Rachel_Sandford
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On Monday, the BBC Trust approved the corporation's plans for their coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games. The plan includes launching a temporary digital radio station, which will be on air for about 20 days, or the duration of the games, which is from the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] of July till the 12[SUP]th[/SUP] of August. This station, BBC Five Live Olympics Extra will be in addition to Five Live and 5 Live Sports Extra broadcasts, with the former offering news and sports and the latter covering the London Games except Test match cricket. The cost of this station is pegged at £200,000, and the BBC Trust has asked the public for comments on how the special station should operate.
Aside from the digital station, the corporation also plans to turn BBC Three, the youth channel which usually only broadcasts in the evenings, into their Olympic Station, featuring live coverage throughout the day, as well as hourly news bulletins. Normal programming for the channel will resume at 11:00 each night. It is estimated that the cost of the Olympic coverage on the channel will be about £4.5 million.
BBC Three's all-day broadcast will be taking the place of BBC Parliament on Freeview. It is necessary to discontinue Parliament coverage temporarily in order to free up broadcasting capacity, though Parliament will be available on other platforms. However, if recalled, coverage of Parliament will resume. The corporation did the same thing during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The BBC Trust said that removing BBC Parliament will have “minimal impact” for those who watch BBC Parliament, and the “disruption of their usual viewing habits will anyway be temporary.”
Finally, to fulfill their promise to the International Olympic Committee and bring “every minute” of the Olympics to UK audiences live, the BBC is set to include 1,000 hours of live online video coverage, which will not be shown on TV. This extra online coverage is not yet within the scope of the company's online service license.
BBC Trust's report said these plans are unlikely to have significant impact on the broadcaster's public services and will not need a “public value test.” Roger Mosey, BBC's director of London 2012, believes the plans would “greatly add to the enjoyment we can offer to sports fans.”
Aside from the digital station, the corporation also plans to turn BBC Three, the youth channel which usually only broadcasts in the evenings, into their Olympic Station, featuring live coverage throughout the day, as well as hourly news bulletins. Normal programming for the channel will resume at 11:00 each night. It is estimated that the cost of the Olympic coverage on the channel will be about £4.5 million.
BBC Three's all-day broadcast will be taking the place of BBC Parliament on Freeview. It is necessary to discontinue Parliament coverage temporarily in order to free up broadcasting capacity, though Parliament will be available on other platforms. However, if recalled, coverage of Parliament will resume. The corporation did the same thing during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The BBC Trust said that removing BBC Parliament will have “minimal impact” for those who watch BBC Parliament, and the “disruption of their usual viewing habits will anyway be temporary.”
Finally, to fulfill their promise to the International Olympic Committee and bring “every minute” of the Olympics to UK audiences live, the BBC is set to include 1,000 hours of live online video coverage, which will not be shown on TV. This extra online coverage is not yet within the scope of the company's online service license.
BBC Trust's report said these plans are unlikely to have significant impact on the broadcaster's public services and will not need a “public value test.” Roger Mosey, BBC's director of London 2012, believes the plans would “greatly add to the enjoyment we can offer to sports fans.”
