100 Days Countdown Celebration Lights Passions of Over 230 Million Viewers

(4th May ,Beijing, China) April 30, 2008 marks the 100 day countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and passions among TV viewers are running high according to the latest viewing data from CSM Media Research’s National PeopleMeter Panel. The celebration of the 100 days countdown was broadcast on 5 satellite TV channels for a total of 1826 minutes on April 30, 2008. 230 million viewers tuned into these programs indicating strong passion surrounding the Olympic Countdown among viewers in China. Among the numerous programs broadcast, “The Fourth Round of The Campaign To Solicit Songs from Around the World for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games” was broadcast on several different channels at the same time. The viewing of this program across CCTV 3, CCTV 5 (The Olympic Channel) and BTV1 attracted the most viewers, reaching an audience of 150 million viewers.
On the same day, after a month long tour of the globe, the Olympic Torch reached the first relay point in China, arriving in Hong Kong at 13:59 on April 30th, 2008. On May 2nd, 2008 with boisterous support from the Hong Kong community the Hong Kong Torch Relay segment came to a close. Data from CSM Media Research the exclusive audience measurement supplier in Hong Kong showed that programs related to the Hong Kong Torch Relay reached 3.51 million Hong Kong viewers for programs broadcast across TVB, ATV and the Hong Kong Sports Channel. Meanwhile, 56 million people in mainland China followed this event on live broadcasts as well. Recent events surrounding the Torch Relay have raised the level of support behind the event among Chinese around the world. This support has driven viewing of the Torch Relay to a new high with the Torch’s return to China.

As China’s authoritative leader in audience measurement, CSM’s plentiful experience in audience research is unmatched. Stretching back to 2003 CSM has focused on sports related audience research developing a unique ability to drive insight into all aspects of China’s sports audience market. CSM has covered the dramatic changes that are taking place in the sports market and delivering insights into the challenges and opportunities that surround these Olympic Games. CSM has already commenced a series of multi-dimensional research initiatives to drive insight into cross media audience behavior before, during and after the Olympics in addition to reporting on TV viewing and radio listening over the next 100 days and straight through the games. Over the next few months CSM will be issuing a series of Olympic Reports such as the “Olympic Sponsor Benchmarking Survey Report” the “Olympic and Media Market Report” and finally the “Olympic Cross Media Audience Measurement Report.” CSM will soon hold its “Olympic and New Media Summit” to share much of this important news with industry watchers around the world and here in China.