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Wimbledon: The Sweet Spot

2016-07-07T20:53:20+00:00

This week I have been following the Wimbledon Championships whilst tackling joyless household tasks, like ironing. Tennis distracts from the depressing inevitability and irretrievable dullness of everyday life.

My recent success confronting the childhood trauma that stopped me watching and enjoying football in adult life is now the talk of the office. People I’ve hitherto only nodded hello to sheepishly in the corridor now stop and talk. I feel drawn into the inevitable pre-meeting football-related small talk engaged in while we wait for meeting rooms to be vacated. And, thanks to a colleague, I now understand the offside rule. Breaking news: it’s nowhere near as difficult to understand as everyone makes out it is.

There is another unexpected consequence. 'Getting into the football' has reminded that I have, for a long time, quite enjoyed tennis and, having exposed myself to quite a lot of soccer over the past few weeks, that appreciation of tennis has deepened. I have become more entwined with the racquet game. I think I might be a bit obsessed by it.

I am a man transformed.

Wimbledon 2016 on our TV. Yes, it's big. Don't tell the other half, but I'd really be just as happy with just a radio.

Tennis is, for me, the easiest sporting endeavour to understand – two people locked in a battle of skill, agility, and stamina, hitting a ball about a court. It's a game subject to endlessly gratifying permutations, and one which can, at a moment’s notice, turn things on their head. Drama stitched into underlying personal narratives. Whilst there are procedures, stages, and a journey to follow - the structure appeals to the same side of my brain that appreciates left-hand justification, a well-chosen font, or chairs tidied away under a meeting room table. There are, at the same time, no certainties with a game of tennis. Nothing is assumed. Things can take a wholly unexpected turn at a moment’s notice. For those reasons tennis, I adore you.

The �鶹Լ�� introduced me to tennis, filling the void at that difficult in-between stage when children's TV was increasingly failing to meet my gangly teenagery needs. After-school on a Friday was an especially dead time while I kicked my heels waiting for West Suffolk Youth Wind Band rehearsals to start at 6.30pm. I wasn't alone. Principal flautist Caroline Lloynes - a contemporary of mine at school - faced a similar problem. Being one of those irritating kids at school who was good at music, her studies and sport, she had something to fill the gaping void before rehearsals - watching tennis on the TV. And seeing as my parents needed her parents to take me to Wind Band rehearsals, being introduced to tennis whilst round at Caroline’s house was, perhaps, inevitable.

The �鶹Լ�� might have been broadcasting events on TV, but it was Caroline who explained the rules in a clear and concise manner, worthy of the lawyer she told me she wanted to be in later life. I watched her kneel in front of the TV, all pony-tailed excitement. We watched some of a match together.

We were in a weird kind of trance watching that match. Until then, I'd always wanted the wait before Wind Band to race by. Being in somebody else’s home after school felt like an intrusion or an imposition. It wasn’t my home. I wanted the time to pass so that the painful squeaking, misplaced rhythms, and agonising teenage ambition would be over and my weekend proper could get underway. But, watching the tennis, I and Caroline sat in silence transfixed by the rallies; I actually wanted stretch out for as long as it possibly could.

Such is tennis's enduring appeal for me even now. Tennis promises summer will go on forever. Afternoons - normally a juggling act between available time, tasks which must be completed, and jobs which are far far easier to put off - can extend far longer than scheduled or even dreamt of.

My preference is radio commentary. And my preferred device is my iPhone. "I find it difficult to visualise every shot," says Simon, my partner, when he comes into the kitchen to find me slowly chopping onions, "I can't keep up with the commentary. Why don’t you watch it on TV? It’s a 52” screen for goodness sake. You can watch it in HD.” I tell him to keep the noise down.

Wimbledon '89 previewed in the Radio Times (image from genome.ch.bbc.co.uk)

Simon overlooks two key things about radio commentary. First, the concentration required to follow the episodic progression of the match helps focus the mind when it needs to be employed in dull tasks. In that way the beauty of tennis, and in particular Wimbledon, distracts from the depressing inevitability and irretrievable dullness of everyday life.

Listening to tennis on the radio actually gets the jobs done which had previously been relegated* to the bottom of my to-do list. During Wimbledon fortnight, I’ve planned my summer of Proms concerts, ironed bed linen, watered the plants, and completed some long-overdue website updates. More breaking news: tennis gets results.

