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Nine denies ignoring Paralympians in TV promo

"Be assured the Paralympics will be prominent in our broadcast and messaging throughout this year," says Nine.

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Nine has rejected criticism that its Olympic promo ignores Paralympians after Janine Watson said Nine needed to “do better” on including Paralympians.

Nine’s ad features Olympic athletes competing in a variety of sports and ends on a shot of the Paris skyline with the Channel Nine logo and “Your home of the Olympics” over the top.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Australia’s first taekwondo Paralympian Janine Watson called out the broadcaster for neglecting to make any mention of the Paralympics in the ad.

“Anyone watching the Australian Open over the last 2 weeks on Channel Nine would have seen a beautiful advertisement for the Paris 2024 Games,” she wrote alongside an edited screenshot of

“As beautiful as the advertisement is, it has failed to truly represent the Australian people.”

“Channel Nine, you are not just the home of the Olympics. Be proud that you are also the home of the Paralympics.”

But Nine plans to have separate promotions for its Paralympics which will screen around two weeks after the Summer games end in Paris.

A Nine spokesperson told SBS News in a statement that the network was “proud” to be the Australian broadcaster of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

“We feature para athletes across a wide range of our programs and platforms, and regularly share their stories in our sports coverage,” they said.

“The roll out of promos and their placement varies throughout the year, but be assured the Paralympics will be prominent in our broadcast and messaging throughout this year.”

Last year CEO Mike Sneesby also said, “It is a privilege to be able to bring the Paralympic Games of Paris 2024 to Australia. We look forward to building our relationship with Paralympics Australia and ensuring the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are accessible across more platforms than ever before.”

Nine also included Paralympians in its Upfront presentation and imagery.

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  1. Not all types of disability are visible. You cannot determine how many people with disability are in a photo just by looking at it. Not everyone with disability chooses to share that they have (one or more) disability.

      1. And in case anyone is confused …

        ‘The word “Paralympic” derives from the Greek preposition “para” (beside or alongside) and the word “Olympic”.
        Its meaning is that Paralympics are the parallel Games to the Olympics and illustrates how the two movements exist side-by-side.’

        source: paralympic.org/ipc/history

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