Over the next 12 days, a record of more than 225 Media Rights Holder (MRH), broadcasters, streaming, digital, social and audio platforms will cover the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, with many offering more Games coverage than ever before, taking full advantage of over 1,450 hours of live coverage produced and made available by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).

For the first time in Paralympic Games history, all 22 sports will have live coverage including for the first time Para badminton, Para powerlifting and Shooting Para sport, an increase on the 19 sports shown during Tokyo 2020.

With the objective to deliver the broadest global coverage and engage a younger audience, partnerships were created with YouTube and TikTok to ensure widespread live and short-form content coverage. The IPC expects Paris 2024 will surpass the cumulative audience of 4.1 billion people that tuned in for the Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

John Lisko, Managing Director of IPC Global Media Rights, said: "We fully expect Paris 2024 will shatter every Paralympic Games broadcasting record – record number of rights holders, more hours of live coverage and all 22 sports live for the first time in history.

"Our ambition for Paris 2024 has been for every person on this planet to have the opportunity to watch the Paralympic Games. The combination of a record number of rights holders, plus the welcome addition of YouTube and TikTok covering the event, ensures this ambition will become a reality whether that be through traditional TV, streaming, social platforms, digital content or radio.

"The driving force behind the increased coverage of and interest in the Paralympic Games is the quality of the sport and the performances of the athletes. Paralympic sport has never been better, more attractive or more competitive and we are confident that Paris 2024 will set new benchmarks for the quality of Para sport."

Record breaking European coverage

In Games' host country, France Televisions will provide continuous 24 hours a day coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games through a mix of 300 hours of live and on-demand coverage.

UK broadcaster Channel 4 will air over 1,300 hours of live sport for free across several platforms. Paris 2024 is set to be Channel 4’s most accessible Games to date. All content will be broadcast with subtitles, and live peak time sport on Channel 4 will have closed audio description, while live sport on More4 and Channel 4 Streaming will include British Sign Language (BSL).

Europewide IPC agency partner Infront will ensure several thousand hours of coverage in a record 46 European countries, including markets where the Games weren't previously available: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Lithuania and Malta. InFront Productions will once again create European-focused multi-feeds and tailored digital content allowing broadcasters to engage with their local audiences in a more meaningful way. 

Leading free-to-air channels such as ARD/ZDF in Germany, RAI in Italy, NOS in the Netherlands, NRK in Norway and SRG in Switzerland will provide extensive coverage across their linear and digital channels. 

Next editions

With the LA28 Paralympic Games on the horizon, NBCU's Peacock will offer the most comprehensive coverage of the Paralympic Games in U.S. history. The Peacock hub includes more than 1,500 hours of Paralympic streaming coverage for all 22 Paralympic sports, plus 140 hours of linear coverage across NBC, USA Network and CNBC.

NBCU's Gold Zone makes its debut in the Paralympic Games offering viewers must see moments as they unfold. Closed captioning of every event, regardless of platform will be included, with audio description on all linear programming. In partnership with Making Space, NBCU will feature hosts and production crews with a disability, increasing representation in front of and behind the camera.

In Australia, host nation of the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games, the Nine Network debuts as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games broadcaster and will screen more than 300 hours of coverage, with 14 hours a day of live coverage across Channel 9 and 9Gem. They will also feature more than 20 dedicated high-definition live streams on 9Now. Stan Sport will also screen the Paralympics.

Before the cauldron is lit at the Opening Ceremony, Nine will present content including two feature episodes from the Nine's documentary series Beyond The Dream, along with stories of Australia's great hopes in Paris captured from the past 10 months. Nine's exclusive and extensive content will be hosted by Nine's unrivalled on-screen talent featuring the best of the best with some of the most accomplished Paralympian commentators.

In Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada will broadcast more than 140 original hours of coverage, with an additional 2,000 hours of live streaming coverage available across its multiple platforms. CBC will also have a nightly Paralympic Prime Time Show for the first time ever. The Opening Ceremony will be presented on CBC and CBC Gem with closed captioning and described video, and streaming coverage will also include American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.

Global coverage

In Japan, NHK, Japan's Multi-Games MRH and broadcaster will again provide coverage of the Paralympic Games with more than 80 hours, along with NHK's weekly highlights show. NHK broadcasting partnership with JBA, JCOM and Green Channel extends the broad coverage in the country. NHK is looking to engage audiences in new and meaningful ways, including visually impaired athletes commentating for goalball and blind football competitions. 

The company will also host a public live broadcasting exhibition, outside the TV station studio with a live audience. Spectators will enjoy the matches in the same style as the competition venue in Paris, with the same rules, being quiet during the competition and cheering loudly when a point is scored. Perfectly Timed Subtitles will debut in live NHK broadcasts during the Paralympic Games. 

Global highlights include:

-Arab Statues Broadcasting Union (ASBU): The 20 countries members of the ABSU are committed to offer free to air coverage, with Algeria providing live coverage of their athletes.

-Africa: Similar to Tokyo 2020, through SABC in South Africa and TV Media Sport, all major public broadcasters in Sub Saharan Africa will broadcast live the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as one-hour-long daily highlights. On the payTV side, Supersport will continue its extensive live coverage to its 3.5 million households on the continent. All this linear programming will be complemented by YouTube streaming live all content.

India: 100Sport joins as the MRH in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, with significant sub-license coverage via DDS and Viacom18 and their Jio Cinema OTT platform.

-Latin America: Extensive free to air coverage across Latin and South America region includes Globo in Brazil (as well as its payTV and digital platforms), TyC Sports in Argentina, Chilevision in Chile, and TVES in Venezuela. The association of all free to air regional channels in Colombia will guarantee the live broadcast of both ceremonies and the key performances of the day. Thanks to a partnership with Albavision, 10 free to air stations in 10 Central and Latin America countries will also have the opportunity to watch for free the live ceremonies as well as one-hour daily highlights. On the payTV side, America Movil will provide coverage on all of their Claro Sports platforms as well as through their YouTube Channel. Coverage in Mexico comes through new MRH Vivir sin Limites bringing in-language live sports coverage through Hi! Sport and Canal ONCE.

In terms of global audio...

-Worldwide coverage will be extended beyond video to include global audio coverage of the Paralympic Games, available thanks to a renewed partnership with- BBC Radio. Radio France International joins as a Paralympic Games MRH for the first time ever, with French commentary and Monte Carlo Douala in Arabic.

In a first for the Paralympic Games, passengers on airplanes and ships during the Games-period will have access to daily programmes highlighting the best performances of the day through Sport 24.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will also stream on Paralympic.org with the YouTube video player embedded in the IPC website. YouTube is available worldwide in more than 165 markets, with selected sport availability in some markets, and fully blocked in Australia, France, UK, USA and their respective territories. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will feature 4,400 athletes who will compete in 549 medal events across 22 sports.