More importantly is the sense of place radio offers. With TV I'm watching other people at Wimbledon, wishing I was there myself. With radio commentary I imagine the commentators squeezed into their tiny commentary box, watching over proceedings, surrounded by all sorts of necessary paraphernalia. Radio commentary is as much about them in their box as it is about the players on the court. Radio put me in the box with them too.

I notice on day four, for example, when I’m doing some writing in my office at home, how I’ve arranged things on my desk. Everything is crammed on the small surface I sit at. There’s just enough elbow room for my hands to rest of the narrow keyboard. Every space around the laptop has been filled with things I don’t actually need. No matter. It’s as though I'm in my own commentary box. Radio's inherent intimacy prompts a similar approach to my immediate working area. I wouldn’t do that if I was watching on TV.

My own special commentary box in SE6.

From my desk, I can do the work I need to do whilst maintaining a close eye on my neighbour methodically watering her bedding plants. Give me a microphone and I’ll commentate my way through the entire scene. It will, inevitably, lack the drama you’d normally hear from SW1 but there will be peaks and troughs, and imaginary commentator pals will chime in from time to time.

Such is the spell that 5 Live’s tennis commentary cast over me, that I find I’m inseparable from my iPhone during People’s Sunday. iPlayer Radio is on all the time. I’m listening to it in the bath, in the kitchen, out in the garden, whilst using the toilet.

And it’s still blaring out from my pocket - the gripping Isner/Tsonga match in all its nail-biting tie-break joy - when I reluctantly answer the front door to another neighbour, Viv, at 4.30pm. “Didn’t want to interrupt,” she says looking slowly down towards my feet, “Just wanted to invite you and Simon to our party next Saturday.” I make the appropriate noises, smile appreciatively, and close the door. Then I look down to the floor and realise I’m still in my pyjamas.

This same week, I’ve visited Wimbledon for the first time. A friend offered me an unwanted ticket and I booked a day’s leave. I sat in Centre Court and watched proceedings play out in front of me, marvelling at the beautifully choreographed ballet of ball boys and military personnel, gripped by the energy and attitude of players on the court. Six hours later, I turn to Hannah and say, “I think I need to go now.” And what I’m thinking to myself is, “I think I’d really want to listen to this stuff on the radio.”

Wimbledon Centre Court, earlier this week.

It’s there I realise something rather obvious. Broadcasting has made tennis, and in this country Wimbledon, a popular sport in a way that, arguably, football didn’t need so much. Until broadcasting rocked up at SW1, tennis was loved by those who played it and those who paid for membership of a club. Wimbledon existed long before the �鶹Լ�� did, but the reason I derive so much pleasure from tennis now is because the �鶹Լ��, and its broadcasting of it, brought tennis to me. In my world that makes tennis a broadcasting story as well as sporting one.

Sport isn’t quite so alien an experience as I first thought at the beginning of the Euros. It’s given me something else to think about. It’s helping me appreciate how sport is the ultimate kind of storytelling - the most compelling, and most gripping, unauthored, and unscripted, kind of tale. It promises a collective audience experience that classical music hints at, and it is something which connects me up with so many other people I never realised I needed to feel connected with.

I’m already planning the next post. It’s going to be about the cricket.

*I’m particularly impressed I’ve used this word.

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �鶹Լ�� Blog

Read an exclusive interview with Wimbledon reporter and commentator Annabel Croft.
Wimbledon coverage continues on �鶹Լ�� One and �鶹Լ�� Two, �鶹Լ�� Radio 5 live, with live HD video streams available on the Red Button, online, mobile, desktop and on connected TVs.
Follow @�鶹Լ��Sport and @�鶹Լ��Tennis on Twitter

Annabel Croft at Wimbledon 2016

2016-07-07T08:05:20+00:00

Annabel Croft in the commentary box on Wimbledon Centre Court at the 2005 Championships

Annabel Croft is part of the �鶹Լ��'s team of commentators and reporters providing coverage for this year's Wimbledon fortnight. We spoke to the former tennis player about her career, the sport she loves, and what she brings to her commentary.

What are you doing at Wimbledon?

I’m mixing quite a lot of roles actually. I’ve taken part in studio discussion with Sue Barker. I’ve done some court interviews which I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve mixed it all with some commentaries and some reporting for the highlights programme as well. It’s a multi-roleIt’s a bit of everything.

