The Olympic Games has always enjoyed extensive television coverage around the world, yet only in more recent years has the Paralympic Games received significant air time In the USA for example, the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games was the first time that the Paralympic Games benefited from extended coverage. NBC and NBCSN dedicated 66 hours of live coverage and highlights to the Paralympics during Rio 2016 and that is likely to be repeated for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Here in New Zealand, we are lucky to partner with two outstanding media organisations to bring you some amazing coverage of the Paralympics, before, during and after the Paralympic Games.
TVNZ and Attitude. are official media partners of Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) and following their successful partnership during Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018, they are once again teaming up to bring New Zealanders the best of the Paralympics from Tokyo.
Why TV coverage of the Paralympics is more important than ever
There has always been a strong interest in our Paralympians, and this will be felt here in New Zealand more than ever this year.
With no family, friends or fans allowed to travel to Tokyo to watch the Paralympics, there will be unprecedented interest in the TV coverage of Tokyo 2020.
TVNZ and Attitude Pictures collaborated on coverage of Rio 2016, broadcasting to 2.2 million viewers and PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games broadcasting to 1.8 million viewers.
“New Zealand loves watching our top athletes perform at the highest levels and offering live sport free to air gives everyone an opportunity to be part of the excitement,” said TVNZ director of content, Cate Slater talking to Inside the Games.
“We saw that in the way the public got behind last year’s Paralympic Games in Rio, which reached over half of all New Zealanders.“
Kiwis to fall in love with Paralympians all over again
The Olympic Games offer the perfect warm-up to the Paralympics and get people really excited about watching free-to-air sport here in New Zealand on TVNZ.
“Kiwis fell in love with our Paralympians and showed an outpouring of support during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games,” said PNZ Chief Executive, Fiona Allan, again talking to Inside the Games.
“As a result, Para sport was elevated in the hearts and minds of communities across the country.
“We wish to thank TVNZ and Attitude Pictures for their unrelenting commitment to showcasing the achievements of our elite Paralympians and Para athletes and we could not be more thrilled to give our support to the broadcast team that will continue to bring free to air coverage of Para sport to New Zealanders.“
How to watch the Paralympics in New Zealand
You can catch all the action as the New Zealand Paralympic Team compete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as it unfolds each day on TVNZ DUKE (Freeview Channel 13 and Sky Channel 23). A 30 minute daily highlights show will air at 9 am on TVNZ1. Coverage will also be live-streamed through TVNZ OnDemand, with catch up viewing of select events available on the platform. 1 NEWS will support the live broadcast with extensive coverage of our New Zealand Paralympians as they go for gold in Japan across TVNZ 1’s daily news programming and 1news.co.nz.
If you can’t wait until the Paralympic Games start to get your fix, make sure you check out some of the fantastic content on Attitude.Live where you will find a number of inspiring documentaries tracking our Para athletes in the build-up to Tokyo 2020.
We’re excited for the start of the Paralympic Games, and we hope you will enjoy the TV coverage. You will, of course, be able to keep up to date with all the day’s action right here on the PNZ website where we will be posting daily roundups, as well as posting up TV scheduling as soon as it becomes available.
Get behind our Paralympians at Tokyo 2020 and enjoy the best TV coverage with TVNZ and Attitude.
