More than 70% of the Channel 4 presenting team for the Paralympics will be disabled, the broadcaster has pledged, as it laid out its plans for more than 300 hours of coverage of the games from Tokyo, Leeds and London.
Presenters will include wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan, who will front the highlights show Today In Tokyo from Japan, as well as disability advocate Sophie Morgan, former Royal Marine Commando and Strictly Come Dancing star JJ Chalmers and former professional rugby player Ed Jackson.
Lee McKenzie and Vick Hope will be reporting from Japan, while in the UK Clare Balding will present live sport finals from Leeds and Arthur Williams and Steph McGovern will head a daily Paralympics Breakfast Show.
Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe will present The Last Leg daily from London and will be joined by Rosie Jones reporting from Tokyo.
More 4 will be a dedicated team sports channel live from Tokyo which will see matches featuring ParalympicsGB teams in wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball.
The Tokyo coverage, which will features pundits including Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Steve Brown, Liam Malone, Danny Crates and Liz Johnson, will feature the largest number of disabled presenters ever seen on UK television, Channel 4 said.
It will also show 16 livestreams on its Paralympics microsite, showing more than 1,000 hours of coverage.
Ian Katz, director of programmes at Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 has long played a fundamental role in bringing a global audience to the Paralympic Games and for shifting perceptions of disabled people through our significant investment in coverage and award-winning marketing campaigns for London 2012 and Rio 2016.
“Now we’re finally able to get excited about bringing the long-awaited Tokyo 2020 Paralympics to UK viewers with even more coverage than ever before across multiple platforms, from multiple locations and hosted by a stellar presenting team.
“We’re looking forward to bringing the best coverage possible to the British public so we can all get behind ParalympicsGB and celebrate their success in Tokyo.”
Channel 4 and More 4 will carry live subtitles and the opening ceremony will have live signing and live enhanced open AD/commentary simulcast on 4Seven. The majority of content on the Paralympics microsite will also have subtitles.
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will take place from August 24 to September 6.
