bassethound
16-08-11, 13:58
The BBC has been given the go-ahead to extend BBC Three's broadcast hours and temporarily drop BBC Parliament on Freeview as part of its coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.
The BBC Trust today approved the corporation's plans for the Olympics, including the launch of a temporary digital radio service called BBC 5 Live Olympics Extra, as well as offering 1,000 hours of online video coverage of the events.
BBC Three, which usually broadcasts from 7pm to 7am, will shift to a full day schedule from July 19 to August 12 during the Olympic period next year.
BBC Three's Olympics coverage in the daytime on Freeview will use the transmission bandwidth for BBC Parliament, along with some Red Button capacity on satellite. This means that BBC Parliament will be replaced by a holding slate on Freeview during the period, but will continue to broadcast on cable and satellite.
The Trust has approved for BBC Three's budget to be increased by £4.5m to cover the costs of airing coverage of the Olympics, along with hourly news bulletins from 11pm.
The BBC's governing body said that the impact of temporarily dropping BBC Parliament from Freeview is expected to be "minimal" as the channel only reaches around 120,000 viewers.
It also dismissed fears of a backlash from viewers over the removal of BBC Three's usual schedule, arguing that the channel's audience is small and the change will only be temporary.
Elsewhere in the coverage plans, the BBC is to launch BBC 5 Live Olympics Extra, a temporary additional national radio stream using existing DAB spectrum for around 20 days. The station is expected to cost around £200,000, subject to budget planning for the financial year 2012-13.
During the 20-day period, Radio 5 Live will continue to offer a mix of news and sport, while digital spinoff 5 Live Sports Extra will air live coverage of the Olympic events, apart from when live Test match cricket is on.
BBC Online plans to offer around 1,000 hours of video coverage of the Olympics online, which the Trust said would mostly be of "niche events and sports". Some video will be shown live, while other content will be on-demand.
The high number of online content hours fulfils the BBC's commitment to the International Olympic Committee to bring "every minute" of the Games to UK audiences, but it requires a temporary change to the service licence for BBC Online. The Trust said that the costs of the scheme comes within the "permitted parameter of spend" for the division.
In a statement, the BBC Trust confirmed that the proposed changes to service licences do not require a public value test, but it will run a public consultation on the radio service.
"Having assessed the proposed temporary service and offers against these criteria, we have reached the conclusion that they do not represent a significant change to the BBC's UK Public Services and so do not require a public value test," said the Trust.
"We are approving in outline the launch of this temporary service and offers. We will consult publicly on the radio service, as set out in its draft service licence, before finalising the terms of its service licence.
"The BBC's mission is to inform, educate and entertain and its main object is to promote its public purposes. The Trust considers that coverage of major sports events, such as the London 2012 Olympics, fits closely with the BBC's role to promote the public purposes and so is fully in keeping with the BBC's remit and mission."
The BBC is expecting more than three quarters of the UK population to watch its coverage of the London Olympics next year, after 75% of the TV audience tuned for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
In July, the corporation also aired live 3D coverage of the Wimbledon Finals on digital TV platforms, possibly offering a glimpse as to how it could run live 3D broadcasts of the Games.
The BBC Trust today approved the corporation's plans for the Olympics, including the launch of a temporary digital radio service called BBC 5 Live Olympics Extra, as well as offering 1,000 hours of online video coverage of the events.
BBC Three, which usually broadcasts from 7pm to 7am, will shift to a full day schedule from July 19 to August 12 during the Olympic period next year.
BBC Three's Olympics coverage in the daytime on Freeview will use the transmission bandwidth for BBC Parliament, along with some Red Button capacity on satellite. This means that BBC Parliament will be replaced by a holding slate on Freeview during the period, but will continue to broadcast on cable and satellite.
The Trust has approved for BBC Three's budget to be increased by £4.5m to cover the costs of airing coverage of the Olympics, along with hourly news bulletins from 11pm.
The BBC's governing body said that the impact of temporarily dropping BBC Parliament from Freeview is expected to be "minimal" as the channel only reaches around 120,000 viewers.
It also dismissed fears of a backlash from viewers over the removal of BBC Three's usual schedule, arguing that the channel's audience is small and the change will only be temporary.
Elsewhere in the coverage plans, the BBC is to launch BBC 5 Live Olympics Extra, a temporary additional national radio stream using existing DAB spectrum for around 20 days. The station is expected to cost around £200,000, subject to budget planning for the financial year 2012-13.
During the 20-day period, Radio 5 Live will continue to offer a mix of news and sport, while digital spinoff 5 Live Sports Extra will air live coverage of the Olympic events, apart from when live Test match cricket is on.
BBC Online plans to offer around 1,000 hours of video coverage of the Olympics online, which the Trust said would mostly be of "niche events and sports". Some video will be shown live, while other content will be on-demand.
The high number of online content hours fulfils the BBC's commitment to the International Olympic Committee to bring "every minute" of the Games to UK audiences, but it requires a temporary change to the service licence for BBC Online. The Trust said that the costs of the scheme comes within the "permitted parameter of spend" for the division.
In a statement, the BBC Trust confirmed that the proposed changes to service licences do not require a public value test, but it will run a public consultation on the radio service.
"Having assessed the proposed temporary service and offers against these criteria, we have reached the conclusion that they do not represent a significant change to the BBC's UK Public Services and so do not require a public value test," said the Trust.
"We are approving in outline the launch of this temporary service and offers. We will consult publicly on the radio service, as set out in its draft service licence, before finalising the terms of its service licence.
"The BBC's mission is to inform, educate and entertain and its main object is to promote its public purposes. The Trust considers that coverage of major sports events, such as the London 2012 Olympics, fits closely with the BBC's role to promote the public purposes and so is fully in keeping with the BBC's remit and mission."
The BBC is expecting more than three quarters of the UK population to watch its coverage of the London Olympics next year, after 75% of the TV audience tuned for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
In July, the corporation also aired live 3D coverage of the Wimbledon Finals on digital TV platforms, possibly offering a glimpse as to how it could run live 3D broadcasts of the Games.