The BBC has announced that sports fans will be able to tap into six HD live streams on a number of devices during the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia.
In a similar manner to how the BBC covered Glastonbury 2013, viewers will be able to pick and choose which streams to watch from a number of devices.
As well as this, fans will be given editor-like powers to navigate between video streams with BBC Radio 5 Live broadcasts, online news stories and statistics.
The new live stream switcher will be accessible on mobiles, tablets (iOS, Android, Kindle Fire) and through the BBC Sport app. The Connected Red Button service on Virgin Media TiVo, Sony’s Freeview Smart TVs and other connected TVs with the BBC Sport app will also be able to tune into the action.
Heading to the BBC Sport website on your desktop means you’ll be able to access all of the same content from one live page.
A range of on-demand video clips will be available on the live page, letting you catch-up on the highlights before the live action kicks off. Social media chatter and comments sent in via text and email will frame the action, alongside commentary from BBC reports.
Medal tables and summaries of events will be presented alongside a rolling list of Twitter-style updates and live text commentary which the BBC promises will update faster than ever before.
Whichever device you access BBC Sport on during the 2014 Winter Olympics, the content will dynamically adjust to the screen’s size. Click the thumbnails above to get an idea of how the page will look on desktop browsers (left) and on phones (right).
Live streams will automatically switch to HD depending on the device you’re using and the quality of your connection.
Daily highlights will be also broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD as well as on BBC iPlayer.
The BBC says that this represents the beginning of how major live sporting events will be covered online, following director general Tony Hall’s vision announced in October 2013. Future live events including the World Cup and Commonwealth Games as well as non-sporting events such as Election Night.
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