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+--- Thread: Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport (/showthread.php?tid=187)
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - stewart_scott - 26-07-2021
jsnbts post_id=30850 time= user_id=1103 Wrote:The general public may just put it all down to the constraints of Covid, but I presume it will be the same sort of thing for 2022 and 2024 too?
I believe so sadly although I think what the BBC has done so far has been good, not great by any circumstances. They are getting the best they can out of a difficult situation not of their making and hopefully it will improve as the games go on.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Steve - 26-07-2021
Okay, I'm going to bite on this (and may regret it...!) but while not having the additional feeds available for those who want them is sad after being spoiled for 2012 and 2016 (to a lesser extent), is the regular viewer getting any different coverage than before or noticing a huge difference?
Taking the very unscientific feedback from my wife and parents, I don't think so. The main BBC coverage has always been curated - and you'd expect that from the primary channel. The best live action (sometimes with things missed, but that's perhaps inevitable especially in the early days with so much going on), discussion about events and some pre-recorded sections with clashing events or events that they didn't expect to be interesting but were.
I'm not sure this is very changed from previously? They can still show whatever they want from wherever, whenever on BBC One or Two. And that's where the majority of people watch the coverage. Yes, there's some very vocal people on social media (and indeed on here...) but the 'standard' viewer is still getting the broadcast they always get.
The gap I suppose is in the secondary coverage - what you would previously get on BBC Three or Four - which they can't do, although it sounds like the Red Button feed is quite a curated feed mixing between live events.
A lot of doom and gloom in this thread, but personally I think (by and large) the coverage has been great on BBC One - Dan and Sam at Breakfast are working well, Hazel is brilliant as ever and Clare and Alex with the highlights is improving each day as a pairing. No complaints here.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Jon - 26-07-2021
Whilst I think the BBC coverage has been good, I think the beauty of the coverage in the past has been if you’re a fan of a particular minority sport they had you covered or you could get into a sport for the first time that you wouldn’t expect to.
My bigger problem is with Eurosport though, on Prime at least the feeds are an awful arbitrary collection. So for example GB’s hockey match was I believe live on the BBC red button, but whilst Eurosport on Prime didn’t have it but was showing a pre-recorded football match. Also they didn’t appear to showing surfing on its debut in the games.
For the person who said London 2012 would never be bettered in the terms of the amount coverage on linear, that might be the case. But in 2021 you’d expect the main rights holder to be streaming everything, especially when it’s loads of feeds that are just showing a barker.
So my problem isn’t with the BBC but the terrible waste of an opportunity by Discovery/Eurosport.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Steve in Pudsey - 26-07-2021
Is that by design to avoid duplicating the BBC?
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - IanJRedman - 26-07-2021
If Eurosport/Discovery+ had the ability to stream in 4K, I may well have bitten the bullet and signed up specially for the Olympics. But it's tricky to even get 1080p out of them, isn't it?
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - James2001 - 26-07-2021
IanJRedman post_id=30872 time= user_id=958 Wrote:If Eurosport/Discovery+ had the ability to stream in 4K, I may well have bitten the bullet and signed up specially for the Olympics. But it's tricky to even get 1080p out of them, isn't it?
At least they do 50fps streaming, unlike most streaming services. Pretty much essential for sport. I think it's a case where having 50fps offers more of an advantage than 1080p would it if was only 25fps
Though even then I've heard from plenty of people who've only been able to get the lower quality 25p streams.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Brekkie - 26-07-2021
Steve in Pudsey post_id=30870 time= user_id=942 Wrote:Is that by design to avoid duplicating the BBC?It won't be to avoid duplicating the BBC. It's luck of the draw it seems what you get on Eurosport depending on how you subscribe - both hockey games were on the Eurosport Player, but Prime only seems to have very minimal live sport streams on top of ES3-9, which as others have said aren't exactly focused on the sort of sports the British audience usually appreciates.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - News Engineer - 26-07-2021
Brekkie post_id=30852 time= user_id=976 Wrote:Do those Extra Channels show none live coverage as well after 3pm?Yes, as soon as the last live event of the particular sport / sports that channel is focused on has ended it’s straight into repeats.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - steely12 - 26-07-2021
Piers Morgan, the voice of the nation, informs the Twitter-sphere that nobody cares about these Olympics.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - jsnbts - 26-07-2021
Steve post_id=30863 time= user_id=786 Wrote:Okay, I'm going to bite on this (and may regret it...!) but while not having the additional feeds available for those who want them is sad after being spoiled for 2012 and 2016 (to a lesser extent), is the regular viewer getting any different coverage than before or noticing a huge difference?
Taking the very unscientific feedback from my wife and parents, I don't think so. The main BBC coverage has always been curated - and you'd expect that from the primary channel. The best live action (sometimes with things missed, but that's perhaps inevitable especially in the early days with so much going on), discussion about events and some pre-recorded sections with clashing events or events that they didn't expect to be interesting but were.
I'm not sure this is very changed from previously? They can still show whatever they want from wherever, whenever on BBC One or Two. And that's where the majority of people watch the coverage. Yes, there's some very vocal people on social media (and indeed on here...) but the 'standard' viewer is still getting the broadcast they always get.
The gap I suppose is in the secondary coverage - what you would previously get on BBC Three or Four - which they can't do, although it sounds like the Red Button feed is quite a curated feed mixing between live events.
A lot of doom and gloom in this thread, but personally I think (by and large) the coverage has been great on BBC One - Dan and Sam at Breakfast are working well, Hazel is brilliant as ever and Clare and Alex with the highlights is improving each day as a pairing. No complaints here.
