 BBC
to broadcast World Cup games live on broadband in the UK
The BBC has signed an exclusive deal with Infront Sports & Media,
the company responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast
rights to the 2006 World Cup, which will allow internet users in the UK
to watch all the games online.
All of the BBC's TV games will be live and free-to-air with online viewers
able to access the games at bbc.co.uk/worldcup
and bbc.co.uk/sport
- viewing of these matches will be restricted to those that live in the
UK.
All of the BBC's group games will be available on these sites, as well
as all the subsequent games the BBC has in the knockout stages. The BBC
will also have the exclusive rights to England's second round and quarter-final
games should they reach that stage. Furthermore, the BBC has non-exclusive
rights to short highlights from every 2006 World Cup game. There will
be four-minute clips from all of the 64 matches available on-demand whenever
users want to view them.
For the BBC's matches viewers will be able to stream the same coverage
as will appear on terrestrial television. This stream will also feature
the same commentary as on TV. Also, in addition to watching the games,
online users will be able to hear and read about the latest action –
BBC Radio Five Live will have an audio stream from 2006 World Cup game
and there will also be live minute-by-minute reports on every match written
by BBC journalists.
Director of Sport Roger Mosey said: "Our audiences now expect to
get BBC Sport on television, on radio and online – and the World
Cup on broadband is our biggest commitment yet to bringing people major
events where and when they want them. You can watch the World Cup from
the BBC at home on TV – or listen in the car on your radio –
and now also see full live coverage on your PC. We know a lot of online
viewing is done in the office, so we suspect this will allow people both
to do their job and to keep up with the very latest action from Germany."
Director of Sports Rights Dominic Coles added: "The BBC has great
traditions in sport but we also want to be the most modern provider of
content, and our move into broadband reflects this."
The BBC has successfully broadcast football over the Internet before,
but this is by far its biggest-ever single commitment. In 2005 the BBC
showed the final of the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup Japan
between Liverpool and Sao Paulo online to UK Internet users. Similarly
the BBC also broadcast online all the interactive streams from Athens
2004 Olympics.
This latest deal follows this week's announcement that the BBC will provide
UK broadband users with access to five courts of live tennis action during
the 2006 Wimbledon Championships. The service will replicate coverage
from the BBC's live terrestrial coverage plus the remaining digital interactive
feeds.
The BBC already has the broadband rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
Source: Media Network, BBC Press Office
|
