'I'm an Olympics super-fan - here is what BBC needs to do to improve coverage'
EXCLUSIVE: People expecting London 2012 type coverage will be very disappointed. There are currently limited live options on the BBC, with only two channels streaming the action.
As the Paris 2024 Olympics gets underway, already a number of fans have been begging the question on social media: Why is the BBC Olympic coverage so limited?
Sadly, people expecting London 2012 type coverage will be very disappointed. After seven decades of being the lead broadcaster, the BBC are now no longer the main rights holders.
There are currently limited live options on the BBC, with only two channels streaming the action. With multiple events running concurrently, there has already been uproar with viewers.
During Day One and Two of the Olympics, BBC fans were left fuming over presenters doing "too much talking" and "too much studio analysing."
Regardless of which button you press on iPlayer, they also continually stream montages and not live sport. Already, there has been a trending hashtag on X and fans have been tweeting using #ChatOlympics.
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Given the BBC don’t have a monopoly any more, this means that they are limited to the amount of live coverage and unfortunately means a lot of time filled in by punditry and profiles of athletes. No one wins here.
Compared to Discovery Plus, we only get 250 hours of live coverage. This will be going on for the whole Olympic Games. It's not the BBC's fault.
Of course, it would be a good idea to focus more on the action. Otherwise, more and more viewers will make the switch to Discovery+ (who will be streaming 3,500 hours of sport).
If you want to see it all, you’ll have to fork out for Discovery+ and sign up for a special rate of £3.99 for the full-scale service. And Discovery have the Olympics until 2032, so it's not going back to the BBC anytime soon.
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But, in my opinion, Discovery Plus just aren't capable of creating the same experience that the BBC can when given full access. Personally, I’m still very grateful that Discovery even agreed to sub-license some rights.
For me, the BBC does it best. Despite channel navigating being an Olympic sport itself, good commentary adds colour to the game.
The likes of Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine and Rebecca Adlington are world-class commentators who can make the Olympics a proper Saturday night watch, no matter what sporting event is being streamed.
So for those who haven't been tempted yet to switch to Discovery Plus, I beg you to stay awhile longer. The BBC just needs to keep doing what it always does best.
Would you want to live in a world where the BBC doesn’t exist and we are watching Discovery or American TV? I think not.
