The Olympics took the country and, indeed, the world by storm last earlier this month. Now, with less than 24 hours until it starts all over again, with the Paralympic Games launching with an opening ceremony in the early hours of tomorrow morning (AEST).
As our Paralympians rest up for what is bound to be a massive 11 days of unbelievable strength and resilience that will captivate audiences across the globe, Hamish Turner, director of 9Now and programming, sat down with B&T to unpack the journey that has led to Nine’s comprehensive coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A Digital Revolution in Sports Broadcasting
The digital landscape has transformed how audiences engage with major sporting events, a shift that has been particularly evident during the recent Olympics. “When you think back to previous Olympics, Tokyo was tough—no crowds, lockdowns—it was a very different type of coverage,” Turner said. He contrasted this with the 2012 London Olympics, where, simply as a result of the digital engagement was minimal. Fast forward to 2024, and the scene is entirely different.
Younger demographics, in particular, have embraced 9Now as a “choose-your-own-adventure” platform where they can tailor their viewing experience exactly how they like. “They knew when their events were starting, and they used the platform to navigate what they wanted to watch,” Turner noted. “It was a very active experience, and they were flipping through all the different live channels, going into highlights – and that changed depending on the time of the day. We know that is a challenging time zone, but what we did see is that from 4pm every afternoon, as the live events started popping up on the platform, people started engaging from handball to badminton all the way through to equestrian”.
“We expect that to follow suit with the Paralympics, and we’ll be bringing a very similar experience to life via our platforms. I think we’ll see that from tomorrow night, when those live sports start lighting up on the platform, and that journey begins,” Turner explained. “The Paralympics for us is about understanding those audiences, where they’re engaging, and then hitting them up with other content to try and get them kind of to continue that journey”.
The Paralympics: A Targeted and Inclusive Approach
As the Paralympics begin, Nine is set to deliver a similar experience, albeit with a more targeted approach due to the shorter duration and fewer events. “With the Paralympics, you can be more targeted with bringing those events to life,” Turner explained. This strategy includes utilising other popular programs like The Block and news segments to promote the games and drive engagement.
Turner emphasised. This ensures that audiences can easily access the events they are most interested in, whether they are familiar with the sport or exploring something new. “It’s an easy way to navigate, find, and engage with those events on those platforms. We have every live event available to watch. We have highlights for every event, and we’ll have full replays and then also curated highlights. If you want to watch it live, you’ve got that opportunity. If you want to go back in and see a curated version of that, you’ve also got that opportunity,” Turner explained.
“What we saw at the Olympics was it was a very easy platform for people to navigate to what they wanted to watch, or if they didn’t know what they wanted to watch, an easy way to display and promote events that possibly they hadn’t engaged with before. And we saw some interesting stats pop out with that. We expect the same from a Paralympic perspective as well where there may be events that people aren’t necessarily fully aware of, that are brought to life through what is one of the biggest events in the world”.
Building Emotional Connections and Driving Engagement
One of the key strategies for Nine is to build emotional connections between the audience and Paralympic athletes. In the recent, and incredibly successful Paralympic and Olympic swimming trials for example, “some of the best engagement we saw was with the Paralympians because of the richness of their stories, the journeys that they’ve been on, and the emotion you can see through their parents who have been on on that journey with them,” Turner explained.
The recent documentary series Beyond The Dream is a perfect example of this, with stories of Olympians and Paralympians alike consistently doing the numbers but pulling at the heartstrings and leveraging the powerful stories of hardships that these athletes have had to overcome to get where they are today.
Turner is confident that it is this emotional connection that will resonate most deeply with audiences. “What we’re excited about is bringing to life these amazing Paralympic stories, and these amazing athletes are looking to perform on the biggest stage that’s available to them,” he said. “The power of that will drive through to audience engagement”.
The Road Ahead: Maintaining Momentum Beyond the Games
Looking beyond the Paralympics, Nine is focused on sustaining the momentum built through these significant events. “The Olympics and the Paralympics are unique, but they are also about understanding audiences and continuing that journey,” Turner explained. With major sporting events like the NRL finals, Melbourne Cup and the Australian Open on the horizon, Nine plans to keep the audience engaged by offering varied content and leveraging the excitement generated by the Olympics and Paralympics.
The success of Nine’s sports coverage lies in its ability to adapt and innovate in a rapidly changing media landscape. As the Paralympics begin, audiences can expect a powerful continuation of the journey that started with the Olympics, with Nine delivering comprehensive and compelling coverage every step of the way.
