"The South African team’s disappointing Beijing olympic games campaign was not reflected in viewership of the spectacle on SuperSport, with a significant increase in numbers compared to Athens in 2004," said SuperSport spokesman Guy Hawthorne.<\/p>\n
"There was a 97 percent increase in the number of daily [DStv] viewers, with the top four disciplines watched being gymnastics, track and field, weightlifting and swimming."<\/p>\n
About eight percent of the South African viewing public watched every day, about 18% of DStv viewers tuned in every day.<\/p>\n
Younger viewers (aged between 16 and 34) were tuning in to watch the Beijing olympics while there was a decrease in viewers older than 50, compared to Athens in 2004.<\/p>\n
Nielsen Media Research said the Beijing games drew the largest global audience in history with 4.7 billion viewers, 70% of the world population, over the 17 days. <\/p>\n
This was far higher than the 3.9 billion viewers for the 2004 Athens games.<\/p>\n