YouTube streams London 2012 Paralympic Games to US, Canada
updated 06:01 pm EDT, Fri August 31, 2012
Streams to include 500 hours of live coverage
Google is streaming the 2012 London Summer Paralympic Games live on YouTube. Over 500 hours of live competitions accompanied by real-time commenting will be available to viewers in the US and Canada through the ParalympicSportsTV channel, in lieu of sufficient viewing options through other broadcasters.
The channel, run by the International Paralympic Committee, will also give access to over 1000 hours of on-demand catch-up footage of current and previous games, interviews with the athletes, and other backstage footage. Fans of US athletes can also see original footage of their country's Paralympians through the Team USA YouTube channel. The service has already been used by the IOC to stream live feeds to countries without an Olympic broadcaster, offering up over 2,200 hours of coverage.
The Olympic Games, preceding the Paralympic Games, embraced the Internet in many respects, with athletes extensively using social networks throughout, and broadcasters such as NBC and the BBC releasing dedicated apps and streaming both highlights and live events. [via YouTube Blog]
