ITV News Index Paralympics

The latest ITV News Index published on 22 August 2012.

Date Published: 21 Aug 2012

Categories: Health | Media | Public and communities | Social | UK

Description

COMRES/ ITV NEWS POLL: PUBLIC WILL WATCH MORE OR SAME AMOUNT OF PARALYMPICS THAN OLYMPICS

It is one week until the start of the Paralympic Games. The latest ITV News Index poll conducted by ComRes reveals that the majority of the British public will watch the same amount or more of the Paralympic Games than the Olympics on TV. One in ten (10%) say they are planning to watch more of the London 2012 Paralympic Games on TV than they did the Olympics, 45% plan to watch about the same amount and 37% plan to watch less of the Paralympics coverage. So 55% of British people are intending to watch as much or more of the Paralympic TV coverage than they watched of the Olympics.

Seven in ten (70%) British adults plan to watch at least some of the Paralympic Games on TV. This compares to the 65% who said they planned to watch at least some of the Olympics on TV back in mid-July before the Games began.

An overwhelming majority of 84% believe that the Paralympic Games will increase awareness of disabled people excelling in sports while just 7% disagree. A similarly large percentage (83%) are proud of the British sports men and women who are competing in the Paralympics. Again, just 7% disagree. This compares to 78% who said they were proud of the Olympic athletes at the end of July.

In Mid-July, 34% of the population were excited about the Olympics before the Games began. This rose to 52% once the Games began. Now, already more than two in five (43%) say they are excited about the Paralympics, with 38% who disagree.

Nearly half (47%) think that the status of the Paralympic Games would be improved if they were held at the same time as the Olympics events. A third (33%) disagree.

Finally, three in five (62%) say that the Paralympic Games are worth the cost to the public purse, while 17% disagree.

Methodology: ComRes interviewed 2,060 adults online from 17th to 19th August 2012. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all British adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.