C4's Paralympics coverage - The Pros and the Cons

Back in 2010, Channel 4 bought the UK broadcasting rights to the 2012 Paralympics, outbidding the BBC in the process; Channel 4's coverage hasn't been outstanding, however some aspects have been much better than others.

3rd Worst - Presenters
Jon Snow was the completely wrong man to front C4's coverage of the ceremonies, only he could dampen the spirits of one of the World's biggest parties by pointing out every single "war-torn nation". Even worse is that he would interrupt Jonathan Edwards' and Ade Adepitan's conversation about athletes and sport to depress the audiences at home.
The commentators to the opening ceremony didn't seem to get along, which led to awkward silences and recurring interuptions. It seems someone didn't do their research on Tajikistan.
Let's not forget the constant interrupting of guests and each other that occurs during the afternoon slot held by Arthur Williams and Georgie Bingham, although their explanations to different categories have recently improved my impression of them.

2nd Worst - Over The Top Introductions
I'll be honest, I'm a little rusty when it comes to my Paralympic knowledge, other than the obvious athletes, I am unsure of whether Great Britain have a chance of a medal, and so it would be helpful, to say the least, if the broadcaster would point who has a shot at a medal. Instead they build every British competitor up as a medal contender, they then run a Personal Best and end up in 8th place, needlessly getting up my hopes for an incredibly unlikely medal.

The Worst - Adverts
I know Channel 4 need to make money, and this is the biggest event they have ever shown, however sometimes it seems that they return from an ad break, Claire Balding lists the schedule, followed by Ade introducing the next advert break. In the opening ceremony, advert breaks led to the UK audience missing the arrival of South Africa, and some of the greatest Paralympians of all time, while we saw adverts of David Beckham valiantly attempting to say "Paralympics". (Side note: What the Hell does David Beckham have to do with the Paralympics, Sainsbury's?)

3rd Best - Presenters
I know I said they were bad, but there are some positives. While some presenters are god damn awful, the likes of Claire Balding, Ade Adepitan and Jonathan Edwards truly know what they are talking about. These three have experience in sporting events and clearly seem to have access to the internet unlike some of the presenters. I also appreciate the large number of disabled presenters and journalists, seeing people with disabilities on TV will hopefully help change people's perception towards disablility in the future.

2nd Best - Extra Channels
For the duration of the Paralympics, Channel 4 set up 3 temporary HD channels, dedicated to showing the Paralympics - Without adverts! This may not be the gargantuous 24 channels the BBC set up for the Olympics, and arguably if the BBC did possess the rights to the Paralympics, the number of channels would be higher, I was very surprised that Channel 4 had the ability to set up these channels.

The Best - Dedication
What Channel 4 may lack in quality, the make up for in effort, Channel 4 haven't just been showing the Paralympics, they've been showing the corresponding World Championships and plenty of Paralympic sport in general, even launching a magazine show titled "That Paralympic Show" (Which was on at an awful slot). On top of this, C4's dedication to the cause led to them launching "The Last Leg" a Paralympic comedy covering the day's action, this is definitely a stroke of genius from Channel 4 and nearly brings me to the point of hoping Channel 4 will show the Paralympics again, however we have to remember that this is Channel 4 and they don't care about the show, just the money, and therefore probably won't broadcast the 2016 games due to lack of potential profit.