Skip to main content

BBC's live Olympics video stream will include pause, rewind, alerts, and Twitter integration

BBC's live Olympics video stream will include pause, rewind, alerts, and Twitter integration

/

The BBC unveiled its new online video platform in London yesterday, which will offer 3.5Mbps high-quality video, along with pause and rewind options, along with live participant information (such as leaderboards and results) and clickable alerts that can take you to other streams when key moments are happening elsewhere.

Share this story

london olympics_1020
london olympics_1020

The BBC unveiled its new online video platform in London yesterday, giving us a first glimpse at how it plans to live stream every event from the Summer Olympics. The new browser-based player will offer pause and rewind options, along with live participant information (such as leaderboards and results) and clickable alerts that can take you to other streams when key moments are happening elsewhere. There'll also be integrated data-driven profiles of the competing athletes that will pull in their Twitter feed alongside public reactions. Anyone that's ever used BBC's iPlayer will know it's not the highest quality stream, and thankfully the broadcaster has taken note; the new player will now stream at up to 3.5Mbps, up from iPlayer's maximum quality of 1.5Mbps.

One-upping NBC's Olympics coverage, the BBC will stream over 2,500 hours of content, which it plans to serve to the British public via 24 channels. The corporation is working on dedicated apps for iOS and Android, but will also provide a mobile version of its video site for use on other platforms. It also plans to introduce a "standardized" connected TV application that will offer live and catch-up video to Virgin Media TiVo, PlayStation 3, Sony smart TVs, and "other platforms yet to be announced." If watching the Olympics on a tiny screen doesn't do it for you, BBC News reported yesterday that a number of big screens will be erected around London for the public to watch the games on.