http://www.worldbadminton.net/getstory.asp?id=621 for you to judge. there statistics that quote "potential" values, like potential audience of 42billions. but they can't quote actual numbers. potential values are midleading IMHO.
Misleading indeed! It would be interesting though to see some actual figures... I guess CCTV does surveys? Keep in mind that this "record event" was not even broadcasted in Europe, North America, Africa, or South America... Not sure about Australia. Compare that to the Football WC, which I am sure is broadcasted even in Micronesia!
42 billion live viewer hours. Assuming each person watched 42 hours, that would make an audience of 1 billion. If some of the footage was repeats (which some people watch again), then the audience figure goes down again. Most of the figures seem to be based on CCTV's potential audience in China (population 1 billion). you could add in Indonesia's contribution as 4th most populous nation.