One undeniable trend about
the Olympics over the last eight years is that its presence in online and
mobile platforms has absolutely exploded. In 2004, NBC launched a mobile
website dedicated to people wanting to check out the latest medal counts and
breaking news on their phone, but it was little more than truncated text and a
few tiny images. This year, you'll be able to watch every moment of the
international sporting event from your phone and notebook.
At least, that's what the
BBC is planning to do. In case you were wondering, that's more than 2,500 hours
of content. The broadcaster will offer a special video player on its website,
chock full of 24 different live high-definition video streams.
In 2008, the BBC offered six
streams. During a media event, BBC general manager Phil Pearnley was quoted as
describing the project by saying, "The biggest single event we’ve ever
seen was in the World Cup when England
played Slovenia .
Take that and double it – that’s what we’ve been planning for the
Olympics."
In addition to the Web-based
video player, the BBC will offer special apps for the iPhone, iPad, and
Android. It will also deliver a special app for Internet-connected TVs as well
as the PS3, Tivo, and even other platforms that the company hasn't confirmed
yet. On top of all this, it will also have constantly updated Twitter feeds so
that users who don't have the time to launch a video player will be able to get
instant updates. The BBC is calling it "the first proper digital
Olympics."
Today, NBC gave an inch.
The network announced that it would stream every single event and sport live for the first time ever, on NBCOlympics.com. That’s more than 3,500 programming hours, including the awarding of all 302 medals.
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