Vancouver lights the way for London
Another big milestone has been passed. The population's getting excited, and a key symbol of the Olympic movement is on its way to the site of the next Games.
Yep, things are moving in Canada. It's now fewer than 100 days to the start of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the journey of the Olympic torch has begun.
I should say I love Canada. How can you not be won over by a country with places called Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat?
I've had a number of holidays over there and I'm particularly fond of British Columbia, the province that will be hosting the games in Vancouver and up in the mountains at Whistler.
So I've been keeping an eye on the start of the torch relay both for personal interest and also to monitor how the event is being staged given that London 2012 gets ever closer.
The 106-day cross country relay will end in Vancouver on February 12
The Vancouver flame was lit in the traditional way at Olympia and then travelled around Greece before being handed over in Athens.
It flew to Canada encased in a miner's lantern on board a military plane, and
There was a total of 4 flames and 6 lanterns - presumably in case of any unfortunate incidents of extinguishment.
But it landed successfully in the , a place on the edge of the Pacific Ocean which feels like a British town thanks to , some well-tended gardens and the statue of Queen Victoria outside the Parliament buildings.
And then the torch began its journey round Canada in what will be the longest domestic relay in Olympic history, ahead of the Games themselves next February.
If you've got time, have a look at the on the . There's also .
What leaps out is the pride of a country about to stage the Olympic Games, and also the sheer pleasure of the people selected to carry the flame.
Alongside that is the potential to "play" with the torch: to take it to unusual locations, to devise novel forms of transport and to maintain interest despite what's something of an endurance test.
Ruth Sadler, a 72-year-old who still rides waves off Vancouver Island, hands the flame to surfer Raph Bruhwiler
I know the London organisers are watching the Vancouver experience and are about to start their planning in detail. We too will have a torch handed to us in a stadium in Greece - in the Spring of 2012.
It will be transferred to the UK, by means currently unknown, for its journey around our nations and regions before it lights the Olympic cauldron on July 27th.
I was talking to a colleague about the Canadian experience so far, and he said he thought ours would be significantly different: "we're more cynical and we prefer things understated in a British way."
I'm not sure about cynical, but I am sure about Britishness: it would be bizarre if the UK didn't make this torch journey its own. And that's the opportunity: to take a global symbol in a year the eyes of the world are upon us and to make it part of our national story - just as they're doing in Canada now.
I'm Roger Mosey, the 91Èȱ¬'s director of London 2012. That means I'm overseeing all the 91Èȱ¬'s 2012 preparations including not just sport but the Cultural Olympiad, our Olympic news and information services and everything that will bring the story of the London Games to audiences at home and abroad. I want to share here what we're planning - and debate some of the big issues. You can also follow me on .
Comment number 1.
At 13th Nov 2009, Keep F1 on the 91Èȱ¬ wrote:Dear Mr Mosey,
As the Olympic Broadcaster can you please state whether 91Èȱ¬ HD will bring viewers non-stop uninterrupted coverage of The Winter Olympics on 91Èȱ¬ HD just like it did for The Summer Olympics? And that coverage will be given prominence on 91Èȱ¬1 and 91Èȱ¬2 as well?
Many people in Team GB have trained very hard, it would be a great shame to see coverage shunted to 91Èȱ¬3 or The Red Button service which has already been cut on Freeview. And as 91Èȱ¬ so heavily promotes Freesat and will promote Freeview HD when it launches it would be a great shame to see 91Èȱ¬ HD not provide continuous coverage.
As Vancouver is 8 hours behind it will mean coverage will be from 4pm-4am which will cause problems for 91Èȱ¬1 and 2 and mean 91Èȱ¬ HD will provide nothing but coverage of The Olympics, but it should be worth it for the nation to see its athletes compete for Gold. And as this event takes place only every 4 years it is only a minor inconvenience for viewers of other programming.