Is Wimbledon the high-point of the tennis calendar for you?

It is. It really is. I cover tennis from January to November anyway - my whole is life is doing what I do.But I think of all the tournaments we cover. On the whole most players will say that Wimbledon is the greatest tournament in the world.

What is it that makes them say that?

I think it’s the history here. A lot of them will have grown up watching tennis from an early age and will remember watching Wimbledon for the first time. At Wimbledon it’s so beautifully organised; the planting is pristine; nothing is out of place. There’s something about the way the tournament is run which gives it this aura. It’s really special.

It’s the grass too. For some players, that takes many years to get to grips with. The fact that it’s so unusual also makes it really special. When you arrive here, the atmosphere is so special - – itreally buzzes. I think too that when you see the game in real life you get a real sense of the physicality of the game.

What was the transition from tennis to broadcasting like for you?

When I stopped playing it was twenty-odd years ago. In those days tennis wasn’t really covered on television that much apart from the Wimbledon fortnight. Broadcasting in tennis wasn’t an option for me. I definitely felt like I wanted to do something in television generally – I’d really enjoyed being interviewed and being around television cameras. But back then wasn’t really a career option. I had some opportunities to do Treasure Hunt on Channel 4 and, before that, Network 7 which meant surviving on a desert island in Sri Lanka – a raw early version of what we know now as I’m a Celebrity.

I think because I’d been a tennis player – I hadn’t really had a normal childhood because my life had been all tennis since I was quite young so then doing broadcasting opportunities was really fun. I didn’t have to think about backhands and forehands and all that sort of thing. Life was a lot less stressful! I just went after every opportunity that came my way.

Away from tennis I found that doing these other broadcasting jobs gave me an opportunity to mature as an individual away from tennis. That in itself helped me gain some perspective and a deeper understanding of what it was I wanted to talk about when I was commentating or reporting on tennis. I definitely see that when I see young players on the tour, some of whom haven’t known anything other than tennis. Some of them might get injuries and are forced to take time away from the game. That’s when they might study something and gain a different perspective, even for a short while. They come back to the game and end up playing better tennis because in the intervening period they’ve got a sense of what it is they’re trying to achieve in their match play.

I went off and did pantomimes at Christmas, did a murder-mystery musical play across the country, and I did a magic show and interceptor. All sorts of different fun events. That’s what I say to young people: walk through every door that’s open and see what you find.

Tell me about the mechanics of broadcasting. Commentating on a tennis match is like telling the most fantastic story, isn’t it?

It is. I agree. It’s one of the best sports to take an audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride. I think that’s why it’s such a great spectator sport. The scoring system in tennis creates many pressure moments. Not only do the players’ emotions get exposed during that rollercoaster, the audience experience it too. It’s basically modern-day gladiators. The audience is picking their gladiator and then going with them on that emotional journey.

When I watch a tennis match I always find myself backing whoever the person is who is battling: I don’t want to automatically back the person who I assume will win. Is that a common experience for the viewer do you think?

I think that’s a very British narrative. We love our underdogs. We love our fighters. We love the personalities. The other thing about tennis is that the personality of the player comes out when they move around the court. That’s something special about tennis. The body language gives away quite a lot. You can start to get behind somebody purely based on how they’re behaving on the court and how they’re winning you over. Tennis matches have momentum and they have momentum shifts. That’s another excitement element of tennis: it pulls you in and draws you closer.

As a commentator what do you need to do in order to convey that?

What I personally try to bring is my knowledge of what players might be feeling at a particular moment. So I like to bring my experience as a player into the commentary in that way. I like to describe any small body language changes, or any signs of stress.

Sometimes, because they’re under stress – and it might be very very subtle – they can alter the swing and start to pull back from and put extra spin on the ball. That’s when they could playing more ‘safe’ instead of going for it. And that will all be psychological but I try to explain that to the audience.

Or it can go the other way: a player can hit the ball harder and harder and harder as a way of controlling their nerves. It depends on the personality, but as a commentator you try and capture those small moments and feed that into the commentary.

Sometimes you just need to let the pictures breathe and pick the moments when it’s best. On the flip side You want to get a flow to your commentary, and you want to get a flow with commentating partner too. Oh and don’t speak over the umpire!

