Olympics 2004 on the BBC

Got a free Olympic supplement with today's local paper, with details of the BBC's programming.

BBC1 and 2 will have live coverage daily from around 7am to 10pm, with additional live coverage on BBCi.

Olympic Report will round up the news on BBC1 around 12.30pm and 5pm everyday, while Olympics Today will have 90-minutes of highlights everynight at 10.35pm (Midnight on Saturday due to Match of the Day)

Strikes permitting, the opening ceremony airs from 6.35pm-10pm on BBC1 on Friday 13th August, beginning at 7pm (I think). However, these opening ceremonies tend to overrun by about an hour, and the BBC have the nack of switching to BBC2 just in time for the flame to be lit.

Leaks about the Opening Ceremony suggest the stadium will be flooded with water for an aqua based ceremony.

And what if we don't like sport? Sydney 2000 was bad enough with 18 hours on BBC1 a day, but this looks worse.

Don't say "it's only every four years" - you'll just make it worse.

oh no, 2 weeks more Neighbours deprivation for forumers.

Theres plenty of other channels to watch!, BBC2, ITV, C4, Five and all the digital stations.

It's only on every four years

With Wimbledon, The Open, Euro 2004 now the Olympics, you can see why non sports fans licence fee payers would be aggrieved.

Seems to me that sport gets a lions share of television coverage over any other genre. Can't see BBC One being given over to 2 weeks of non-stop Eastenders from 7am - 10pm can you ?

You seemed to have missed something - BBC2 will be providing coverage as well!

Wimbledon- two weeks/year
The Open- 4 days/year
European football tournaments/World Cup- 3 weeks/2 years
Olympics- 3 weeks/4 years

Let's take a 4 year cycle:

4 Wimbledons = 8 weeks
4 Opens = 16 days
2 Football tournaments = 6 weeks
1 Olympics = 3 weeks

Total = 19 weeks 2 days
Average per year is approximately 4 weeks 4 days (32 days)
Lets call it a month.
Out of 12 months.
It's hardly "easy" to see why non-sports fans are aggreived- in fact it's bloody difficult.

I have to put up with Eastenders 4 nights a week 52 weeks a year (plus extra episodes when ratings fall and at Christmas)- thats over 200 days per year (compared to just 32 for sport). Then there's neighbours- that's on even more. Now Casualty and Holby City are practically soaps, you can add them to the list.

In fact I think us sports fans are getting screwed by soap fans. I demand less soap and more sport!

Oh come on you've barely scraped the surface. You've conveniently forgotten Snooker , Athletics, Motor sport, Darts, Bowls, Match of the Day and Saturday & Sunday afternoons given over to sports programmes 52 weeks a year.

Then of course there are the numerous discussion sports programmes.

If it wasn't for providing excellent coverage of events such as the Olympics, Wimbledon and the World Cup, I'd very much doubt the BBC would still exist, so quit moaning.

The Olympics are the most important sporting event in the world and deserve the respect the BBC grant them. It's only two weeks, and with 28 sports, there must be something you like. It's also an important moral boosting event for the country (assuming we win something!).

The biggest mistake is how the BBC schedule around these events. For example, BBC2 have decided to begin screening the new series of Malcolm in the Middle a week or so before Wimbledon, and it's barely been on our screens every other week. Also, rather than giving EastEnders a break for two weeks, they will try and just squeeze it in the schedule where it fits.

...with coverage starting on BBC ONE, meaning that BREAKFAST will switch channels at 7am or 7:30am each morning.

Presumably this will cause problems for the English regions and, even more so, Jersey and Guernsey.

What are you talking about? Looking at your average week, sport is never on at peak time. Drama, lifestyle programmes, game shows and comedy on the other hand is on most nights.

Anyway what's wrong with sport? Or are you one of these computer geek fatties for whom sport is walking to the kitchen for another packet of crisps?