Channel 4 Continues “Most Accessible Ever” Paralympics Coverage with Allianz and Toyota Idents

Last week, Channel 4 battled gravity and closed minds with a punchy and powerful promo from director Steve Rodgers. Now, the iconic British broadcaster is aiming to enhance its commitment to what it describes as the “most accessible” coverage that we’ve ever seen in the UK, with new Paralympics idents from sponsors Allianz and Toyota. 

Tonight (Monday 15th July), Channel 4 will unveil the first idents accompanying a series of 12 three-minute long films profiling British paralympians set to play out each evening in the weeks leading up to the games. The first athlete profile features swimmer Masie Summers-Newton.

The idents will continue for the next eleven days, around a new athlete profile premiere each night – with six profiles sponsored by Allianz, and a further six by Toyota. The idents will additionally be repeated across the Channel 4 schedule in the build up to the games.

Above: The first Allianz ident set to play out on tonight’s broadcast. 

Crucially, the idents from both Allianz and Toyota will use a mixture of audio description, British Sign Language, and subtitling. These accessibility features will be part of the creative itself, and there will be no option to toggle or turn the features off. 

Above: The first ident from Toyota. 

The idents are part of Channel 4 Sales’ partnership with Allianz and Toyota, which sees the insurance and automotive giants sponsor the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games across Channel 4, More 4, Channel 4 Streaming, and social channels. Toyota’s full service agency T&Pm and Allianz’s media agency Mindshare UK negotiated the partnerships and are responsible for managing the deal activation. Independent creative agency Recipe produced the LV= idents whilst T&Pm were responsible for the Toyota creative.

“Everything we’re doing in Channel 4 Sales ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games is about boosting positive attitudes to disability among our partners”, reflects Rupinder Downie, Channel 4’s content solutions leader. “The shared commitment across our partners Allianz and Toyota, brought to life through the new idents, is a new benchmark in the accessibility of TV sponsorship. The fact that the accessibility features of these idents are baked into the creative as standard, and not optional, is what makes this collaboration stand apart.”

“We’re thrilled to be part of sponsoring the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games coverage on Channel 4 again, following our support of the 2016 Rio games. We’re long-term partners of ParalympicsGB and recognise and promote the amazing day-to-day performance of people of all abilities”, adds Serge Raffard, Allianz’s managing director for personal lines.