The BBC has announced its plans for 3D broadcasts from the 2012 Olympic Games as:

• The Olympic opening Ceremony live
• The men’s 100m final live
• Nightly highlights in 3D
• The Olympic closing Ceremony live

Roger Mosey, BBC director of 2012, said “We’ve always been clear we were never going to have a 3D channel for the Olympics and the BBC’s overall approach to 3D has been very much on the lines of an experiment around special events like Wimbledon and Strictly Come Dancing.”

“We’ve chosen these events partly because they mark the pinnacles of the Games but also to minimise the loss of HD that is a consequence of our 3D service. The pattern will be that our main standard-definition transmission will be on BBC One, the HD simulcast will be on BBC One HD and then the 3D version will be on the BBC HD Channel – as we did with Wimbledon. For the nightly highlights, they’ll feature a range of sports on the BBC HD channel after the live action has finished. In other words, this is using ‘spare’ capacity on BBC HD.”

“I should note it’s not yet clear how much of the ceremonies will be shot in 3D but otherwise opening and closing have the advantage that there’s no competing sport, and therefore no loss of choice for HD viewers. But that wouldn’t have been the case if we’d expanded our 3D coverage over the rest of the 17 days.”

Kim Shillinglaw, the head of BBC 3D, said: “We have always said we believe some of 2012 should be captured in 3D, and we’re delighted to confirm our offer to audiences in the UK, providing them with a new way of getting close to some of the key moments from the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

www.bbc.co.uk