Wimbledon coverage continues on �鶹Լ�� One and �鶹Լ�� Two, �鶹Լ�� Radio 5 live, with live HD video streams available on the Red Button, online, mobile, desktop and on connected TVs.
Follow @�鶹Լ��Sport and @�鶹Լ��Tennis on Twitter

Summer 2015 on �鶹Լ�� Red Button

2015-06-18T12:52:00+00:00

I'm pleased to let you know that we’ll again be broadcasting a number of extra Red Button streams to provide additional coverage of Glastonbury and Wimbledon. Depending on the platform, we will broadcast up to six standard definition and one high definition streams. And even more coverage will be available on your TV screen if you can access our recently revamped internet-powered Red Button+ service. Plus, as always, all the coverage offered in Red Button+ will also be available on bbc.co.uk on PCs, mobiles and tablets.

The purpose of this blog is to let you know what we’re doing on each platform and to explain what you will need to do in order to access the extra coverage.

Glastonbury on the Red Button

During Glastonbury there will be up to three broadcast streams, depending on how you receive your TV. A table of what’s available on each platform and on which EPG numbers is shown below.

Unfortunately, there is no appropriate Freeview capacity available meaning we’re unable to offer more than the one existing Red Button stream to viewers with SD-only equipment. However, we’re pleased to be able to offer two extra Red Button streams to viewers with a Freeview HD TV or set-top box or a YouView set-top box. I should note that although a Freeview HD compatible receiver is required, these additional streams will be in SD.

If you’ve got access to the �鶹Լ��’s Red Button+ application on your connected TV then after 9pm each evening during the festival, there will be six extra streams with live access from a range of stages. Our Red Button+ app is supported by Virgin TiVo and YouView devices as well as a growing range of Smart TVs once they’ve been connected to the internet. You can find out if your TV set can get our new Red Button+ service here. You’ll also be able to access the live streams at bbc.co.uk/music via PCs, tablets and smartphones.

Wimbledon on the Red Button

No sooner than the campers at Glastonbury are packing up their tents on Monday morning, then the tennis at Wimbledon gets underway.

On the standard broadcast Red Button service on satellite and cable you’ll find five additional streams in SD and one in HD.

As is the case for the Glastonbury streams, we don’t have the capacity to offer additional streams to Freeview viewers with SD-only equipment. If you have a Freeview HD receiver or a YouView set-top box then you’ll be able to receive two additional SD streams through the standard broadcast Red Button service.

Channel numbers are in the table below. Due to a shortage of SD channel numbers on Sky, we are unable to EPG list three of the streams. So, on the Sky platform, the content of these streams will only be accessible via Red Button.

Even more tennis online and with Red Button+

In 2015, �鶹Լ�� Sport will deliver its biggest ever digital Wimbledon, enabling you to follow an unprecedented amount of action, whenever and wherever you want, with up to 15 live streams. Available online from bbc.co.uk/sport and through the �鶹Լ�� Sport apps for mobiles and tablets and on Red Button+ and the Sport App on connected TVs, you’ll be able to access the most on-demand and interactive content for any Wimbledon to date, including:

Up to 15 live HD video streams – up from 12 last year, giving you even more choice during the busy early rounds
All the action wherever you are, on the devices you use –from �鶹Լ�� Sport’s live coverage page, which will bring together the multi-court video player, text commentary and the best audience interaction in one place
Highlights and full-length replays of key matches – available on-demand to ensure audiences can catch up on the best of SW19

How to get the additional streams on your TV

If you have Freeview HD or YouView your receiver may well pick up the changes automatically but if not you will need to retune; Digital UK’s TV retune website gives advice on how to do this. (If you’re using a Freeview SD receiver, you should already be able to access our existing Red Button stream on channel 601 but if for some reason you don’t then again a retune should solve this for you.)
If you have Sky, you should not have to do anything. If you do have a problem receiving any of our channels, you can try turning your Sky set top box off at the mains, waiting 30 seconds and turning it back on again. If that doesn’t resolve your problem you can find more help at www.sky.com/helpcentre.
If you have Virgin Media the new streams should appear automatically. If you do have a problem receiving any of our channels, you can find more help at Virgin’s website. For Virgin TiVo users the broadcast Red Button streams will be listed in the 980s whilst pressing red when you’re watching on one of our TV channels will take you to the additional coverage on our �鶹Լ�� Red Button+ service.
If you have Freesat and you do not pick up the new channels automatically, you may need to put your digital box or TV into standby for 30 seconds and then switch it back on again. If the channels are still unavailable then carry out a Freesat channel retune. Full instructions can be found in the manual for your digital TV or box. Further help with retuning can be found at www.freesat.co.uk or by calling the Freesat customer support team on 08450 990 990. For those that need it, full DSAT transponder information can be found on our Reception Advice page.
Red Button+ is only available on certain platforms and smart TVs which also need to be internet-connected. You can find more details here.

