BANGKOK, Jul 8 (AFP): Record television audiences are forecast for this year's Asian Cup finals, with fans in virtually every corner of the region having access to matches, including war-torn Iraq.
All 32 matches during the July 7-29 tournament, co-hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, are being broadcast through pan-Asian satellite, terrestrial and cable stations.
The 2004 Asian Cup in China rewrote the record books for sports programming in the region.
A staggering 43.1 percent of people watching television in China at peak time on the day of the final tuned in at some point to watch the hosts lose to defending champions Japan.
Statistics from 24 major cities across China showed that 18.5 percent of China's population of 1.3 billion watched the whole game, dwarfing the 14.4 percent who watched China's 2002 World Cup match with Brazil.
Seamus O'Brien, president of World Sport Group, the Asian Football Confederation's marketing arm, said the tournament was also going mobile for the first time.
Fans in parts of Asia will be able to view video clips of match highlights and receive daily scores and player information on their hand phones.
Football: Record TV audiences forecast for Asian Cup
FE Team | Published: July 09, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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