As of today, Channel 4 will be extending its Paralympic coverage on the station’s main channel.
Due to the success of the Games so far, the broadcaster has decided to have the Paralympics dominate the daytime schedule. The late afternoon coverage which was due to broadcast on More4 will now be shown on Channel 4, and Hollyoaks will move from it 6:30pm Channel 4 slot to E4 at the same time for the next rest of the week. Channel 4 will be broadcasting a total of 500 hours of Paralympic coverage throughout the Games across its main channel and three Paralympic Extra live streams.
With the new schedule, almost 16 hours of Paralympic coverage will be shown on Channel 4 from 7:00am until 11:15pm, stopping only for the Channel 4 News at 7:00pm.
Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer, Jay Hunt said: “The coverage of the Paralympics has completely captured the public’s imagination. We are clearing our schedule to bring viewers even more of this fantastic sport.”
This year’s Channel 4 coverage has broken British Paralympic viewing figures – after a huge 11.2million people tuned into the opening ceremony, figures have continue to impress. Last night, 4.4million people tuned in to watch Brazil’s Alan Oliveira defeat favourite Oscar Pistorious in the men’s T44 200m sprint. In the 2008 Beijing Games, the BBC’s highlights programme on day 3 averaged at 2.1million viewers.