Channel 4 – transforming the way the British public engage with disability and disability sport, and inspiring a new generation of fans 

No.5: September 2024 
Guest author: Annamarie Phelps 

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Annamarie Phelps CBE is an Olympian and former world champion in rowing with a passion for inclusion and belief in the transformational power of sport. Her roles include Vice Chair of the British Olympic Association; President of European Rowing; Chair of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women & Sport; Executive Committee member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC), and EOC representative on the Council of Europe Consultative Committee for Sport. Annamarie has previously led the National Governing Bodies for Rowing and Horseracing and chaired the independent report into British Cycling’s high-performance culture in 2016. Annamarie joined the Board of the British Paralympic Association in 2009 and was Vice Chair from 2013 to 2018. In a parallel universe she was an art-dealer, curator and author. 

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For their innovations to make the Paralympic Games more accessible than ever and leaving an impactful legacy at so many levels, Channel 4 is JTA Communicator of the Month.

There were very few downsides to spending nearly three weeks in the French capital for an incredible Olympic Games this summer, and there were many magical moments for us as Brits. I am not going to deny that my personal favourite was a rowing one, at the Vaires sur Marne Nautical Centre. But aside from the many incredible performances, one downside was not being able to indulge in the quadrennial delight of watching our incredible sportsmen and women achieve unimaginable feats on British TV, immersed in the brilliant commentary, punditry and the joy of the inspirational montage. And without this, it was difficult to gauge the impact of Team GB’s success, and how the TV coverage was being received, back home.

In contrast, my Paris Paralympic experience was a full-on, flat-screen version, supplemented by social channels on every device, beamed directly to west London. Just as it was for the Olympics, anyone watching from home could leap from the stadium to the rowing lake to the pool in seconds and enjoy every sport, success and medal without having to negotiate the Paris Metro system. It made for compelling viewing.

Twelve years ago, it was a bold and controversial decision to move away from the BBC for the Paralympic Games London 2012. In the competitive process, Channel 4 promised huge investment, a new and relevant team, magazine programmes, and a completely new way of presenting sport that would transform the way the British public engaged with disability and disability sport, inspiring a new generation of fans. Discussion at the ParalympicsGB Board to sign off the deal was fraught with risk mitigation and hand wringing: was the devil you know better, should we stick or twist?

If anyone wasn’t convinced after 2012, then 2024 would, without doubt, have changed their mind that ‘twist’ was the only option: Channel 4 nailed it again for a fourth Games. For a full 12 days, the Paralympic Games were broadcast non-stop across our house, with the irreverent and hysterical Last Leg being the joyous, risqué finale to each day.

And what a production it was – another step up from previous editions. Channel 4 have taken every aspect of their 2012 commitment, analysed, re-imagined and re-packaged it, honing their messaging and making the Games more accessible than ever, with British Sign Language and open descriptive commentary. They have gone looking for issues and challenges and faced them head on, talking about them, normalising disability and mainstreaming solutions through every aspect of their delivery. The broadcaster has catered for an audience that includes deaf and blind viewers, those who have disabilities and those without. They know their stuff, speaking with authority and authenticity, without patronising either those on screen or watching from home.  

Channel 4 has enriched the language we use to talk about disability, teaching us to understand the range of impairments through the classification system and their new-look Lexi figure. After discovering that almost 60% of people were watching the Paralympics to see athletes ‘overcome their disabilities’, Channel 4 chose to focus on the physicality of sport for the Olympic Games in Paris. They moved away from referring to Paralympians as ‘superhumans’ to concentrate on the grittiness, the sweat and the raw spirit of champions: these are not superhumans they are elite athletes in the real world, there to win. Just because someone uses a wheelchair to get around doesn’t make them a quiet, shy and retiring flower – quite the opposite in fact – Channel 4 has shown our athletes as articulate, passionate and determined individuals who would fight their way through ‘hell and high water’ to win gold. Channel 4 has taught the nation to recognise the human behind the ‘superhuman’.

In a political ‘win’, Hannah Cockcroft fronted the channel’s documentary Equal Play to support the ParalympicsGB’s campaign to ensure that children with disabilities can take part in school sport. In response, the new Secretary of State, Lisa Nandy, promised that the government will tackle the shocking fact that only 25% of disabled students say they regularly take part in school sport. The channel’s promotion of ParalympicGB’s Every Body Moves website saw 83,000 new users search for disability friendly facilities near them during the Games.

Aided, of course, by phenomenal performances – and results – from our ParalympicsGB athletes, the Games were a huge hit for young viewers. Their share of the 16 to 34-year-old linear TV audience was their best ever; at 12% it was 122% higher than the average for the channel over the last 12 months. The daily TV audience regularly topped 1 million. In an industry where TV viewing figures are declining, live sport is holding firm and reaching new and younger audiences. On TikTok, Dan Pembroke’s world record javelin throw attracted 30 million views and Jonnie Peacock’s plea to Seb Coe for inclusion in the Diamond League garnered 6.6 million views on Instagram.

What Channel 4 have created is not a slick, superficial product that fills our screens and lives for 12 days every four years. The publicly owned broadcaster has a truly authentic story to tell. It is a story that goes deeper than the output we see and leaves a legacy at many levels: employing people with physical, visual and auditory impairments to work in front and behind the camera creates an acceptance that we can have fabulous and funny deaf people like Rose Ayling-Ellis front up on TV; a serious presenting line up with seasoned heavy weights such as Tanni Grey Thomson, Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan, alongside young emerging talent. As our athletes inspire young people to take up sport, Channel 4’s programmes will inspire people like Rose and Ellie Simmonds, helping them believe that they too have a future in entertainment and TV. And there are concrete legacies too: a world-leading accessible production facility for sports broadcasting in Cardiff, built for a new and inclusive future.

There is no other broadcaster globally making the impact that Alex Mahon’s team are making in disability inclusion through sport across the UK. Channel 4 has surpassed itself again. By practising what it preaches, the organisation is breaking down barriers to fulfil its mission to create sustainable social and economic change through entertainment. It may sound worthy, but they do it so well, I loved every minute. And, so it seems, did many others across the nation.

Picture credit: Ben Tufnell