Not intentionally doom and gloom from me, and you’re right - the BBC coverage is great and watching it you can presume at some point you’ll see all the Team GB medal wins as well as any other notable moments. For me, it just sadly feels a bit more rushed and a bit more all over the place than usual this year, and while I can’t quite put my finger on it I presumed it was down to the lack of coverage rights.
I tend to use family and friends as a barometer for the general public, and my mother in law was frustrated as she couldn’t find the dressage anywhere yesterday - in past years she could simply find the feed on the BBC red button or whatever - this year, it wasn’t shown on the BBC (live, at least) and not was it anywhere to be seen on any of the Eurosport channels. That’s actually why we signed up to Discovery+, as rubbish as it is.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Brekkie - 26-07-2021
The interactive service was one of the most successful for the BBC and widely used by many in conjunction with the main TV coverage. Even if people only used it a couple of times each games having the option for them to do so was important, and hence it'll be missed. People, especially the younger generation, expect things to be available live nowadays too.
In the past for example today they'd have probably stuck with the Gymnastics which was half an hour from conclusion, and then shown the British medal match in the Taekwondo on a delay of 15-30 minutes immediately after, and most of us would be none the wise. Nowadays it's far more noticeable when that sort of thing happens, hence why the BBC had to prioritise a potential medal final for live coverage.
For me it's a very similar argument to what I used to say about Big Brother axing about the live feed - even if you don't use it much having the choice to use it was so important and added so much to the overall product.
As for the BBC1 coverage itself must say it really is excellent. It's so nice Hazel is getting the prime live slot after years of often getting the lower profile slots. I'm guessing Gabby is only doing the athletics - the press pack billed the slot as being hosted by Hazel and Gabby, but so far we've only seen Gabby sitting in for Dan on Sunday. Dan and Sam Quek works really well too and she is very easily switches from host to pundit when they require input from an Olympian for something they haven't got someone specific in for. I always think in these circumstances the "best of the rest" slot after the live action finishes can be one of the best parts of the coverage and Jason Mohammed is doing an excellent job. JJ is faultless overnight as well.
For me the weak link is primetime. Clare really should have hosted Today at the Games alone, and it could do with slightly less input from pundits and more action. It was a real shame last night for example that the shock Tunisian Gold Medal was only shown with Clare talking over it basically saying what was going to happen, when really even if not shown in full showing the last length or two with commentary would have given viewers the chance to better relive the moment as for me it was the moment of the day that reminded me what I love about the Olympics. However I accept this style of highlights is not designed for someone like myself, who'd much rather record the live coverage and skip through it myself.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Andrew - 26-07-2021
The main conflict for me is showing live action vs reviewing action we’ve just seen.
Previously they’d be able to reflect on a Team GB gold, with a studio guest fairly leisurely, but also say that various other sports were on the red button, before then dropping in on one of them a bit later.
Whereas now they almost have to rush away fairly quickly to something else happening, as if it’s not on One or the one red button stream, most viewers aren’t seeing the event at all.
Clearly you don’t need as many red button streams as we had in 2012 as some sports are very niche in the UK, but you’d probably be able to fill half a dozen with either GB interest or a sport popular to GB viewers
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Jon - 26-07-2021
The thing I don’t understand is why Discovery haven’t gone all out. They could have done something like a ‘£10 all access pass’ as the only place for viewers to get everything but making it available on every platform and I’m sure there would have been plenty of take up.
I don’t think it’s been marketed very well at all, how many people away from those with an industry interest even realised there would only be two streams from the BBC? Let alone known the way to get the most feeds from Eurosport.
The only thing I can think of, is the Discovery didn’t want to put too much into the marketing and sorting it out properly because they were afraid of investing in something that could have been cancelled and not getting their money back.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - Brekkie - 26-07-2021
It's not even a tenner - £6.99 does cover the games. I think the delay really put a spanner in the works as had they been last year you wouldn't have Discovery+ in the mix, which would have simplified marketing. On air they only mention Discovery+ but it's clear the Eurosport Player is being retained almost as a legacy app, plus the service via Amazon Channels.
I think if all three options for streaming offered the same content in the same manner it would have been fine, but with no extra channels on ES Player and seemingly only the channels on ES on Prime both feel like second rate services.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 on BBC and Eurosport - scottishtv - 26-07-2021
Jon post_id=30895 time= user_id=1050 Wrote:I don’t think it’s been marketed very well at all, how many people away from those with an industry interest even realised there would only be two streams from the BBC? Let alone known the way to get the most feeds from Eurosport.I agree with this. Earlier in the thread, I reported that my parents wanted to see some of the other sports - but they didn't even know they could until I told them that it was on "Eurosport through Discovery+". Their eyes were already glazing over hearing this. As Freeview viewers with Netflix and Amazon Prime, they are not clueless when it comes to streaming, but they a) didn't know the Olympics was covered anywhere other than the BBC, and b) were put off by setting up more apps and logins.
After sorting out the app for them on their smart TV on Saturday, I heard last night that they were just sticking to the BBC coverage as going in and out of the apps and streams was too confusing.. "and we don't want to miss the important things" (!).
I appreciate people with a particular interest in a certain sport will want all the streams, but I think many casual viewers will want the curated stuff - esp from a UK perspective as hopefully Team GB win more medals. Curating a show in the UK early evening is also tough given the time difference - you're inevitably reporting on 'yesterday's news'.