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“There is no event that aggregates audiences on such a massive scale for so long and across as many platforms as the Olympics, and that includes young people.”Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports GroupREST OF SOUTH AMERICA In Argentina, the highest audience during the Olympic Games Rio 2016 was for live coverage of the men’s singles tennis final between Andy Murray and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. The coverage aired on Canal 7 gained an audience of 2.27m viewers – higher than any audience during London 2012 – and was seen by 20.5% of those watching television at the time (compared with the channel’s average share of viewing of 4.1%).In Colombia, broadcast coverage of football matches featuring the men’s national team proved particularly popular with viewers. The highest rated audience was for live coverage of the Japan vs Colombia match, which was seen by an average of 4.6 million viewers on Caracol TV. This easily eclipsed the highest single audience that was recorded in Colombia during the Olympic Games London 2012 (2.9 million viewers), while coverage of the match also attracted a share of viewing of 34.6%, compared with the channel’s average annual share of viewing of 23.8%.NORTH AMERICA In the USA, NBC averaged 24.49 million viewers for its live prime time coverage (including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies). The highest rated programme was on the evening of 9 August, when the audience peaked at 42.55 million as Michael Phelps won the men’s 200m butterfly final. In total, 78% of US TV homes tuned into NBC’s Olympic Games coverage.032 BROADCASTING