The first ever sports-themed Chinese New Year’s celebration television event in China, the 2018 Chinese New Year Sports Gala, has drawn a total viewership of over 100 million by Feb 22, the China Sports Daily has reported.

The Sports Gala was inaugurated by the All-China Sports Federation with nearly 100 sports celebrities, such as Yao Ming, Lang Ping, the Chinese National Table Tennis Team and other Olympic and world medalists taking part in this Gala and presenting their own programs to the huge audience.

The Sports Gala made its debut on the Chinese satellite TV channel Dragon TV on Feb 17 (Jan 2 in the Lunar Calendar), 2018. The next day, four Chinese TV channels re-broadcasted the Sports Gala, including BTV, The Travel Channel, Haixia TV and Hebei Satellite TV. 

Anhui TV was the last TV channel to broadcast this Gala on Feb 22, the first day after the Spring Festival break with the European and American branches of the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV also broadcasting the performance. People could also watch the event on some Internet-based broadcasting platforms. 

During this 6-day broadcast, over 100 million viewers watched the Sports Gala on TV and Internet-based broadcasting platforms. The video clips of the Gala also attracted a viewership of over 20 million.

On Sina Weibo, the social media partner of the Sports Gala, the hashtag #体育嘉年华 (translated as Sports Gala) has also been read over 42 million times. 

Source: China Sports Daily

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick