SF reports positive results for Winter Olympics

With the closing ceremony on Sunday, the 17-day mega-event in Turin not only sparkled with fireworks, but also put Swiss Television (SF) in a good mood. SF already reported good viewing figures at half-time, and on Monday SF confirmed the above-average viewer interest during the 220 hours of Olympic broadcasts. SF 2 was able to increase its 24-hour market share from 9.3 percent in February 2005 to 23.5 percent during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. The sports that attracted the most viewers were alpine skiing, figure skating, bobsleigh, curling, ski jumping, snowboarding and ice hockey. Interest was particularly high in the competitions with Swiss medal chances, even during the day. The daily magazine programs were also well received. The 17 prime-time programs generated an average audience of 315,000 viewers (18.1 percent market share), while the late evening program attracted an average of 391,000 viewers (24.2 percent market share). The highest market share of 72.7 percent was achieved for the men's downhill race on February 12. Over one million viewers were glued to their screens. The figure skaters' free skating competition was watched by 949,000 viewers, while 1,031,000 people watched the curling competition on February 23.