TORONTO — As the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games prepare to get underway on Friday, March 4, the Canadian Paralympic Media Consortium, including primary broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, announced today their broadcast, live streaming and digital coverage plans for the event, which runs until Sunday, March 13.
The Canadian broadcast schedule for Paralympics coverage includes almost 150 total TV hours across CBC/Radio-Canada, Accessible Media Inc.’s AMI-tv and AMI-audio, and Rogers Sports and Media’s Sportsnet, according to a press release.
“We are set for an incredible Paralympic Winter Games and are very excited for people across the country to be able to watch Canada’s Paralympians dazzle on the world stage,” said Martin Richard, executive director of communications and brand for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, in the press release.
“Coverage of the Paralympics has improved and increased with every Games, and this is no exception. Viewers across Canada can expect high quality TV broadcasts, superb live streams, and around-the-clock social and digital media coverage.”
The Paralympic Winter Games features five sports: Para alpine skiing, Para ice hockey, Para Nordic skiing (biathlon and cross country), Para snowboard, and wheelchair curling. All events featuring Canadian athletes plus more will be available for live streaming, the release says.
“CBC/Radio-Canada is proud to be providing extensive multiplatform coverage of the Paralympic Games. We wish all of our Paralympians the best of luck,” said Catherine Tait, CBC/Radio-Canada’s president and CEO, in the release.
Live streams of events will be available on Paralympic.ca, the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s YouTube channel, cbc.ca/beijing2022, Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques, CBC Gem, the Radio-Canada Sports app for iOS and Android, and CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. Viewers will be able to catch up on events afterward by watching on-demand on these platforms, as well as on Amazon Prime Video.
Live TV coverage on CBC/Radio-Canada begins on Friday, March 4 at 6:30 a.m. ET/3:30 a.m. PT with the Opening Ceremony, hosted in English by veteran CBC Sports broadcaster Scott Russell and in French by Radio-Canada’s Marie-José Turcotte and nine-time Paralympic Games gold medallist Benoît Huot.
The Opening Ceremony will be presented with closed captioning, described video and American Sign Language integrations, as will the Closing Ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, March 13.
Hosted by Russell, CBC’s weekend coverage will air in morning, daytime and late-night slots, while weekday shows will air Monday-Friday at 3 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. local time. Four-time Paralympic Games medallist Summer Mortimer will join Russell in-studio for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies plus regular check-ins during daily shows.
Radio-Canada will air weekend Paralympic shows hosted by Turcotte at 3 p.m. ET from Montreal, and Jean St-Onge will team up with Jean-Patrick Balleux and Para athlete Camille Chai to host the daily weekday show at 1 p.m. ET from Beijing.
Broadcast partner AMI will offer regular coverage of key competitions, while Sportsnet will re-broadcast CBC’s coverage every morning on Sportsnet One.
CBC’s daytime television coverage will offer described video, provided by Descriptive Video Works.
“Having a quality, robust live coverage plan is so important to growing Paralympic sport and it is fantastic to know that everyone throughout Canada can watch every minute of the Games,” said Josh Dueck, chef de mission, Beijing 2022 Canadian Paralympic Team.
“This is going to be such an exciting, compelling Games with extraordinary athletes, and the performances of our team will resonate with Canadians. On the flip side, I also know the team in Beijing will be able to feel all of the support from back home, so I encourage everyone to watch and cheer on every athlete.”
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