Paralympics to get unprecedented coverage for Sochi Olympics

It wasn't all that long ago that coverage of the Paralympics meant an occasional newspaper story, a few lines in agate type and the odd televised report wrapping up competition.

Things have changed drastically in the past decade and they changed even more on Wednesday when the Canadian Paralympic Committee announced broadcast and electronic media plans for the Sochi Games in March.

There will be an unprecedented 65 hours of television coverage and another 350 of digital streaming shared by five media outlets that make up the Paralympic Broadcast Consortium. The consortium includes CBC/Radio-Canada, Rogers Sportsnet, Accessible Media Inc., and Yahoo Canada Sports. In addition, SendtoNews will distribute full news access highlights to all Canadian media at no charge.

"This is an incredibly exciting day for Canadian Paralympic sport," said Brian McKeever, a 10-time Paralympic medallist in para-Nordic skiing. "The visibility and support that Team Canada's athletes will experience through the Paralympic Broadcast Consortium will be a great morale boost to all of us competing in Sochi, knowing that our loved ones back home, as well as all Canadians, will be able to follow the action and cheer on their team."

The Paralympics are a perfect example of what the explosion in television channels and the digital world can do for a sport. Back when there were only a handful of sports channels, getting on-air coverage was pretty tough if you weren't the NHL, CFL or Major League Baseball.

But with compelling content needed more than ever by a continuously growing number of channels and websites, the Paralympics have become a valuable commodity. It's not exactly a mainstream sport yet, but breakthroughs in recent years indicate that could change some day.

It was only five years ago that Chantal Petitclerc became the first Paralympian to be named Canada's female athlete of the year. Since then, McKeever and Oscar Pistorius have broken through to qualify for and compete in the Olympic Games.

The broadcast plans are indicative of how much interest in the Paralympics has grown. At the last winter Games in Vancouver, Canada's broadcast consortium announced a record 57 hours of Paralympics programming. This time there will be at least eight hours more.

Television coverage of the London 2012 Games attracted a cumulative TV audience of 3.8 billion in over 115 countries. It's hoped that Sochi will surpass the Winter Games record of 1.6 billion set in Vancouver.

"During the London 2012 Paralympic Games, we saw broadcast records soar across many continents," said Martin Richard, the committee's executive director of communications and marketing. "In Canada, Canadians told us that they wanted more Paralympic Games coverage on television, and the (committee) listened and acted."

Richard said the consortium's plans were made possible by broadcast sponsors Petro-Canada, Canadian Tire, Air Canada and CIBC.

Detailed coverage schedules of coverage will be announced closer to Games time along with on-air staff, which will include Paralympian commentators.