Kieran Clifton is Director, �鶹Լ�� Distribution & Business Development

Round Up Week 26 2014

2014-07-04T11:54:30+00:00

Treasured Wimbers tickets in a firm grip.

I’ve had an eventy couple of weeks, well it’s that time of year isn’t it – you can’t move for things happening. There was the Glastonbury Festival last weekend that got many pulses racing (including Media Centre Editor Ben’s), we’re in the thick of the World Cup (I got Nigeria in the office sweepstake so green’s my colour this summer), the Proms are on the horizon (my Ed Jon will be looking forward to that), plus the annual �鶹Լ�� TV Drama Writers Festival organised by the lovely folk at �鶹Լ�� Writersroom was on Wednesday (more on that to follow in a blog next week). We are also coming to the end of one of my favourite fortnights of the year – Wimbledon.

My blogs seem to be taking on a rather self-flagellating, confessional air (I’ve previously admitted to being a geek and a bore), now I have to confess a further foible: I am rubbish at sport. Not a little bit – a lot. While my peers played hockey I was so useless my devoted teachers tried me on a myriad of other sports: netball, rounders and golf (I kid you not). In the end I dabbled in synchronised swimming and scored for the boy’s cricket team during our Wednesday afternoon sports lessons.

But the sport I really wanted to be good at was tennis. Once again my coordination failed me but during those long sessions with Miss Black screaming at me to, “keep your eye on the ball Khalil”, I developed an unlikely love of the sport, which has never gone away. And I may not be good at playing by golly I’m good at watching tennis – I could do it for a living.

So imagine my delight when for the first time ever (and I’ve applied for several years) I got a pair of tickets through Wimbledon’s open ballot, to watch the tennis, live, on Centre Court. For those of you not in the know you have to apply, in writing, (brilliantly old-fashioned no?) to the club and then apply for tickets through a lottery – if you are lucky enough to be awarded them and you can afford the tickets (a mere £60) and can make the date, you are in. I was thrilled, but then when the line-up was announced last week for my session I was bouncing off the walls with excitement to learn I’d be seeing Nadal and Federer as well as British star Heather Watson.

I had the most incredible day – ok, so I was sat pretty far back, but I think it’s safe to say that there are no bad seats in Centre Court and thanks to the roof, when Federer pointed out there was a bit of drizzle (which turned into a torrential downpour) I certainly got my money’s worth – a full day’s tennis.

A view of Rafael Nadal on Centre court, Wimbledon 2014

It was a brilliant experience – don’t get me wrong, but as the first Nadal match started I realised we were sat just a few rows behind a couple of the �鶹Լ�� television cameras – the ones taking the overview shot of the court. And something strange happened – these cameras acted as a reminder of how I’d be watching the matches if I were at home… I sort of missed McEnroe, Henman and Virginia Wade’s insightful analysis (the couple next to me were more interested in chatting about what they needed to pack for their holiday to Tenerife). And I missed the stats (how many aces had Federer played this set? What was Nadal’s serve/ volley percentage winners?), the replays, the close ups.

Now I’m not saying I’d rather have watched it at home – especially Heather Watson’s game, which – despite the fact she lost – we, the crowd, really felt like we were helping with lots of vocal encouragement; but it really made me appreciate watching the tennis from my sitting room. That doesn’t mean next year if I get tickets I’ll be passing them on – just that if I don’t, I won’t moan too much – I’ll just settle back, turn on �鶹Լ�� Two and enjoy the tennis from my sofa, safe in the knowledge I won’t miss anything vital if I have to nip to the loo.

