A month after the 2019 FINA World Championships came and went without airing on television for Australian audiences for the first time since 1986, Paralympics Australia announced Wednesday that the upcoming World Para Swimming Championships will air on the Seven Network.
Channel 7 will make history as the first Australian commercial network to screen the World Para Swimming Championships, according to the announcement. The network will stream heats and finals live on 7Plus, and also produce a daily 30-minute highlights package that will screen on 7TWO.
The deal between Paralympics Australia and the Seven Network also includes the 2019 World Para-athletics Championships in November. Seven also aired the 2016 and 2018 Paralympic Games.
“Seven has done a remarkable job in broadcasting the past two Paralympic Games, and now by broadcasting such a major event for one of our biggest Paralympic sports, Seven is further showing its commitment to supporting the Paralympic movement in Australia,” Paralympics Australia CEO Lynne Anderson said. “We are incredibly grateful for Seven’s dedication to our movement, and we are so excited to watch some of our Tokyo 2020 hopefuls make a splash in London from the comfort of our own homes or on our devices wherever we may be.”
According to The Daily Telegraph, no Australian broadcaster bought the rights to July’s Worlds due to the high price FINA demanded. The Daily Morning Herald‘s Phil Lutton reported the figure to be in the $400,000-range, and that that number could have nearly doubled with the cost of travel as well as the broadcasting crew.
In the end, Australian fans could either watch (live or on-demand) through FINA’s own FINAtv service, or through Swimming Australia’s free livestream on its iSwim app, only available for download in Australia.
Rotten apples spoil the barrels. A team clean up prior to securing prime time terrestrial television viewing would have been in order. Can only but hope that many of Australia’s finest neurologists tune in to Channel7 for the inevitable Hemiplegic circus performances. Lynne Anderson is another member of the morally bankrupt club. I genuinely do not understand the method behind the madness of replacing the disabled with the abled to win in sport – anyone help me out here?
Harley Connolly would be able to help you out. Apparently he is Patterson’s coach.
Following Shayna Jack’s +ve SARMS scandal and Mack Horton’s podium protest, the involvement of Australian coaches like Harley Connolly should throughly test Swimming Australia’s and ASCTA’s zero tolerance commitment. Do they really stand for clean sport or do they they simply enjoy kicking other countries whilst covering up their own cheating?
Quite clearly the latter
Meanwhile I can only watch junior worlds by buying FINA TV subscription in Australia.
Oh goody, Australians get to listen to the media spin about how amazing and inspirational Patterson is while at the same time watching her bizarre walk and curled fingers, watch her perfectly streamlined dives with straight arms then her backstroke with the arm bent at 90 degrees, be expected to swallow stories about her being paralysed down the left side when quite obviously she is not etc etc etc. What planet are these people on? Open your eyes Channel 7 and Australian public. It really could not be more obvious.
There are a few more it can add to the mix along with Patterson. I am hearing a lot of stories about new swimmer Ella Jones. Another eBay shopper for a wheelchair that only makes an appearance when needed. Her coach is a man by the name of Nick Robinson who I hear doesn’t have a very good reputation in Australia.
Here’s hoping the right people tune in and watch and see what these swimmers are up to. It is going to be an interesting Worlds.