(Photo: IOC – Greg Martin)

The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 reached a global broadcast audience of more than 2 billion people, according to independent research conducted on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

A total of 2.01 billion viewers tuned in to watch coverage from Beijing across linear TV and digital platforms, representing a five percent increase on the audience for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

Viewers around the world watched a combined 713 billion minutes of Games coverage on Olympic Media Rights Partners’ channels. This was an 18 percent increase on PyeongChang 2018, underlining the continued appetite for Olympic broadcast coverage in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

Media Rights Partners made more hours of coverage available to fans than at any previous Olympic Winter Games edition, including a record 120,670 hours through digital platforms.

The Olympics web and app platforms reached 68 million unique users during Beijing 2022 – more than double the reach achieved during the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

Olympic social media handles achieved 3.2 billion engagements throughout the Games period, attracting more than 11 million new followers across various platforms.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Beijing 2022 was the most digitally engaged Olympic Winter Games in history. In close cooperation with our Media Rights Partners around the world, more coverage was made available than ever before, including a record amount via digital platforms.”