How Channel 4 is Growing the Paralympic Movement

(ATR) Channel 4 in the United Kingdom has one goal with its Paralympic coverage: get the Games on "equal billing" with the Olympics.

The United Kingdom-based network first won the rights to broadcast the London 2012 Paralympics. After the success of those Games, the network worked to secure another cycle, which included the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Paralympics.

In Rio, Channel 4 will broadcast over 700 live hours of the 2016 Paralympic Games. That number is far and away the largest out of any foreign broadcaster covering the Rio Games. By contrast, when United States network NBC secured the 2014 and 2016 Paralympics, it promised online streaming and just over 100 hours of live television.

Now, Channel 4 is working to secure the next Paralympic cycle through the Tokyo 2020 Games, continuing its mission to grow the Paralympic movement. Around the Rings went behind the scenes at their operation in Rio to see how the network, which the International Paralympic Committee calls the gold standard for the movement, operates.

"There was an opportunity to acquire the [Paralympic] rights in 2012, and then [Channel 4] was suddenly doing the biggest sporting event the channel had done in its history, and its kind of gone on from there," Stephen Lyle, Commissioning Editor for Sport at Channel 4, told ATR. "In the past, and maybe in other territories, the Paralympic Games hasn’t achieved anything near the amount of coverage of the Olympic Games. At channel 4 we view the Paralympic games as what it is: one of the world’s major sporting events."

Channel 4’s operation in Rio includes 162 total staffers over two programs. Most of the programming is focused on live sports, but a substantial team has come down to produce "The Last Leg," the channel’s entertainment show that began during the 2012 Paralympics. "The Last Leg," features a studio inside the International Broadcast Center, while two other studios overlook the Aquatics center and Rio 2016 live site.

Two-thirds of the on-air presenters for Channel 4 in Rio have an impairment, a record for programming in the UK. Lyle said this was done intentionally as part of the channel’s remit to promote diversity at all levels. He said the legacy of these actions have bled across all facets of UK media, where former Channel 4 Paralympic presenters have gotten jobs outside of the sports media sphere.

"Our presenting team during the daytime is all of our presenters with impairments and we’ve assembled more impaired presenters than ever before," Lyle said. "The Paralympic movement should be a driver for advancing people with disabilities, so that’s happening within our own broadcast."

More importantly, the channel says, is the drive to consciously hire production staff with impairments. In Rio 15 percent of Channel 4’s back of house staff has impairments. In addition, Channel 4 hired 24 trainees and mid-level employees in the past year to work for the company with the aim of getting preparation for working in Rio for the Paralympics.

ATR spoke with two of those hires, Amy Ordinaire, who came through the training program, and Kris Bramwell, who was hired as a mid-level employee, about their work experiences.

Ordinaire was hired last November, and quickly joined a post-production training job at Channel 4. In Rio she helps make sure all post-production paperwork is completed as well as other tasks to keep production running smoothly. Her biggest "confidence boost," from working with Channel 4 is how relaxed people are about her impairment. Ordinaire no longer feels the need to wear her arm splints at work, and continues to soak up her entire Paralympic experience.

"[During the Games], you go day by day," Ordinaire said to ATR. "Once we are finished we will [probably] realize the impact back home and in Brazil, and realize the magic we are involved in."

Ordinaire has also produced a video blog, highlighting her Rio Channel 4 experience.

Bramwell was hired last December having worked in television production as a freelancer before. He was immediately "parachuted," into his role at Channel 4 and hasn’t looked back. In Rio, Bramwell is working on Channel 4’s morning show, helping book presenters, prepping them, and assisting the graphics team.

He says the job has been rewarding professionally, but also a "privilege to be in the studio," with the presenters. More importantly, Bramwell says he has never felt like an outsider since joining Channel 4. He was never treated differently and "was expected to be one of the gang quickly" once he started.

Bramwell believes that the ethos of Channel 4 fits in with how society should view people with an impairment. He says that it is not those with impairments who are disabled, but "it is society that disables people".

"This is truly a unique experience, and we will never get these days back," Bramwell said. "Everyone has been so welcoming. We are here; we are working on [a Paralympics], and no one can take it away from us."

For Channel 4 the effort put into the 2012 Paralympics continues to permeate the day to day operations of the network. "The Last Leg," is one of the highest rated shows on the network, and Lyle says programming highlighting those with impairments will continue long after Rio 2016. As part of negotiations for broadcasting the next Paralympic cycle, Lyle says the network would broadcast the London 2017 IPC athletics championships and other world championships.

"It is something the whole channel has bought into and got behind and is promoting to get it to the point that it is now," Lyle said. "We are determined not to stop until we feel the Paralympic Games has equal billing to the Olympic Games as a major global event that happens every four years."

Written by Aaron Bauerin Rio de Janeiro

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