[michael21]

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/b...030869.article

The BBC is extending BBC3’s broadcast hours and launching a temporary digital radio stream during next summer’s Olympic Games, as part of a number of measures to optimise the broadcaster’s coverage.

From 19 July to 12 August 2012, BBC3’s will extend into daytime across all of its platforms using BBC Parliament’s spectrum on DTT. The channel is being given an additional £4.5m, and its output during this time will predominantly be dedicated to coverage of the games. Only hourly news bulletins and the post-11pm schedule will remain untouched.

Over the month-long period – which falls within recess - BBC Parliament will be available on all other platforms, including cable, satellite and online.

The additional radio stream will be launched using the BBC’s existing DAB spectrum, and will run for about 20 days. It is expected to have a budget of around £200,000.

During this time, Radio Five Live will continue to offer a mix of news and sport, including the Olympics. Five Live Sports Extra will broadcast live coverage of the Olympics, except when test match cricket takes place - two matches are expected during this time.

The BBC is also planning to increase its online output by roughly 1,0000 hours during the period, some of which will be made available on demand.

The BBC Trust, which will launch a public consultation on the additional radio stream, before finalising the terms, said: “We consider that coverage of major sports events, such as the Olympics, fits closely with the BBC’s role to promote the public purposes and so consider that the proposal to offer the temporary service and offers is fully in keeping with the BBC’s remit and mission.”

The body said the other changes did not constitute a “significant change”, and therefore did not warrant a public value test before approving the plans.

It added: “We do not anticipate the temporary television and radio offer and service will attract very high viewing or listening levels. Also, any impact will be for a very limited time period.

“We expect that audience reach and share will primarily be drawn from Olympics coverage on other BBC services, rather than from non-Olympics output on non-BBC services. Therefore, we do not expect the temporary services to have a major impact on other TV channels or radio stations.”

BBC1, Red Button and Radio 5 Live will offer Olympics coverage alongside these additions. The Trust said it expected output on these services to “be within the existing approvals of those services”.

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