UK commercial broadcaster Channel 4 responded to criticism regarding the extent of its live coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games by saying that it would extend its hours of main channel coverage from today (Monday).
Channel 4 said it had decided to fill its entire daytime schedule with the Games, with coverage that was planned to be shown on the More4 digital channel in the late afternoon schedule moved to the main channel until the conclusion of the event on September 9.
As a result, Channel 4 will broadcast daily Paralympics coverage of almost 16 hours on the main channel from 7am through to 11.15pm – breaking for just half an hour for the Channel 4 News at 7pm.
Channel 4’s chief creative officer, Jay Hunt, said: “The coverage of the Paralympics has completely captured the public’s imagination. We are clearing our schedule to bring viewers even more of this fantastic sport.”
Channel 4’s announcement came a day after it was forced to defend its coverage. A Channel 4 spokesman rejected claims that the broadcaster had spent too long talking to guests in the studio and not enough time showing live coverage. He told the Guardian newspaper that more time was devoted to explaining the sports and classification system over the first few days, adding that Channel 4 also had three live streams continuously running on its interactive channels.
Including the interactive channels, Channel 4 is broadcasting around 500 hours of coverage of the 2012 Paralympics.
Channel 4’s coverage of the T44 200m sprint final on Sunday attracted 4.4 million viewers – the largest-ever UK audience for a Paralympic sporting event.
Meanwhile, Ajay Maken, the Indian sports minister, has written to Shri Jawahar Sircar, the chief executive of Prasar Bharati, to express his disappointment of the Indian public-service broadcaster’s lack of coverage of the Paralympics.
“While Doordarshan [which is operated by Prasar Bharati] did a commendable job in bringing the live coverage of the London Olympics to the audience in India, unfortunately it is not doing the adequate coverage of 2012 summer Paralympic Games,” Maken said.
“This not only militates against our basic principle of integration of people with physical disabilities into the mainstream but will also discourage a large number of people with such disabilities in India to participate in such events and competitions. I shall be grateful if Prasar Bharati ensures suitable coverage of the Paralympics through special packages, special reports and live telecast of events, as and when Indian athletes are participating.”