As a new list of crown jewels comes out to protect free to air sport including The Winter Olympics it would be a disaster if the 91Èȱ¬ takes The Winter Olympics which is on this list and doesn't give it national prominence on 91Èȱ¬1,2 and 91Èȱ¬ HD that it deserves.
Not to mention many people have been converting to HD for events next year like The Winter Olympics and The World Cup, not giving unrivalled and equal HD coverage like the 91Èȱ¬ did in The Summer Olympics would undermine those who perceive that the 91Èȱ¬ treats all of its crown jewels equally.
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Comment number 2.
At 13th Nov 2009, Keep F1 on the 91Èȱ¬ wrote:On the subject of 91Èȱ¬ HD as well can you also assure viewers who do make the conversion to HD that more Sport will be shown on 91Èȱ¬ HD?
The head of Formula One has already said in an interview interest is high from broadcasters who want HD so it would be a shame if they don't work together to tip the scales so viewers can see Formula One in HD from next year.
As Welsh Rugby is rumoured to be put onto the Crown Jewels it seems odd that none of this years Autumn Internationals are on 91Èȱ¬ HD despite the 91Èȱ¬ having coverage of some 6 nations games in HD.
It is also questionable why the 91Èȱ¬ can't work with French and Italian broadcasters to bring 6 nations rugby matches in HD as well as bring 6 nations matches from Ireland in HD as well.
For all sports viewers it would be also great to see coverage of The Open Golf, French and Australian Tennis, The Grand National, BDO Darts and as many other sports that the 91Èȱ¬ has the rights to in HD.
Next year many will more will convert to HD to see The Winter Olympics and The World Cup, it would be everyone can see the sport they enjoy in HD.
In previous years a valid argument for HD coverage would have been cost and lack of resources as there was very few resources and they were expensive, but now there are now several major companies and more who will provide HD coverage making it hard not be able to secure coverage of events in HD.
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Comment number 3.
At 13th Nov 2009, Roger Mosey - 91Èȱ¬ Director, London 2012 wrote:Andrew - on the Winter Olympics point, I asked Dave Gordon (head of major events for 91Èȱ¬ Sport) to spell out what's planned. He says:
"All the big Skiing & Snowboarding events will be live on 91Èȱ¬ 2 and 91Èȱ¬ HD in the evenings, UK time, with more live coverage on both channels from late evening right through the night, featuring events such as the Figure Skating, Curling, Bobsleigh & Skeleton and Short-Track. The best of the overnight action will also be available on both channels for a couple of hours after lunch the next day. The red button and broadband streaming will, as usual, provide even more coverage. Overall, this will be our biggest ever Winter Olympic offering."
Hope this helps. On HD in general, the amount of 91Èȱ¬ production will continue to increase - and for London 2012 we expect to deliver considerably more HD content than ever before.
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Comment number 4.
At 14th Nov 2009, Brekkie wrote:Never mind HD, it's ridiculous coverage on Freeview will be limited to the hours on 91Èȱ¬2/91Èȱ¬1 and one interactive stream, which will also be indemand for other events during February I'm sure.
With a significant proportion of digital viewers losing out on the extra interactive options, there needs to be additional coverage on 91Èȱ¬1/2 to compensate. I would hope too that some of the overnight events get an extended replay in the afternoons too.
And on the subject of the crown jewels, it would be ridiculous for the Winter Olympics to disappear from free to air TV. Golden moments may be few and far between, but when they happen they certainly qualify as moments of national interest - and just like listing the summer Olympics guarantees at least some coverage of minor summer sports, the same is said for the Winter Olympics. Afterall, there is virtually no live coverage of any winter sport events other than during the Olympics.
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Comment number 5.
At 15th Nov 2009, Roger Mosey - 91Èȱ¬ Director, London 2012 wrote:Brekkie - thanks for the interesting points as ever. On Freeview: ultimately the solution is around IPTV, and my colleague Erik Huggers was setting out some of the possibilities there last week:
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