Advanced Television

First sports event for Global iPlayer

April 11, 2012

The Global BBC iPlayer has secured the rights to its first ever sporting event – the Xchanging Boat Race. Subscribers around the world can share in the drama of the one of world’s oldest sporting rivalries, the annual race on the River Thames between the crews of Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

This year’s event – won by Cambridge – is available now to subscribers of the global iPlayer in Australia, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg.

Jana Bennett, President Worldwide Networks and Global BBC iPlayer, said it had always been the Corporation’s ambition to expand the selection of programme genres on the pilot of the Global BBC iPlayer, and was keen to make Global iPlayer the home to some of the very best British sporting moments.

Matthew Littleford, General Manager, Global BBC iPlayer, noted that users around the world had a strong interest in contemporary British events. “They have told us they’d like to see more of the Best of British Sport on the Global BBC iPlayer, and we are taking heed,” he said.

International distribution rights for The Xchanging Boat Race are held by BBC Worldwide.

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