Hannah Khalil is Digital Producer, About the �鶹Լ�� website and blog

The 3D Wimbledon experiment - your reactions

2011-08-30T09:00:00+00:00

Earlier in the Summer, I led a team which delivered our first live 3D broadcasts to homes around the UK. We wanted to get this year's Wimbledon finals out to everyone who has so far bought a 3D set (and the glasses that go with it) and so we used the �鶹Լ�� HD channel to show the matches - free of charge - on Freesat, Freeview, Sky and Virgin. As well as testing to see if what seemed possible in the lab could be delivered in practice, and trying to ensure that we could offer really high quality 3D in production terms, we also wanted to understand what people really think about seeing television content that they are familiar with in 2D in 3D. By doing so we hoped that we could make better-educated guesses about where 3D and television might go in future, and plan what the �鶹Լ��'s response to developments should be.

It seems obvious that in the end it is you - television viewers - who will decide whether 3D TV sinks or swims. There's a long history of technology innovations that haven't made it, because the public just hasn't wanted them. 3D may or may not be one of them. But there's been little if any research so far to understand how people relate to 3D pictures, so we wanted to start to fill that gap in understanding.

We focussed work on the Men's Final, and having invited people in to watch our 3D coverage at a number of cinemas around the UK, we asked them for their thoughts. We also provided people who came to our London screening with the opportunity to watch on the most up-to-date 3D televisions which you can find for sale at electronics shops now. And of course we looked for ways to find out what people who were watching in the comfort of their own homes thought.

People found the 3D very different from watching in 2D - and it provoked a mixed response: a lot of them loved it, and some loathed it. On Twitter, people said "it's like you are there as a line judge", "much better lower angle dynamic shots", "looks awesome... probably as close to courtside view as I can get", but there were also reports that "my head went fuzzy", and a certain frustration that because the cameras offered a courtside seat, it wasn't always possible to track the ball right across the court and see exactly where it landed. 60% of people said that their expectations were either met or exceeded, and a third of those who had never seen 3D before gave the experience 10 out of 10.

Most people we surveyed wanted to watch Wimbledon in 3D because they love Wimbledon, and they hoped that seeing it in 3D would make them feel more a part of the action. Of those who attended the screenings we held, 76% said that the 3D view did make them feel as if they were more involved in the match and many of the cinema screenings had people applauding, hushing others, and gasping at individual points as if they were really sitting in SW19.

Quite a few people told us that they had been sceptical about 3D television, and thought it was a bit of a gimmick, but that our coverage of Wimbledon had persuaded them otherwise - but another important message to emerge was that even for those who enjoyed the 3D, it's "good old-fashioned HD" (as one viewer put it) that really matters and adds to the television experience. We will be doing more - not least the final of this year's Strictly Come Dancing in December. And we'll be using these further experiments to try to understand more about the potential extra value that 3D can add for you as viewers. We want to understand the part 3D should play in the future of what we offer to licence payers, and my conclusion from our analysis of Wimbledon is that at the moment the jury is still out.

If you are interested in understanding more about how we filmed Wimbledon in 3D, the film tells the story of the production and the partnership behind it.

Danielle Nagler is head of HD and 3D at the �鶹Լ��

You'll find a number of interesting blog posts about 3D TV on the �鶹Լ�� Internet blog - mostly of a more technical nature.
Danielle is also a regular contributor to the �鶹Լ�� Internet blog. Read all of her posts here.

3D for Wimbledon - the future of TV?

2011-06-08T07:24:34+00:00

The first time I visited Wimbledon I expected it to look and feel exactly like it does on television. After years of sitting in front of the screen watching the balls, and spectators' heads, swinging backwards and forwards I thought I knew what sitting on Centre Court would be like. I realised that I didn't, and that while TV can do a great job it can't capture the magic of actually being there.

Like most of us I've never been lucky enough to sit and watch a finals match on Centre Court. But this year - the Wimbledon Championships' 125th anniversary - I've been working with others inside and outside the �鶹Լ�� to try to bring you the next best thing - the Wimbledon Singles' Finals, in 3D.

Wimbledon always feels timeless - but actually it has been home to successive TV sport innovations from an early appearance in colour, through to Hawk Eye technology.

We know that tennis can look thrilling in 3D - it can really bring the power players put into shots to life. I've been lucky to see some of the incredible test shoots we've been running, as the team are busy working behind the scenes to get everything in place for the broadcast, but I can't wait to see what a real match played by two of the world's finest will look like.

The broadcasts will be available to everyone with access to an HD service and a 3D TV set, via �鶹Լ�� HD, whether you get your TV from Freesat, Freeview, Sky or Virgin Media. And if you don't have a 3D TV, there are some opportunities to watch the broadcast in the cinema.

