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RIO DE JANEIRO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Rio Paralympics attracted the most television viewers in the Games' history with a cumulative audience of more than 4.1 billion people, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday.
The figure represented a 7% increase on the 3.8 billion viewers that tuned into the London 2012 Games, according to an IPC statement.
The IPC said the Nielsen Sports ratings were published to mark six months since the end of the Paralympics.
The Games were televised in 154 countries, 39 more than London 2012. Broadcasters beamed a total of 5,100 hours from the 12-day event - more than the combined amount from Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
"The Games were broadcast in more countries than ever before, more hours were shown and the numbers watching have never been higher," IPC marketing director Alexis Schaefer said.
"Nearly all markets increased their broadcast hours and we managed to grow both the domestic and international audiences."
The IPC added that more than one billion people were engaged in the Games via digital media.
The Rio Paralympics saw China become only the third country to achieve a century of gold medals in a single edition of the Games.
The United States and Britain also achieved the feat at the 1984 Games, claiming 137 and 107 golds respectively.
In Rio, the Asian nation finished with 107 gold, 81 silver and 51 bronze medals.
