The BBC today unveiled its plans for this year's surrounding the UEFA Euro Cup. As well as a mammoth 140 hours of televised content (fronted by Gary Lineker, naturally), the broadcaster will also feature 24 days of coverage on Radio 5 Live as well as comprehensive hub pages on BBC Sport online.
Disappointingly however, in spite of the opening match, semi finals and final all being filmed in UHD by the host broadcaster, neither the BBC nor ITV will be broadcasting them in this resolution.
Viewers will however be able to watch the BBC's matches live through both the BBC Sport App, website, and for the first time connected smart TVs.
Gary Lineker is joined for TV presenting duties by former England captains Alan Sharer and Rio Ferdinand, as well as France's Thierry Henry. For Radio 5 Live, Jens Lehmann has joined the team.
Online coverage
BBC Sport is planning on hosting pages online for every one of the tournament's matches, not just the 21 that the BBC has the rights to broadcast. These pages will act as a central hub for all of the BBC's content across TV, radio and online, as well as offering a curated selection of posts from social media.
Interestingly where these pages cover matches the BBC don't have the rights to broadcast in their entirety, the BBC will still be able to offer goal footage in addition to their own analysis. It's clear that the broadcaster wants to remain a central hub of information for the tournament.
As well as online content, BBC Sport is also investing heavily in its app functionality. From the BBC Sport app users will not only be able to watch matches live, but will also be able to set up alerts for a variety of events from goals to final scores on matches.
Social media will also be heavily integrated, with curated tweets making it onto BBC Sport's hub pages. The broadcaster will also be using Facebook Live, Periscope and Snapchat to offer viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament.
Euro 2016 is the first tournament ever to feature teams from both England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the BBC will subsequently have dedicated teams covering the tournament for Wales and NI on S4C and BBC Northern Ireland Respectively.
The BBC's coverage comes in a period of uncertainty for the organisation. The royal charter which defines its role, and more importantly, its funding, is currently up for renewal. This means that the BBC's funding going forward is currently in a state of flux. Ministers are due to reveal the updated charter this summer.
Euro 2016 is hence important to the BBC, since the corporation's ability to attract viewers will be seen by ministers as a measure of its ability to cater to the British public. Viewing the BBC as outdated or unable to cater to modern audiences could result in the corporation being given a reduced role in its next royal charter.
With just over a month to go until the competition, the BBC has invested heavily in its coverage.
