New Zealand to receive free-to-air coverage of Winter Paralympic Games

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has awarded the host broadcast rights in New Zealand for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games to ABU member Attitude Pictures.

Attitude Pictures will present New Zealand audiences with 44 hours of free coverage and highlights packages from Sochi 2014 March 7-16, as well as documentaries on competing athletes, via its new web platform AttitudeLive.com.  

TVNZ will be the free-to-air broadcast partner providing news, highlight packages and OnDemand content for the duration of the Sochi Games.

Attitude Pictures has an option to provide coverage from the athletics, shooting and swimming World Championships over the next two years.

Sir Philip Craven, IPC President, said: “We are delighted with this agreement with Attitude Pictures as it means more Paralympic coverage in New Zealand than ever before.

Paralympics New Zealand CEO Fiona Allan said: “New Zealand’s 17-medal haul at the London 2012 Paralympic Games has stimulated even more interest in Paralympic Sport.”

APL founder and chief executive Robyn Scott-Vincent believes the deal is a highly collaborative agreement where APL, as the rights holder of Paralympic media content, will actively drive a strategy of sharing content with other media to ensure the broadest coverage possible.  

The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games will take place March 7 – 16 and will feature around 600 athletes from 44 countries. They will compete in 72 medal events across five sports – alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling.