Friday, 6 September 2024

Advanced Television: Channel 4 Paralympics coverage reaches 17m+ in first week

Story from Advanced Television:

With the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games now into its second week, data shows Channel 4’s coverage has reached 17.4 million viewers across linear and streaming – more than one quarter of the total TV population – up +4 per cent on the same stage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Based on data covering the Opening Ceremony and the first six days of competitive action, the channel has attained a total audience share of 9.1 per cent; up 25 per cent on the same number of days of Tokyo 2020, up 5 per cent on Rio 2016, and up 79 per cent vs the channel’s average share over the past year. There has already been a total of 4.3billion viewer minutes across linear and streaming, up from 2.9 billion by the same stage of Tokyo 2020.

The performances from ParalympicsGB athletes have proved popular with young viewers, with Channel 4 recording its biggest-ever share of young viewers for a Paralympic Games at this stage. Channel 4’s linear share – 12.8 per cnt – of the 16-to-34 audience, even surpassed its coverage of London 2012 and is up more than +56 per cent versus Tokyo 2020. The first night of coverage around the Opening Ceremony attained a 16-34 share of 22.5 per cent.

Channel 4’s streaming views is double that achieved across the same period of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games – up 97 per cent.

The Last Leg has returned to its roots as it takes pride of place at the heart of Channel 4’s primetime schedule throughout the Games, with over 0.9 million viewers to post-coverage episode to date and up +21 per cent on the Tokyo 2020 equivalent.

Hit moments with viewers over the opening six days of the Games include Tully Kearney landing gold in the Women’s 200m Freestyle S5 final (1.6 million viewers and a 30.7 per cent share of the 16-34 TV viewing audience), David Weir’s unsuccessful bid for a third Paralympics gold medal in the men’s T54 1500 metres (1.5 million viewers) and Great Britain’s victory over France in the preliminary stage of the Men’s wheelchair basketball (1.5 million viewers).

More than 1.7 million live streams have been achieved on Channel 4 Sport’s YouTube channel, where Channel 4 is offering up to 18 concurrent streams and more than 1,300 hours of coverage from all the events being made available for live coverage by the Paralympic Games’ organisers.

On social, Channel 4 Sport’s TikTok account has amassed 16.7 million views with top performing content including Maisie Summers-Newton’s (pictured) emotional medal moment (2.5 million views) and Jonnie Peacock calling out for inclusion of disability sports (1.4 million views). Meanwhile Channel 4 Sport’s Instagram has generated 2.5 millon reach, through content such as Channel 4 presenter Rose Ayling-Ellis’s explanation of how she presents live sport as a deaf person (560,000 views).

Pete Andrews, Channel 4’s Head of Sport, commented: “We are so excited that the Paralympics have captured the public’s imagination and in particular how the amazing performances of ParalympicsGB have struck a chord with younger viewers. We have tried to make these games as accessible as possible for everyone and showcase the fun and drama of this brilliant event. Hosting the streams on YouTube has been a big hit with the viewers and it’s fantastic to see audiences flock to our coverage across linear, streaming and social. Bring on the next few days.”

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