BBC extends Glastonbury deal
May 31, 2023
By Nik Roseveare
The BBC will continue to be Glastonbury Festival’s exclusive, multimedia broadcast partner, following a multi-year extension, and has announced that this year it will broadcast 40 hours of Glastonbury coverage across its TV channels, as well as over 85 hours of live radio.
Lorna Clarke, BBC Director of Music, commented: “Glastonbury 2023 will have even more live coverage from site, including a record number of hours on BBC One. There will be more programming in the lead up, including an updated version of Glastonbury: 50 Years and Counting and more content to discover on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer. As always, scale and discovery is at the heart of our BBC Glastonbury coverage.”
“This year we’re proud to deliver over 40 hours of coverage across our TV channels to our audiences, as well as over 85 hours of live radio broadcasts, in addition to content on BBC Sounds. We’ll also be increasing the scale and accessibility of our BBC iPlayer offer, with even more themed and live streams. For the first time, we will be streaming Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language, making our coverage more accessible than ever before. Our thanks once again go to Emily and Michael Eavis, for allowing us to bring their treasured festival to so many music fans throughout the weekend and beyond,” added Clarke.
Emily Eavis, co-organiser of the annual Glastonbury Festival, said: “We’ve worked in partnership with the BBC since 1997, and they’ve become an incredibly valuable part of what we do at Glastonbury. I think we’ve created something really special together and we’re delighted that they’re continuing to evolve their coverage with additions such as streaming Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language. We’re looking forward to welcoming them to the farm in June and here’s to many more Glastonburys together.”
For 2023, the BBC says it will present more Glastonbury coverage than ever before, both live and on-demand. There will be over 40 hours of programming across the BBC’s television channels as well as over 85 hours of live broadcasts on the BBC’s pop radio networks, launching with Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music breakfast show live from the Glastonbury gates as they open to excited festival-goers on June 21st. New podcasts, collections and playlists will be available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer will present an expanded, twelve-day celebration of the festival, featuring over 40 hours of coverage on BBC iPlayer’s Glastonbury Channel, in addition to numerous streams and classic Glastonbury performances.
The year’s festival will be headlined by Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John, whilst other acts set to perform include Lizzo, Sparks, Manic Street Preachers, Lana Del Rey, Royal Blood, Fatboy Slim, Lewis Capaldi, Blondie, Chemical Brothers, Queens of the Stone Age and many more.