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“The Olympic Games have been delivered to Africa as never seen before.”Hédi Hamel, CEO, TV Media SportIn India, live coverage of the women’s singles badminton final between PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin attracted more than five million viewers –an unprecedented number for any event outside of international cricket. In total, coverage of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 attracted 202 million TV viewers in India, in addition to 10 million on digital platforms.In Australia, the Seven Network offered 903 hours of free-to-air coverage – almost 300 hours more than any previous Olympic Games. The highest audience achieved during Rio 2016 was the 2.263 million viewers who tuned in for live coverage of the Opening Ceremony, which equated to almost 10% of the potential television audience in the country.AFRICARecent technological developments have helped improve coverage throughout Africa, allowing more people than ever before to follow the Games. This meant nearly 300 million people on the sub-Saharan Africa were able to watch coverage from Rio – an increase of 75% compared with London 2012. Within South Africa, the highest audience of the Games was 4.6 million viewers for SABC2’s prime time coverage on 12 August, which equated to a 33.4% share of the national TV audience, compared with the channel’s average of 13.9%. This audience was the third highest sports audience of the year and almost double the highest audience achieved in South Africa by coverage of London 2012. BROADCASTING037