and Hong Kong SAR's 6.3 million TV & radio audience at the aged 4+. This operation therefore covers 217 individual markets (comprising the national entity, 25 provinces and 191 cities including the Hong Kong SAR), with some 54,000 homes and 178,800 panelists participating in the measurement of over 1,298 main channels and 379 radio frequencies , every day of the year.
