With advertising slots in the run up to the Paralympics sold out before the opening ceremony, we at The Practice predicted the event would benefit from Olympics fever. Channel 4, the official Paralympics broadcaster, also proudly remarked that 50-60 of its ‘gold’, ‘silver’ and ‘bronze’ premium packages sold out and were ready to fill up the 150 hour coverage time. So why is Channel 4 now failing to cash in? What could possibly have gone wrong?

At The Practice, the whole team unanimously loved Channel 4’s marketing campaign, ‘Meet The Superhumans’. The corporation have wholeheartedly endorsed the Paralympics and made it the main event, not merely an Olympics afterthought. Their tagline ‘Thanks for the warm-up’ made this clear; we think Channel 4’s campaign presents the perfect message for brands to get behind- and they have been.

McDonalds was the first to buy an official advertising spot, and even non-sponsors were seen purchasing Olympics packages. Not far behind them, saw partners including Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and EDF Energy, amongst others, signing up as sponsors.

So why are Channel 4 now failing to cash in, despite dedicating almost all their network coverage to the Games? It hasn’t gone unnoticed that commercial broadcasting has been strong, with many even complaining about the sheer number of adverts. Certainly, the Opening Ceremony was rife with ad breaks; so many, in fact, that Ofcom was riddled with viewer complaints following the show.

However, the consensus before the event was that all might not be as it appeared. In the run up to the Paralympics, co-founder of media agency the7stars, Mark Jarvis, ominously predicted that Channel 4’s sales team might suffer over the course of the event due to TV advertising’s current struggle to remain afloat. This, he explained, coupled with the ongoing stringent IOC restrictions in place, would be likely to deter sponsors and non-sponsors alike.

True to prediction, it seems that there’s been a steep decline in ad spend- a blow that’s certainly hit hard considering Channel 4’s expenditure. The broadcasting corporation invested a staggering 30 million pounds to screen the Games, 8 million pounds for the rights, another 8 million in production fees and a final 14 million on Paralympic themed shows including ‘Inside Incredible Athletes’.

Are advertisers also deterred due to public feedback? Certainly, there’s been mixed response to Channel 4’s run of ads. While many have loved the inspirational campaigns and montages, the volume has been a little off-putting. Even personalities such as Phillip Schofield took to Twitter, tweeting: ‘Loving the spectacle of the Paralympics but it sits a bit awkwardly with the ads or is that just me?’

Clearly, there’s been a backlash, as viewers continue to claim that they’ll cease to keep watching due to the number of ads. However, with the Closing Ceremony only a few days away, let’s just hope Channel 4 will maintain its figures, and certainly that there’ll be far less ad breaks when the spectacle airs.

Have you been tuning in to the Paralympics as avidly as the Olympics? And what do you think about Channel 4’s stream of advertising coverage? We’d love to hear your thoughts as always, so please tweet and follow us @PracticeDigital and join in the conversation on Facebook.