Puzzled at the relative lack of live coverage of the Winter Olympics on the TV, I was delighted to discover yesterday that the BBC is actually putting huge amounts of the live content out on the internet. So, as I type, I’m watching (well, listening to!) the men’s combined downhill (Slalom).
I’m a huge fan of the winter Olympics - especially the ski events. Whilst I’m a reasonably competent skier myself, I’m in sheer awe of the ability of athletes as they go down such overwhelmingly steep slopes (TV gives no indication at all of the true steepness of competitive courses) at breakneck speeds. It’s one of the most technically challenging, riskiest and demanding of all competitive sports in my view. And don’t get me started on the cross-country events, which combines amazing levels of endurance and fitness, with pinpoint shooting accuracy.
I know that the winter Olympics isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. But take a step back and consider what the implications are for streaming almost every event down your internet pipe, to watch as and when you choose. It’s amazing. For those of us who’re wired up with Broadband, it opens up so much of the BBC’s content that doesn’t normally make it to view, meaning the interested license payer can pick up exactly what they want, without interrupting the viewing habits of those less keen. I know the BBC has other things up it’s sleeve for the next few years, including more on-demand transmission. I just hope they keep in mind not everybody chooses to run Microsoft operating Systems.
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