ABU DHABI, UAE – The Canadian Paralympic Broadcast Media Consortium has won the 2017 Paralympic Media Award in the broadcast category for its coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
The prize is awarded by the International Paralympic Committee to the TV or radio broadcaster that presented the highest quality and most dynamic coverage of Rio 2016.
The unique Consortium model saw the Canadian Paralympic Committee acquire the domestic broadcast and digital rights to the Paralympic Games. The Consortium, which included CBC/Radio-Canada, Sportsnet, Yahoo! Sports, AMI, SendtoNews, Videogami and Facebook Canada, provided over 1,200 hours of coverage over the course of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games across platforms including television and digital streaming, to an audience of over 10.2 million, reaching nearly 29% of Canadians.
"The Canadian Paralympic Committee and all involved are thrilled with the success of this new concept, which sets the stage for a broadcasting model of the future," said Martin Richard, executive director of communications and brand at the Canadian Paralympic Committee, in the news release. "Working together as individual partners and as a collective, the bar has been raised at all levels. It has been a privilege to lead and innovate through this pioneering model, changing how Paralympic sport is covered in Canada, thanks to the outstanding, world-class coverage by our media partners, the investment of our corporate sponsors and the support of Canadian fans. Thank you to our athletes for being so open in sharing their stories."
