Paralympics closing ceremonies make live TV

Paralympics closing ceremonies make live TV
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | 9:40 PM ET

The Canadian Press The closing ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Paralympics have gone from a no-show to a live show on the official broadcast network for the Games.

CTV has announced it will air Sunday's closing ceremonies live across the country in both English and French at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET).

Originally, the closing ceremonies weren't even on the broadcast schedule for the Games. The network said it reversed that decision because it was happy with the ratings from the opening ceremonies broadcast and felt airing the closing ceremonies was the right way to close out the Games.

The network was criticized for refusing to air last Friday's opening ceremonies live, and announced a change of plans the morning of the event.

Viewers in B.C. were able to watch the two-hour show as it happened, while the rest of Canada had to wait for the rebroadcast on Saturday.

The compromise mollified International Paralympic Committee officials who had called the planned tape-delay-only broadcast a "slap in the face."

But the response to the decision to air the closing ceremonies was met with a round of applause.

"We are ecstatic," Xavier Gonzalez, the executive director of the IPC, said in an interview.

© The Canadian Press, 2010