According to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) 2016 will mark a new record number of countries broadcasting the 2016 Rio Paralympics. This year, the games will be broadcast in 154 countries; up from 115 countries at the London Paralympics. The IPC also estimates that the Paralympic Games will be broadcast to record of 4 billion people across the world.
“Overall digital output is increasing, alongside our own social media coverage with even more behind the scenes content and real-time videos than ever before and a record 680 hours of live streaming at Paralympic.org on 15 high definition channels,”Alexis Schaefer, the IPC’s marketing and commercial director told rio2016.com (see article here).
In addition to being broadcast in more countries, the Paralympic Games are receiving more coverage in countries where it has been broadcast in the past. Two channels in the United States will be broadcasting the Paralympic Games for a total of 66 hours of TV time. At the 2012 London Paralympics there was a total of only 5.5 hours of television time in the US. NBC and NBCSN will both be showing the Paralympic events on their channels.
The IPC hopes that the 2016 games will provide new ways that people will watch the Paralympics. Some broadcasters are choosing to provide multi-platform options for their viewers to watch the Games, such as streaming online and apps, according to rio2016.com (see full article here).
Ticket sales for the 2016 Paralympic Games have reached 1.5 million. Several finals for the Games have already sold out, including wheelchair basketball and swimming.
The Rio 2016 Paralympics will take place from September 7th to September 18th. To find out how you can watch the Games, please click here.
