Digital TV News

BBC announces 3D broadcasts for London 2012 Olympics

Friday 17 February, 2012

By Anthony Hill

Coverage of opening ceremony and daily highlights to be screened in 3D.

The BBC has unveiled its plans for 3D broadcasts from this year's Olympic Games in London.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies will be shown in the format, as will nightly highlights from the most-watched events.

However, the only sporting event shown live in 3D will be the men's 100m finals on 5 August. Roger Mosey, the BBC's director of London 2012, said the decision to limit 3D coverage had been taken to ensure standard and high-definition (HD) broadcasts were not compromised.

“If we had, for instance, decided to do a whole night of athletics in 3D on Friday 3 August, then we'd have lost swimming and other sports from BBC HD,” he explained.

Mosey said there had never been plans for a dedicated 3D channel, and that consumer demand 3D Olympics coverage was lower than many had predicted. A recent Ofcom report showed that just 6% of UK households have a 3D television.

“The BBC's overall approach to 3D has been very much on the lines of an experiment around special events like Wimbledon and Strictly Come Dancing,” he wrote in a blog post. Plans for the BBC to show the Olympics in 3D were first announced back in 2009, but nothing had been confirmed until now.

During London 2012, which takes place between 27 July and 12 August, the BBC's main standard-definition broadcasts will be shown on BBC One, while BBC One HD will provide the same coverage in high-definition. The 3D versions will be on the BBC HD channel.

For the nightly highlights, Mosey said a range of sports would be featured on BBC HD after the day's live broadcasts have finished. “In other words, this is using ‘spare’ capacity on BBC HD,” he explained.

The BBC HD channel is available on pay-TV services - including Sky, Virgin Media and BT Vision - as well as subscription-free platforms such as Freeview and Freesat. To watch high-definition and 3D broadcasts, viewers need a compatible TV and set-top box.

Photo by wwarby