Advanced Television

BBC opens Olympic hamper

August 11, 2008

Over the 17 days of the games, the BBC will broadcast 2,750 hours of coverage from 192 events in 28 Olympic sports and 31 venues. The BBC is offering double the amount of TV coverage compared to the Athens Olympics in 2004, with BBC1 and BBC2 between them showing 17 hours every day.

For the first time, the BBC will show high-definition Olympics coverage — up to 300 hours — on its BBC HD channel, while red-button, interactive TV will offer an extra six channels of extended coverage across each of the day’s events. Live video will also be available on the BBC website, which will stream six different channels of live coverage to anyone watching in the UK. This will also be an opportunity for the BBC to show off its much heralded iPlayer catch-up service. The web-based tool will have 20 hours of each content available to watch on demand, for anyone who does not fancy staying up through the night for their favourite event.

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