paralympics

meerkat70
meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
I hear the US has no coverage of the paralympics (or is it just the ceremony?) What's that about??
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Replies

  • vonnywaft
    vonnywaft Posts: 182
    Seems a bit rubbish if its true!
  • JPod279
    JPod279 Posts: 722 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.
  • netchik
    netchik Posts: 587 Member
    Nope. only ~GB and Australia are broadcasting live. rude!
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!
  • Run4UrHealth
    Run4UrHealth Posts: 348 Member
    I am an American and I have to say that even though I do not agree with it...it seems to be true that football will be aired on every available channel. I do not care much for football but it is crazy how serious it is taken here in the US. The stations go with what will get the most views...it is almost a fight over who will be able to show what game. I would love to see the paralympics (I have never seen them).
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Real football involves using your feet, playing a full 90 minutes, no time outs, no video replay delays and is the most beautiful game known to humankind (a fact that is appreciated by the 95% of the world's population outside of the USA....):happy:


    Sadly we have very limited coverage of the Paralympics here in Canada too.
  • Ruthe8
    Ruthe8 Posts: 423 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!
    Why should US coverage revolve around what's popular in the rest of the world? That's stupid.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!
    Why should US coverage revolve around what's popular in the rest of the world? That's stupid.

    Not as stupid as people imagining that just because people are disabled, their sport is somehow insignificant. YOU have athletes here. Or do they just not matter as much as your "able bodied" competitors?
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member

    Thanks, that's a really interesting article. I do tend to agree with activists who can't understand why the coverage is so scaled back though. Seems a shame.
  • mgmlap
    mgmlap Posts: 1,377 Member
    I think because the paralympics are also going on when pre-season football is going on..they wont show it....i do think its sad.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    It's ridiculous. I would LOVE to watch the paralympics (as someone in a wheelchair it really inspires me), but every time I can never find any coverage...
  • poncho33
    poncho33 Posts: 1,511
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!

    What? I don't think anyone would say the paralympics isn't a good thing, American or not. The fact of the matter is it won't get watched by enough people... so why would a network put it on tv?? Plus we know our athletes will take home the most medals
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!

    What? I don't think anyone would say the paralympics isn't a good thing, American or not. The fact of the matter is it won't get watched by enough people... so why would a network put it on tv?? Plus we know our athletes will take home the most medals

    It won't get watched. But no-one thinks it isn't important.

    Huh?

    there's a vicious cycle in operation. It isn't shown. So it isn't watched. So people think it doesn't matter. (And you might know a bit more about your own team's rather limited chances, if you were able to actually watch the events... )
  • Nessiechickie
    Nessiechickie Posts: 1,392 Member
    Canadian and we don't have any coverage of the paralympics.
    I would really like to watch swimming it is amazing how some of them are blind and still swim.
    Being a national competitor for swimming I got to see swimmers with no legs and arms, blind etc swim and it is amazing.
  • Cat_296
    Cat_296 Posts: 40
    I don't know whether the live video feeds will work outside the UK, but many events will be streamed live on paralympics.channel4.com. Worth a shot - the opening ceremony is on there now!
  • ki4yxo
    ki4yxo Posts: 709 Member
    http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Global/Issues/2012/08/28/Media/Paralympics.aspx

    LOCOG said that more than 100 countries "will take TV coverage of the Paralympics," according to Jacquelin Magnay of the London TELEGRAPH. Eleven new deals, including a contract with the European Broadcast Union, has resulted in a total of 36 separate broadcast contracts. Int'l Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven claimed the cumulative TV audience will tally "a record four billion worldwide," beating the figures of 3.8 billion from the '08 Beijing Paralympics. Channel 4's £9M ($14M) contract to broadcast the Games within the U.K. "was a record for the Paralympic movement." The Games also have "a Paralympic specific sponsor" in online grocery store Sainsbury's. The new contracts are for American markets of the U.S., Canada, South and Central America -- including Venezuela -- New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland and Iran.
  • frando
    frando Posts: 583 Member
    Sorry to hear you can't see it!

