Barcelona 2013 sets new record of TV audience

Lausanne (SUI), November 8, 2013 – The 15th FINA World Championships,

held in Barcelona (ESP), from July 19 – August 4, 2013 were the most

watched ever in the FINA history, reaching a cumulative TV audience of

almost 4.5 billion viewers worldwide.

According to an independent report made by the company Kantar Media,

specialised in media and TV monitoring, the Championships reached a total

of 4.487 billion TV viewers, distributed over six categories of programmes:

Live, Sports Magazine, Highlights, News, Repeat and Delayed. This is a

significant improvement from the previous edition of the FINA World

Championships, in 2011 in Shanghai (CHN), where a total of nearly 3.7

billion TV viewers had followed the competition.

Moreover, for Barcelona 2013, there was a total of 5,156 hours of dedicated

coverage (against 4,448 hours in 2011) and the competition was broadcast

in 185 territories.

“These impressive figures definitively improve the value and prestige of our

main event, the FINA World Championships. FINA and Aquatics are

definitively top players in the very competitive sport business market. These

results are due to our superb Stars and their outstanding performances, and

to the great support received by our 203 National Member Federations

around the world”, said the FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione.