Channel 4 is building "on the success of last year's London Paralympic Games to secure a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Rio de Janeiro" in '16, according to Arif Durrani of CAMPAIGN LIVE. Winning the TV rights for the Paralympics in Brazil and the Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia in '14 "is another milestone for the resurgent broadcaster." It comes on the back of "brokering a more favourable airtime deal with WPP’s Group M after a very public stand-off at the start of the year." It is the first time the Int'l Paralympic Committee "has awarded a two-Game deal to any TV station, and comes despite the BBC’s best efforts." It is also significant, from a remit and prominence point of view, that the BBC "has been ousted again by C4 as the flag-bearer for minority voices." The commercial broadcaster’s record audiences for London 2012 and its award-winning "Meet the Superhumans" campaign "are credited with positively changing attitudes to disability among more than two-thirds of those surveyed after the Games." The broadcaster now hopes "to build on this, and any commercial partners will have the opportunity to similarly play a lead role" (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 2/14).
