The BBC has been upping the game for digital sports coverage in recent times, with the Olympic Games and its Winter counterpart showing what an all-encompassing, cross-platform broadcasting extravaganza can look like in an age of near-ubiquitous connectivity.
And with the 2014 football World Cup in Brazil now almost a month away, the UK broadcaster has outlined its plans for the first 24/7 World Cup
Cross-platform broadcasting : The BBC has outlined its plans for the World Cup in Brazil http://t.co/yaNfFH4PC6 pic.twitter.com/KnTexZHvib
— Will Corry (@slievemore) May 7, 2014
As with previous years, the BBC and ITV are splitting coverage roughly down the middle, but given the former’s multi-platform reach across Web, mobile/tablet apps, games consoles, connected TVs and Google Chromecast, it will be harder to miss BBC coverage than watch it.
24/7
At a gathering in Central London this afternoon, Barbara Slater, Director of Sport; and Mark Cole, Lead Executive at BBC Football, touted 2014 as “the first 24/7 World Cup”, and will involve enhanced live coverage, highlights, and interactive features such as live in-match voting. “It will be the most comprehensive coverage ever,” said Slater, who added that there will be fifty percent more TV coverage than the previous World Cup in South Africa four years ago.