Excited about the 2012 Olympics but didn’t get lucky enough to bag tickets? Fear not: the BBC has just announced a deal that’ll bring 24 HD streams to Sky customers, alongside its full gamut of online coverage. Ready to keep up with every game going? Read on for the details.
An official statement on the BBC Sport website says that it’ll “offer more choice than ever before, and the pledge we made is that you’ll be able to watch sport from every venue from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.”
“At peak this will mean we bring in 24 HD streams of content,” which is four times more than it managed during the Beijing Olympics. The Beeb is undergoing “continuing” talks with service providers, with the ultimate aim being “that you’d be able to pick from watching BBC Olympics 1 right through to BBC Olympics 24 with full programme guides and the ability to record your favourite sports.”
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That deal’s now been inked with Sky, which means that during the Olympics the BBC will have 24 extra HD channels stuffed into your Sky Guide for Olympics coverage. So is this deal limited to Sky? “Not every platform will be able to accommodate such a huge technical offer,” says the Beeb. Freeview customers, for example, will be constrained to two extra channels, which will bring the number of streams to four (on top of BBC One and BBC Three).
We’ll keep you updated as to what happens with Virgin Media, BT Vision and the like, but be safe in the knowledge that all of these feeds will be available for free online, regardless of which ISP pumps your TV with content.
Either way, it’s a good day for the justification of the Licence fee.
Via The BBC
