NHK to show PyeongChang 2018

Japanese broadcaster NHK has announced they will broadcast live coverage of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games that will be held 9-18 March in South Korea. It is the first time that NHK has shown a Winter Paralympics live.

BROADCAST DETAILS

NHK General TV

・ Opening Ceremony on 9 March from 7:30 pm JST (airing on NHK Educational TV from 9:00 pm JST).

・ In the afternoons, NHK General TV will provide coverage of Para alpine skiing, Para snowboard, Para biathlon, and other competitions where Japanese athletes are strong medal contenders

・ Highlights will be aired daily in the Paralympics Time programme in the 10pm slot. The programme will provide a daily round-up and interview medallists and competitors in PyeongChang following their events.

NHK Educational TV

・Live telecast of the Closing Ceremony on 18 March from 8:00 pm JST.

NHK BS1

・Live telecasts of Para ice hockey competitions (involving the Japanese team). Recordings might be shown in some instances. Broadcast times to be determined once match schedules have been established.

Global broadcasts

・Airing the competitions on the audio sub-channel

Each day, one competition will be aired on the audio sub-channel for people with a vision impairment so that the live broadcasts can be enjoyed by all. Commentary will provide vivid descriptions and make the rules and other elements of the competitions easy to follow. Audio commentary is being considered for Para alpine skiing, Para snowboard and other competitions.

・Audio sub-channel commentary also available for the PyeongChang Olympics

Audio commentary for persons with a vision impairment will be provided for various competitions, including the free programme of the men’s figure skating, women’s ski jumping, the 1,000m event in the women’s speed skating and Nordic combined.

It will be the first time that NHK provides commentary on the audio sub-channel for any Olympics or Paralympics.

Enabling everyone to cheer on the competitors each day!

NHK General TV will air a programme providing highlights of the Paralympics daily at 9:30 am JST (8:25 am JST on Sundays) for those with a vision and hearing impairment. Commentary will be provided in audio, sign language and text. NHK will aim to provide broadcasts easily enabling everyone to follow the rules and highlights.

The same programme will be re-aired on NHK Educational TV weekdays at 8:00 pm and 7:00 pm on weekends.

Total amount of broadcasts

Total for NHK TV channels approx. 62 hours（compared to 30 hr. 38 min. for Sochi 2014）

The live broadcasts, channels, etc. may be subject to change.

Super Hi-Vision

・ NHK will film mainly Japanese competitors at the Games with 8K camera, and broadcast highlights of the Paralympics for test broadcast for 8K(Super Hi-Vision) .

Online services

・As with the Winter Olympics, a special website will be created for the Paralympics giving details about the competitors, competitions, results, etc. It will also provide livestreams and a catch-up service for competitions.

Tickets for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games can be purchased here.