Home  News General 18 Jan, 2006 - The Winter Olympic Games on the BBC
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18 Jan, 2006 - The Winter Olympic Games on the BBC |
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Tuesday, 17 January 2006 |
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BBC Sport will bring the live action from the Turin Winter Olympics (10-26 February) back to the UK, across television - plus an interactive element - radio, and online - plus a broadband service.
Roger Mosey, Director BBC Sport, said: "These will be the first fully-fledged Winter Olympics of the digital age. We'll be using cutting edge technology to make the coverage as compelling as possible; and then we'll be offering more choice of sport than ever before - with people able to get extra live events at the press of a red button."
Some 2,500 of the world's greatest winter athletes come to the Games to take part in the world's biggest festival of winter sports. The competition not only includes the more traditional events such as figure skating and alpine skiing, but also the more extreme sports like snowboarding, the luge and skeleton.
There will be daily live television coverage, plus an evening highlights programme. For the first time BBC Sport has a studio at the Winter Olympics in Sestriere, putting BBC coverage right at the heart of the event and providing a breathtaking Italian, snow-clad mountain back drop.
Roly Keating, Controller BBC TWO said: "For 17 days this February, BBC TWO will be the home of the Winter Olympics, devoting over 100 hours of coverage to one of the great events in world sport. It's the first time in twelve years that we'll be in the same time zone so audiences will be able to enjoy the action as in happens, in prime time. And alongside the core coverage a host of regular BBC TWO programmes, from Top Gear to The Culture Show, will be getting in on the act with special editions and features exploring all aspects of the Winter Olympics and its wonderful location in the Italian Alps."
BBC Sport is leading the way in sports broadcasting innovation by using a technique never before seen on British television called StroMotion, as part of its Winter Olympics Games coverage. StroMotion is an image enhancement which creates stunning trajectory video footage revealing the evolution of an athlete's movement, technique, execution and tactics over space and time. BBC Sport viewers will be allowed to see an athletic movement, such as the line of a skier, unfold before their eyes by compounding video images into a frame-by-frame sequence. The StroMotion concept is based on stroboscoping, a means to analyse rapid movement so that a moving object is perceived as a series of static images along the object's trajectory.
Digital tv viewers can enjoy some 500 hours of programming, through a choice of up to four extra screens, offering live events and news round-ups. This will be complemented by a text service offering news, results, medals tables and a viewing planner.
There will be a dedicated BBC Sport website at bbc.co.uk/winterolympics which will have all the latest news and features plus easy-to-understand breakdowns of all the major sports. Also on the site will be an interactive snowboarding guide offering insights into those spectacular tricks of the trade.
At bbc.co.uk/winterolympics broadband users can also choose from five channels showing simulcast coverage from BBC Television, plus all the best bits on-demand.
On BBC TWO Broadband there will be daily video round-ups as well as the best of the bloopers and best-ever moments.
The three main television presenters will be the all-women team of Sue Barker, Hazel Irvine and Clare Balding. Steve Cram will be presenting and reporting. Colin Jackson will be a roving reporter around the Games. Commentators include ex-Olympians and experts such as Graham Bell and Robin Cousins.
Vassos Alexander and Jamie Broughton will provide regular updates on BBC Radio Five Live and there will be a round-up every evening in Sport on Five.
BBC Sports' operation in Italy will be run by Executive Producer Jonny Bramley and overseen by Executive Editor Dave Gordon. Gordon, BBC Sport's Head of Major Events, has run the BBC's coverage of the last three Winter Olympics. Philip Bernie will be the London-based Editor for duration of the Games.
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