All Around The World: CBC, BBC Prep Their Olympic Coverage Plans
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The CBC Adds Former Olympian
Felicien To Its Beijing Coverage |
The CBC, which this year will broadcast its last Olympics until at least 2014 after a 12-year run, has hired analysts including Perdita Felicien and Sacha Trudeau, son of former Canada Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, for its Beijing Games coverage, according to William Houston of the GLOBE & MAIL. The CBC Olympic studio is housed in the Ling Long Pagoda in Beijing, a tower that "symbolizes two contrasting themes that television will pursue" at the Games -- one being "largely visual" and the other "news oriented." The CBC is treating Beijing, and the "curiosity surrounding it, as a news story almost as much as it is a world sporting event." The net increased its budget for the Games by C$100,000 and "saved money by keeping 60[%] of its Olympic production staff, about 180 people, at home." The net "won't comment on whether money will be made from the Beijing coverage" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/8).
ENGLISH BEAT: In Manchester, Jemima Kiss reports the BBC will "broadcast almost 3,000 hours of TV coverage -- and many more hours of video output via its red button interactive service and website," making the Beijing Games the net's "first truly digital Olympics." The Games are the BBC's "biggest yet," as the net has "dispatched 437 staff from London," as well as 56 local support staff. The BBC is "offering double the amount of TV coverage compared" to the '04 Athens Games. The BBC for the first time "will show [HD] Olympics coverage -- up to 300 hours -- on its BBC HD channel." Live video will also be available on the BBC's Web site, which will stream "six different channels ... to anyone watching in the U.K." (Manchester GUARDIAN, 8/8). The BBC's James Pearce reported that the net "has pulled its live outdoor reports because the presenters are struggling to remain presentable in the humid conditions." Pearce wrote on his blog, "For television reporters there is the 'sweat issue.' Maybe I just don't have the right deodorant, but I think the problem is far more fundamental than that" (London TELEGRAPH, 8/8).
CONTINENTAL DRIFT: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for its coverage of the Games “has promised more than 2,000 hours of live material from Beijing to national broadcasters across 61 countries in Europe and beyond,” which would add up to “more than 18,000 hours of television across 118 channels, equaling the most extensive media coverage of the Olympic Games in history.” More than 20 EBU broadcasters will make Olympic material available via mobile, and 30 broadcasters will make content accessible through their Web sites in their countries. In addition, www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics will feature more than 9,000 hours of Olympics video material (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/6).
WAYS TO WATCH: NEWTEEVEE.com's Janko Roettgers wrote under the header, "Pirate Olympics: 5 Alternative Ways To Watch The Olympics Online." China is the "motherland of P2P streaming, with almost a dozen vendors offering live TV transmissions." Live video sites are an option, as various streaming video hosts "will see a bunch of people trying to relay TV coverage of the games." YouTube is offering official Olympics coverage to 77 countries (the U.S. is not included), but that "won't stop users that access YouTube through a proxy server" in countried with access to the IOC channel. Torrent sites, such as BitTorrent, have "long been a good option for time-shifting TV." Also, foreign broadcasters, including the BBC, are streaming coverage, and it would not be surprising if "someone figures out a way to access a stream of some obscure Russian TV station" (NEWTEEVEE.com, 8/5).
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