Paralympics 2010 Opening Ceremonies Not Broadcast Live Angers IPC

by Amy Judd | March 13, 2010 at 12:10 pm

2424 views | 4 Recommendations | 10 comments

The President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is Angry at CTV for Not Broadcasting the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies Live Across Canada

The Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympic Games on February 12th were broadcast live across the CTV network for all to watch, but the Opening Ceremonies of the Paralympic Games were not given the same importance according to Sir Phillip Craven, President of the IPC.

CTV did not broadcast the Opening Ceremonies live on their network; they did on their local Vancouver channel, but not all across Canada.

Paralympic Athletic Events

Instead CTV will broadcast the Opening Ceremonies starting at 1:30pm EST on Saturday March 13 and NBC, the other rights holder to the Olympic Games, will show highlights from the Ceremonies starting at 1pm EST on Saturday March 13.

Sir Phillip Craven told The Globe and Mail that not to broadcast the ceremony live was against the games' message of equality for everyone.

“It absolutely smacks in the face of one of our four values, which is equality,” Sir Philip Craven said in an interview. “So, when I heard this, I was not very happy about it, at all.”

He went on to say:

“I think they're really missing out, not getting it to the rest of the country. These are Canada's Games, and they should be all over the country.”

CTV did respond to the claims saying that they were providing more coverage of the Paralympic Games than any other rights holder in Paralympic history, as they will have 57 hours in both English and French. Most of the coverage will be packaged highlights coverage and some live coverage of Sledge Hockey, which is the most popular.

“It would be erroneous to compare coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games to coverage of the 2010 Olympic Games,” the CTV statement said.

Fans were not happy however that the Opening Ceremonies couldn't be seen all across Canada. What do you think?

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L.Barnes (not verified)

at 12:53 on March 13th, 2010

I agree with Sir Philip Craven..the Paralympics are NEVER given as much of anything!! Doesn't matter whether it is coverage space on TV, radio or newspaper..whether it is time or money etc. What does matter is that the EFFORT put into the Paralympics is fantastic!!! One of my daughters is taking part in the opening ceremony..too bad that I have to ask a friend to record the ceremony..but at least I have that option. I believe that the atheletes at the Paralympics know that they are the best they can or want to be..just like all competitive athletes. Media coverage will always be contoversial..too much..not enough..not equal. Sad that every Canadian does not get the 'equal' part of media coverage. Maybe this 2010 coverage or lack thereof will create enough noise to make a difference for all the 'next times'.

Jennifer Ann Black (not verified)

at 13:03 on March 13th, 2010

I would like to see as much of the paraolympics coverage as I did the Olympics i love to see competition and would love to see all the events like we did a couple of weeks ago. Thank you.

JLN (not verified)

at 13:56 on March 13th, 2010

Not only did the rest of canada NOT get to see the opening ceremony live on Friday, but CTV also decided at the last minute to advance its broadcast to 1:30pm Saturday, despite announcing "2pm" for days in news articles - so we tuned in only to realize we had missed the opening part, including our national anthem. well done CTV. AT LEAST, give us the ceremony through on-demand TV here in Quebec.. make it up!

Amy Judd

at 13:58 on March 13th, 2010

Oh no, thanks for letting us know, that's annoying.

Soyunangel

at 16:46 on March 14th, 2010

Yes, my family in Toronto also tuned in at 2:00 pm just to find out that they had started the transmission at 1:30. It was very disappointing!

On the other hand, family in Oshawa managed to watch the live coverage on Saturday night on CTV Vancouver, in cable. Too bad this was not broadly known otherwise everyone would have tuned in to that channel.

Susan Stoner (not verified)

at 14:58 on March 13th, 2010

It is definitely time for CHANGE! The Paralympic should be given the same opportunities as the Olympics- that includes tv coverage and also access to the different pavilions in Vancouver that were open during the Olympics but are closed now. The way the Paralympics are treated is disappointing. It's not about the disablities- it's about the ABILITIES, and they should be celebrated equally!

Dorothy Whittome (not verified)

at 16:02 on March 13th, 2010

CTV's coverage has been a bad joke! I was disappointed to not watch it live last night -- I had no idea it was on in BC. Then today, I set the recording for 2 pm only to realize I'd missed the first part. What incompetence!

Mike123456 (not verified)

at 20:47 on March 13th, 2010

This Sucks!! I seriously feel that the rest of the world missed out on this amazing event. The paralympians deserve much more for there courage and hard efforts.

L.Barnes (not verified)

at 08:41 on March 15th, 2010

Hey!!! It is me of the first comment here. Guess what?!! After requesting 2 friends to record the opening cermony for me..nothing!! THANKX FOR ALL THE CUTS CTV!!!! Thankx for NOTHING!!! The program ran overtime my butt! With all the ads taking up so much time the ceremony was still not all recorded for all Canadians. Exactly how long was the actual ceremony? No wonder I still only have CBC and APTN signals!

MaryO (not verified)

at 09:09 on March 15th, 2010

I also was planning to watch the Opening ceremonies on Friday night with my family in Ontario when we realized that the coverage would not be available until Sat. at 2 p.m. I am very disappointed with the coverage of the Paralympic coverage to date (both printed and electronic media). This is our chance to be leaders and show the world that Canadians do care and respect our althetes and the althetes coming from around the world giving it their best. I admire the determination and courage that many of these althetes have shown during the Olympics and now for the Paralympics. I want to support our Paralympic althetes as much as I supported our Olympic althetes. You cannot go by past experience\numbers in terms of whether people will be interested in these events. Part of the problem with the Paralympics in the past is that it was very difficult to get any coverage and\or exposure on these events. If you dedicate coverage to these events - the viewers will come, people will get excited by these events and they will want more. Show at least the closing ceremonies live across Canada. Increase the coverage on these elite althetes as Canadians - we are very interested in knowing how our althetes are doing. You cannot assume that only people in Vancouver and\or BC are interested in these games - we're all interested!!! A Proud Canadian