Channel 4’s revolutionary coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games was last night recognised once again as it scooped a prestigious honorary Judges Award at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards.
Channel 4 won over critics last summer with its informative and credible coverage of the Paralympic Games, clearing its schedules to air a record 500 hours of action. The channel introduced a new graphics system to demystify the complicated Paralympic classification system for viewers and achieved the biggest UK TV audience for the Opening Ceremony in Paralympic history.
Clare Balding, who fronted both the Olympic and Paralympic Games coverage, picked up the award for Best Presenter for her work on London 2012 to the delight of the crowd who gave her a standing ovation.
She said: “I’m particularly proud as a sports presenter to be nominated alongside an artists and an arts broadcaster because I think it’s easy to think of sports being just about sweaty jockstraps and balls.”
“Sport is about so much more than that. It is art, it is history, it is science, it is finance, it is news, it is drama and above all it is entertainment. I’m bloody proud to be a sports presenter.”
The awards were held at London’s Grosvenor Hotel and hosted by comic Jo Brand.
Channel 4 also swept the board at February’s Royal Television Society television awards, with six gongs including daily news programme of the year and presenter of the year for Jon Snow.