    I've been looking foward to this for ages! I can't believe it's not being shown, it's not been shown on the BBC here but on a commercial channel and I'm not sure if they have international branches or not : /

    Perhaps they'll be a channel showing highlights?
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Think again, this is the biggest ever Paralympics, tickets almost sold out 2.5million on offer - 2.4million sold. It is a shame the US could not even use one of it's 100 channels to air it.
  • bobbymathews
    bobbymathews Posts: 11 Member
    Actually kind of aggravated that there isn't coverage (and I'm American). I have a good friend who's part of the women's basketball team (defending champs from Beijing), so I'll be following the results and watching the webcast when I can.
  • Kirkajuice
    Kirkajuice Posts: 311 Member
    Perhaps they'll be a channel showing highlights?

    There was a youtube channel showing Olympic highlights, I don't see why there couldn't be one for Paralympic highlights.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!

    What? I don't think anyone would say the paralympics isn't a good thing, American or not. The fact of the matter is it won't get watched by enough people... so why would a network put it on tv?? Plus we know our athletes will take home the most medals

    because you have enough channels to just let ONE of them air it. Regarding your athlets taking home the most medals well for one, you will never know as you won't be watching it and two, if you do take home the most medals what a shame those US athletes never had the backing nor the support of their own nation.
  • damedame
    damedame Posts: 113 Member
    the US doesnt play alot of different sports on the television. its not like theyre just excluding paralympics.
    also, truthfully, how many people would watch it?
    only few countries arent showing it. the US arent the only ones.
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!

    What? I don't think anyone would say the paralympics isn't a good thing, American or not. The fact of the matter is it won't get watched by enough people... so why would a network put it on tv?? Plus we know our athletes will take home the most medals

    Hahahaha.. Nice try but I bet US will not take home most of the medals. You guys came third in Beijing behind China and the UK. Of course you maye improve in London, but it would be despite the lack of home support, and even if you did take a massive clutch of medals there would, sadly, be few Americans who saw it happen.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    the US doesnt play alot of different sports on the television. its not like theyre just excluding paralympics.
    also, truthfully, how many people would watch it?
    only few countries arent showing it. the US arent the only ones.

    You need to widen your horizons a bit there. Millions are watching it, it is a shame you are missing out, there are US athletes there you know.
  • poncho33
    poncho33 Posts: 1,511
    Nope, no coverage. We are about to start the college football (real football, not soccer) season and the NFL. Nobody would be watching the paralympics.

    Ah of course. A sport only played in the US is naturally far more important....

    Seriously. Sometimes you americans really don't do your own reputation any favours. Rise above the stereotype!

    What? I don't think anyone would say the paralympics isn't a good thing, American or not. The fact of the matter is it won't get watched by enough people... so why would a network put it on tv?? Plus we know our athletes will take home the most medals

    because you have enough channels to just let ONE of them air it. Regarding your athlets taking home the most medals well for one, you will never know as you won't be watching it and two, if you do take home the most medals what a shame those US athletes never had the backing nor the support of their own nation.


    Yes we have lots of channels... but they aren't govt. run and your typical American doesn't own any of the networks that own the channels. So this broad statement insinuating how terrible Americans are because we aren't going bat *kitten* crazy over the Paralympics is ridiculous. I'm guessing it's running on the BBC in the UK.. and isn't that Govt. operated? Our channels are operated by companies, who are going to play what is in the most demand.

    If you really wanted to compare who cares more about people with disabilities why don't you look at who donates the most money... not who watches the most events.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    No. It's running on a commercial channel, channel 4.

    Your guessing isn't helping you along much on this thread, is it?
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member


    If you really wanted to compare who cares more about people with disabilities why don't you look at who donates the most money... not who watches the most events.

    But yes, I'm sure you're good at giving money to people. As long as you don't have to... you know.... *look* at them....
  • poncho33
    poncho33 Posts: 1,511


    If you really wanted to compare who cares more about people with disabilities why don't you look at who donates the most money... not who watches the most events.

    But yes, I'm sure you're good at giving money to people. As long as you don't have to... you know.... *look* at them....

    Wow, you're seriously a pile!
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    We have plenty of able-bodied sports that never get coverage either. It's about advertising dollars. Channels don't pick shows because they like the stories, or they want to promote values or anything else. Channels select programming based on what will gather the most pairs of eyeballs. So they can sell the most advertising possible during the commercial breaks.

    Don't be a victim, please. WNBA is a professional sport and it gets ignored by TV for the most part because people don't watch.

    The RNC is only getting an hour of coverage a day from the major networks, is that because of a huge conspiracy to keep us uninformed? No, it's because people won't watch. And the results of that are going to chage our lives a lot more than any athletic endeavors.