BBC Strikes Deal To Lift Olympic Ban On Streaming Radio Overseas

BBC Radio 4's Today and Chris Evans's Breakfast Show on Radio 2 will once again be heard online overseas after the corporation resolved rights issues with the IOC, according to John Plunkett of the London GUARDIAN. Radio 4 news programs including Today and PM faced "an int'l blackout" for the duration of the London Games because the BBC's media rights agreement with the IOC "barred it from broadcasting anything online outside the U.K. from the Olympic Park or other Olympic venues." The BBC has reached an agreement with the IOC to "reinstate news programs online where the Olympics coverage makes up only a minority of its content." But sports-driven news programs, such as BBC Radio 5 Live's Olympic Breakfast, and those that feature a substantial amount of Olympics content, "will remain unavailable overseas" (GUARDIAN, 7/30).