Last time when it was either the Winter Olympics or the Commonwealth Games, the Community Channel was on between 2pm and 5pm, so I guess this could happen again, ie when it's night time in Bejing.
I hope not as I think especially with alot of action overnight it's still important to have a choice of coverage during the day/evening too.
The best solution IMO would be to give them extra hours before and after the games to compensate for any loss, or move them to air in between BBC3 closing and CBBC starting up - i.e. 4am-7am.
I wonder if they'll bother renaming it on the EPG for the two weeks it will broadcast.
I think they'll probably put an MHEG caption over it and you can only access it through the Red button. ISTR they did that with Big Brother a few years ago.
I wonder if they'll bother renaming it on the EPG for the two weeks it will broadcast.
I think they'll probably put an MHEG caption over it and you can only access it through the Red button. ISTR they did that with Big Brother a few years ago.
Well, "they" didn't do that - the BBC don't broadcast Big Brother, thank ye gods.
The Beeb have never put anything more than a "PRESS RED" (in the corner) over 301/302.
Why oh why don't they use this opportunity to re-introduce BBC Parliament Audio Only on DTT and launch a BBC Sport Channel. There's tonnes of stuff in the BBC Sport archive that could be shown, and it would free up BBC1,2,3 airtime.
No doubt noggin will have a view on this, but I hear there are some concerns that because sport coverage can be rather bandwidth-hungry, the picture quality on the channels that share broadcasting space with Parliament will be noticibly compromised. AIUI when there's lots of movement within the tv screen it requires far more data to be transmitted to make up the picture. Wide tracking shots of swimming pools for example, when everything within the frame is moving, long shots of crowd scenes in a stadium etc are all the kind of shots that eat up bandwidth.
The marketing people think that viewers won't notice the lower quality on other BBC Channels or will forgive the BBC for reducing quality in return for better Olympic coverage. Sounds just like the Marketing argument that DAB listeners are grateful to the BBC for reducing the bitrate for the main channels in return for the extra digital stations.
I think its quite a good idea given that there's not much happening in politics over the summer months and it also gives viewers a bit more comprehensive coverage.
I'm not too technically minded so I guess that it is possible with bandwith etc. otherwise it wouldn't have been decided.
Why oh why don't they use this opportunity to re-introduce BBC Parliament Audio Only on DTT and launch a BBC Sport Channel. There's tonnes of stuff in the BBC Sport archive that could be shown, and it would free up BBC1,2,3 airtime.
Because the BBC is cutting costs at the moment and the last thing it would want to do is start a new TV channel. It probabbly wouldn't be allowed to either
Why oh why don't they use this opportunity to re-introduce BBC Parliament Audio Only on DTT and launch a BBC Sport Channel. There's tonnes of stuff in the BBC Sport archive that could be shown, and it would free up BBC1,2,3 airtime.
There may be lots of stuff in the BBC Sport archive - but that doesn't mean that the BBC have the rights to show it. Lots of sports stuff the BBC have in their library has relatively high repeat fees - as the BBC don't own the rights to show the footage indefinitely, and instead have to pay each time they show it.
Sport channesl are not cheap to run - and unlike ESPN Classic, the BBC wouldn't generate revenue from subscription or advertising to fund the channel.
It certainly isn't a case that the BBC could just pull out some tapes of old football and rugby matches and show them at no cost.
As for shifting current sporting coverage off BBC One and Two (there is little on BBC Three outside minor evening football matches and things like the African Cup of Nations) - until analogue switch off - this is unlikely. In fact many rights agreements the BBC have with sports authorities guarantee a slot on BBC One or BBC Two as part of the deal.
I know with the Olympics in one of the blogs recently they said although the IOC use lots of clips from the BBC coverage, the BBC themselves are quite limited in what they can use themselves, certainly online anyway.
There is no need for a BBC Sport Channel - the current arrangement works fine, offering multiple extra streams when coverage requires it , and leaving the space for other services when it's not required. There would be far too much dead air for the BBC to fill with a full time channel.
There is no need for a BBC Sport Channel - the current arrangement works fine, offering multiple extra streams when coverage requires it , and leaving the space for other services when it's not required. There would be far too much dead air for the BBC to fill with a full time channel.
I agree with you there, they've been making the most of it since the BBC dropped Grandstand last year, for instance you could have Snooker on BBC1, Racing on BBC2, Score on 301, Athletics on 302, having that extra choice makes it look professional and shows how much Sport the BBC does have.