The �鶹Լ��'s been experimenting with 3D for decades - but as we all know the latest developments in 3D technology have made it much, much more sophisticated as a viewing experience, and we've been working with the All-England Club and Sony Professional for this �鶹Լ�� first. It will also be the first time that 3D broadcasting has been tried out across all the different TV providers so that it's accessible without subscription.

For all of us who don't have a 3D set at home, or a Centre Court ticket, the finals will of course be shown on �鶹Լ�� One and in HD on �鶹Լ�� One HD, as well as all the �鶹Լ��'s regular Wimbledon coverage - on TV, radio, and online.

I don't know yet whether 3D will be the future of television, or the future of Wimbledon: that's why we're doing this experimental trial. But I am really excited to experience the finals this year in 3D. And if you are able to watch in 3D I'd love to know what you think.

Danielle Nagler is the Head of �鶹Լ�� HD and 3D

Danielle made a speech about the �鶹Լ��'s plans for 3D at the 3D World Forum in May.
�鶹Լ�� Sport covered the news that Wimbledon will be the first 3D programming on the �鶹Լ��.

Backstage at Wimbledon

2010-07-02T16:04:43+00:00

The weather's been kind to us this year and it's another scorching hot day as we near the conclusion of what has been one of the outstanding Championships in recent memory.
We've already broadcast some memorable moments, the stand out being the new world record for a tennis match with Isner and Mahut's 11 hour five minute marathon in the first round. This breath-taking display of skill and human endurance also saw another record set with our very own Ron McIntosh setting a record for the longest sporting commentary, his first ever live tennis match. We also had a visit from the Queen, the first time for 33 years. The last time she was here our very own Virginia Wade won the women's singles title; what odds for Andy Murray to repeat the feat?

The sheer breadth of the coverage we offer has increased significantly in recent years, which in turn means the demand on our team's resources has also increased. Not only do we broadcast around 250 hours on �鶹Լ�� One, �鶹Լ�� Two and �鶹Լ�� HD during the fortnight, but we also air over 500 hours on �鶹Լ�� Red Button where viewers are able to choose from up to five live matches. This service is simulcast on the �鶹Լ�� Sport website, with a selection of matches and highlights also available on �鶹Լ�� iPlayer. Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra are also on site to offer unrivaled radio coverage to listeners during the fortnight.

In order to deliver all of this, to the level of quality that our audiences expect, on time and on budget is quite an undertaking. As host as well as domestic broadcaster for the Championships, we are responsible for providing the pictures to over 150 countries around the world, this means our operation has to be even more extensive than for a usual broadcast. The set up: laying the cables; installing IT infrastructure; activating and testing all of the camera positions around the nine televised courts (18 alone on Centre Court); wiring in the studio and all of the interview points around the site; designing and testing the graphics; and putting the commentary team together; begins weeks before the first ball is hit.

Each member of the team on site is a significant cog in the overall machinery, without which the broadcast just wouldn't work; from our editors and producers through to our sound technicians and camera teams, everyone has to work without let up for the whole fortnight to ensure our biggest annual sporting event is a complete success.

As the championships progress British hopes continue to rest with Andy Murray. Will this be the year that our wait for a male Grand Slam champion at Wimbledon ends? Whatever happens we'll be here every step of the way.

Paul Davies is Sports Editor at the �鶹Լ��

Major Events

2010-01-29T14:27:01+00:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/beijing.jpg
There were, generally speaking, two schools of thought about the �鶹Լ��'s Beijing Olympic coverage.

The first is that it was one of the highlights of 2008 and some of the best sports coverage in recent memory. This was the clear finding of our audience research, and also of a lot of the emails, blog responses and letters we received - for which, many thanks.

The second view is that may have been the case but we were extravagant in the number of staff we sent and the amount of money we spent, and this fits into accusations of the �鶹Լ�� not being careful enough in the spending of the licence fee.

Well, now we have a judgement.

The �鶹Լ�� Trust invited the government's National Audit Office to review the coverage of six major events: Beijing, Euro 2008 and Wimbledon from �鶹Լ�� Sport - and The Proms, Glastonbury and Radio 1's Big Weekend from our colleagues in Audio and Music.

Please note: this is an extract. Read the rest of Roger Mosey's blog post and leave comments on his blog.