By Nick Heath, 23 October 2008 15:11
NEWS
The London 2012 Olympic Games could fuel a leap in broadcasting technology not seen since the rush for televisions for the Queen's coronation, according to the BBC.
The corporation laid out plans that will see it "significantly" increase its web TV capabilities - with "many more" online video streams than the six it offered during the Beijing Games - as well as supporting a greater range of mobile devices and technological platforms and setting up 60 giant screens around the UK to allow sports fans to watch the Games outdoors en masse.
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Speaking at a Westminster eForum event in London today, Ben Gallop, head of interactive for BBC Sport, said that 13 per cent of viewers had watched the Beijing Games over broadband, compared to no more than three per cent for the Athens Games in 2004.
The Beijing games fuelled an explosion in internet traffic, with a total of 38 million video streams watched over the course of the 2008 Olympics and BBC Sport becoming the tenth most visited site in the UK.
Gallop said: "By the end of the Olympics we want to do for digital media what the coronation did for TV 50 years ago.
"We take our public service role very seriously. We want to look at what we can do to address the issues around the digital divide.
"We are moving towards a mixed economy where people will consume different content on different platforms depending on their needs at the time."
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1. Chris Tolmie
Ok, the BBC did a superb job at the Olympics. For the Paralympics I found that most programs were on the "red button" channels without subtitles which is not so good for the hearing impaired. However, compared with the USA which had VERY poor coverage of the Paralympics, the BBC is way in front of its global competitors!
2012 will see a much more immersive experience than 2008 - I can't wait!