BBC to offer 24 HD streams of Olympics coverage

BBC to offer 24 HD streams of Olympics coverage
Olympics goes fully hi-def

The BBC has announced that it is to offer up a whopping 24 streams of content for the London Olympics.

The revelation means that those with a satellite or cable will be able to pick and choose their content from the options available and it will all be in high definition – yes even the volleyball you filthy minded people.

The bonus for those with Freesat is that they will also have access to all of the content.

The deal also means that for the first time, the whole of the Olympics will be filmed live.

Although these streams will be going out completely live, the BBC will also editorialise the Olympics on its main channels.

All about the digital

"BBC One and BBC Three will remain the flagship channels for the Olympics. But, as the London 2012 Olympic Games will be the first truly 'Digital Games', we wanted to offer an unprecedented amount of live sporting action to the widest possible audience through these 24 live streams, giving vastly more choice than ever before," said Roger Mosey, Director, BBC London 2012.

BSkyB is obviously delighted with the announcement as its viewers will get the benefit of picking and choosing its content and all of the channels will be made available through Sky's EPG.

BBC:

"The London 2012 Olympic Games will be the first truly 'Digital Games'"

As Stephen van Rooyen, Managing Director of Sky's Sales and Marketing Group, explained: "The London Olympics is a huge event in 2012 and one that we are all looking forward to here at Sky.

"We believe that the best way to watch the Olympics is in glorious HD as it offers viewers the best possible viewing experience and, supported by Sky+, the flexibility of watching the action at a time that suits our customers.

"We're delighted that every single Sky home will have the opportunity to enjoy unprecedented coverage of the biggest UK sporting event in a generation."

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.