Seven Network, the Australian free-to-air commercial broadcaster, is to broadcast the 2019 IPC World Athletics Championships.
The commitment marks the first time that the games will be broadcast in Australia on linear and online platforms with live coverage streamed on 7plus and daily 30-minute highlights programmes broadcast on 7TWO.
Australian audiences were previously able to watch the 2011 IPC championships on linear platforms, but the streaming element is new to the broadcaster’s offering for this year’s instalment. The 2019 games will also be the first in eight years to be broadcast on a free-to-air platform (with ABC having aired coverage in 2011).
This marks the second Paralympic sports property that Seven has signed up to broadcast this year, following on from the 2019 World Para-Swimming Championships in August.
The Seven Network is a long-standing rights-holder of Paralympics properties in Australia, having broadcast the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio and the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang.
Both games were also supplemented by similar daily highlights programmes to those which are included in the deal for the 2019 games.
The network also holds the rights to the Australian broadcast rights to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games after acquiring them in 2014 for a sum of AUD$200m (€123.5m/$138m).
The 2019 IPC World Athletics Championships take place in Dubai between November 8-16.