Channel 4 have opened the tender process for their coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games ©Channel 4

British television network Channel 4 have announced that they have launched their tender process for coverage of the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.

Independent production companies are currently being invited to pitch to the network for the right to produce Channel 4's coverage of the Games.

Sunset + Vine produced the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, which won the Sports Broadcast Award at the prestigious British Broadcast Awards in Feburary 2017.

Rio 2016 also saw Channel 4 assemble a record-breaking number of disabled presenters on British television and 20 disabled production staff.

Whisper produced Channel 4’s coverage of the recent Winter Games in Pyeongchang.


Pitches for the Tokyo Paralympics will be encouraged to build on the “ambition, scale and innovation of the Rio coverage”, which saw the channel broadcast more than 700 hours of live coverage across its platforms.

Channel 4's head of Entertainment and Live Events Ed Havard said he was excited about the proposals.

“The Rio Paralympics was one of the most ambitious live broadcasts in Channel 4’s history, fusing entertainment and sport to produce record-breaking coverage,” he commented.

“We’re excited about proposals on how we can build on this success in Tokyo and take coverage of Paralympic sport to a new level.”

Channel 4's coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics will be commissioned by the channel's new head of sport Stephen Lyle, who was appointed to the role earlier this month.