The world has been filled with Olympic fever this summer, with records broken and new legends made. However, the sporting action is far from over.
Today, the 2024 Paralympics will begin – with around 4400 athletes competing in 22 sports, including Wheelchair Fencing, Blind Football and Para Archery. The US and UK have historic records in the Paralympics and have many contenders for medals this year.
This year’s Games will kick off with the opening ceremony, with the sports themselves beginning the day after. If you’d like to know all the ways to watch the action, including what channels are airing the Paralympic Games, which sports are available and what accessible broadcasts there are, we have everything you need.
When are the Paris 2024 Paralympics?
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will begin tonight, Wednesday 28 August 2024, with the opening ceremony.
They will conclude on Sunday 8 September 2024 and will finish with the closing ceremony.
When does the Paris 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony start?
As mentioned above, the opening ceremony will kick off the entire Paralympics on Wednesday 28 August 2024. Here’s what time it airs in different parts of the world:
- UK – 7pm BST
- East Coast US – 2pm ET
- West Coast US – 11am PT
- France – 8pm CET
How to watch the Paralympics in the UK
While the BBC and Eurosport shared joint coverage of the Olympics, only one broadcaster has the rights to the Paralympics: Channel 4. This year, the station has some comprehensive coverage available, with over 1,300 hours available across its various platforms.
Broadcast TV
TV coverage is split across Channel 4 and More 4, with the opening and closing ceremonies airing on the former.
Each day, Channel 4 will have back-to-back coverage from 8am to 11pm BST, with a short break for the news at 6pm. This will be split into breakfast, late morning live coverage, live afternoon coverage and live evening coverage.
Presenters include Billy Monger, Vick Hope, JJ Chalmers, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Clare Balding, Ade Adepitan, Ellie Simmonds, Josh Pugh and Gaz Choudhry. Highlights will air each day from 10:30pm BST, with special episodes of comedy panel show The Last Leg taking place one hour before then.
Team sports coverage will air on More4 each day from 9am until 9pm. All content will be broadcast with subtitles, while both ceremonies will be simulcast on 4Seven and Channel 4 Streaming with BSL and open descriptive commentary.
Streaming
Channel 4 and More 4 can be accessed on the Channel 4 streaming service. This is free to use, but you’ll need to create an account before you can start streaming. Live sports on the streaming channels airing during weekday afternoons will include BSL (British Sign Language) signing, as will the daily highlights.
In addition, Channel 4’s Sports YouTube channel will have up to 18 concurrent streams running, meaning that you’ll have the opportunity to watch every televised moment from the Games, should you wish, rather than the key events chosen for Channel 4 and More 4.
If you’re travelling while the Paralympics are on, then check out how to watch Channel 4 from abroad. The YouTube channel may also be available to people based internationally.
TikTok has also partnered with Channel 4 to bring key moments from the Paralympics to the platform.
How to watch the Paralympics in the US
In America, NBC has the rights to both the Olympics and the Paralympics. Closed captioning will be available on every event both on TV and online.
Broadcast TV
You’ll be able to watch the opening ceremony and sporting events from Team USA over on NBC, which will air over 140 hours of live coverage. Some events will also air on USA Network and CNBC.
These channels will be available if you have a cable TV package with them included. If you don’t then there is another way.
Streaming
If you don’t have access to the NBC TV channels, then your best bet is to sign up for Peacock – a Premium subscription costs $7.99 per month, while Peacock Premium Plus costs $13.99 per month. Annual options are also available.
Livestreams, highlights and commentary will also be shown on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC Olympics app, the NBC Sports app and the NBC app.
Are the Paralympics going to be broadcast in 4K?
We have contacted the US and UK broadcast PR teams to ask about 4K coverage of the Paralympics. NBC has confirmed directly to Tech Advisor that coverage will not be in 4K.
We are still awaiting a response from Channel 4, but if the US isn’t broadcasting in 4K then the UK channel will likely also cap the quality of the Paralympics at FHD. There is also no mention of 4K upscaling anywhere in Channel 4’s press releases.
Should we hear differently, we’ll update this article.
Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor
As Tech Advisor's Entertainment Editor, Hannah is the resident expert in all things streaming, film and TV. Before joining Tech Advisor in 2019, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and created a website dedicated to geek culture and lifestyle. She's also reviewed a whole range of gadgets including flagship smartphones, wearables and styling tools. Outside of Foundry, she's written freelance pieces for Polygon, Metro and Den of Geek, and is proud to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador for Google.