A second party. The wave of euphoria from the Olympic Games should benefit the Paralympic Games, which open next week. Expectations, in terms of audiovisual content, are in any case very high.
France Télévisions predicts a strong enthusiasm for this new sporting event in France, where French athletes should shine. Florent Dumont, deputy director of antennas and programs of the public group, predicts at least a doubling of the audience compared to the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Almost 24 million French people were passionate about this sporting event in Japan, according to France Télévisions data on the coverage (60 non-consecutive seconds).
Public interest
“I bet that the emotion we felt during the Games, we will also feel during the Paralympic Games,” Laurent-Eric Le Lay, the public group’s sports director, confided to “Les Echos” the day after the end of the Olympic Games. “It’s a very important event for us,” he added. Already, the Tokyo Paralympic Games had attracted a larger audience than those in Rio, with an average audience share of 9.1% on France 3, according to Médiamétrie.
In any case, all the lights seem to be green: the advertising world is increasingly highlighting the Paralympic Games, the media are talking about them… This Wednesday, the organizers indicated that they had already sold more than 1.75 million tickets for the competitions, with a boost since the Olympics, even if the London record has not yet been reached.
Polls also show interest from the general public. According to a study by Arcom at the beginning of the year, two thirds of French people intended to follow the Olympic Games and 60% the Paralympic Games.
24 hour coverage
The public broadcasting group has in any case deployed major resources for these Games from August 28 to September 8. The event will be broadcast 24 hours a day, alternating on France 2 and France 3, with prime time and the opening and closing evenings. In total, there will be 1,800 hours of coverage, including 300 hours on linear channels, the rest on the france.tv platform. Compared to around a hundred hours in linear for the Tokyo Games.
“This is going to be a major first on several levels: the first time that the Paralympic Games have been broadcast in their entirety, the first time that a large part of the competitions will benefit from audio description for the visually impaired. Strong commitments have been made by all the television channels,” says Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier, member of the Arcom board.
While France Télévisions is the exclusive television broadcaster in France, it is not the only one to share this enthusiasm. A record number of channels around the world are set to highlight the event. In total, more than 160 countries and territories have acquired the rights and overall revenue from the sale of media rights has increased by more than 20% compared to Tokyo 2020, the Paris 2024 organizing committee indicated at the beginning of the year.
Disabled sport a little more represented
“The competitions are better and better produced, the images more and more beautiful. And there are more and more athletes who stand out from the crowd and whose faces are starting to be known to the French”, explains Jérôme Saporito, director of the TV division of “L’Equipe”, who cites in particular Pauline Déroulède (wheelchair tennis), Marie Bochet (handisport skier) and Alexis Hanquinquant (paratriathlon). The “L’Equipe” group has also put in place “exceptional means” to cover the event, both for the newspaper and in television broadcasts.
Disabled sport is generally more represented on television, even if it remains a minority compared to more traditional sports. According to data from Arcom at the beginning of the year, 47% of French people have already watched or listened to content relating to parasport competitions.
The L’Equipe channel broadcast the Wheelchair Rugby World Cup in 2023, reaching 1 million viewers in total (including 250,000 for certain matches). “At the low end of the audience scale, certainly, but a good score for a first edition,” considers Jérôme Saporito. The group wants to continue its momentum. “The expected success of these Games will benefit everyone,” he assures. And also, more generally, the representation of disability on television. “The Games will provide a boost to change the way people look at it,” hopes Florent Dumont.
