91Èȱ¬

Enjoyed the previous series of Olympic Dreams so looking forward to this one.

I still think a Magazine type programme on different Olympic sports would be good - what is the audience evidence that it doesn't work Roger?

Olympic History, now that I can see myself sitting, watching and being gripped.
I know the 91Èȱ¬ will portray the run up to the Olympic games very well.

Roger, if your team wish to see a unique interaction between athletes and the public, please visit Bristol on the 20th May...it will be a fun angle...

If shows "bringing together action from different sports", why on earth do broadcasts pay a fortune for the rights to the Olympics?

I agree the big sports are better catered for in their own slots, but there is still an issue with smaller sports - and the 91Èȱ¬ isn't supposed to be all about ratings after all.

The question is then if they're not suitable, how should such sports be covered as clearly live red button streaming isn't a possibility for everything. As I said in the last blog, it would be nice to see some of those half-hour slots on Saturdays dedicated to a minority sports event rather than a repeat of Question of Sport. Talking of other multi-sport shows - well World of Sport was gone a couple of decades before Grandstand. Worth noting Nine in Australia resurrected their Wide World of Sports a couple of years ago though.


I think also there is the question about what the public is more interested in - the personalities or the sport itself. Olympic Dreams clearly caters towards the personalities, and does that side of things well, and it's evident in how sport is reported too. Tom Daley being embarrassed by his dad probably got more coverage than him actually winning the title.

Hi Roger,

Are there plans for further episodes of Olympic Dreams beyond these two? I hope that there will be more dedicated Olympic coverage of this calibre not just in the run up to the games, but from now on so that the Country has a chance to get behind all the athletes and not just the ones who will feature highly in the media come 2012.

Great blog title Roger!

I'm dissapointed that there will be no 'Road to London' style show 3 or 4 weeks in summer in the lead up would have been great. The style of shows I was thinking of were interviews and profiles rather than action from sports.

I am looking forward to this olympics history series though.

Also I know its not your responsibility but does this mean Inside Sport has now ended the magazine format and now as the last series just a documentary strand? I did think that it could have done more to build up to the olympics in 2004. A 'Road to Beijing' feature could have been shown each week rather than a whole series?

Tonight's Olympic Dreams was inspiring - a truly wonderful piece of work by the 91Èȱ¬.

It captured the hardship and uncertainty that our young athletes face in pursuit of the Olympic Dream. It did so while showing our hopefuls in their natural environment - not staged or uncomfortable with the camera - and at their most vulnerable, just before they deliver the performances of their lifetime so far. This was a rare opportunity to see these heroes stripped down and as human as we are.

To watch someone like Shauna juggle her nursing efforts along with literally running through the pain barrier is testament to the courage and determination of these young individuals. But I also believe it is reflective of many parts of British society today - people working through adversity, striving to achieve their dreams - mostly without celebration.

For me, that is why London 2012 is well worth it. Its impact reaches far beyond showcasing athletic endeavour; it has the power to inspire our society - if the right approaches are taken. It provides a platform to demonstrate what we can all achieve, no matter who we are and what circumstances we face.

Perhaps we can all go higher, faster, stronger - even if we're not elite athletes.

The programme last night was a valuable and inspiring insight into the road to success for any athlete, coach or parent. Proper reality TV.

But WHY oh why is it on so late? Please repeat at a more mainstream slot....

My daughter is an aspiring swimmer and gave diving a try but doing both was just too much of a commitment. She was in bed, yes I know it will be on iPlayer but that is not the point. I will make sure she watches it but will others?

Giving this series a prime time slot (even on 91Èȱ¬2) it would attract more viewers, promote 2012 and educate many young athletes. There is a positive tale to tell that outweighs the lightweight TV and the time spent highlighting society's failures.

Roger - I like the approach of focussing on individuals and their Olympic dreams. It will hopefully provide a hook for viewers to develop an interest in sports which they are not familiar with. I do though sometimes wonder if in some strange way watching elite athletes all the time might put off some people from actually participating in sport. What I mean is that is there a risk that after watching elite athletes, some viewers might be left feeling daunted and that sport is something that others do and is not for them? Just a thought. If part of the aim of the Olympics is to encourage mass participation in sport, it cannot only be about the young pursuing their dreams. What can we do to encourage the overweight, middle-aged amongst us to take up sport again (or for the first time) to get the health and other benefits from participating in sport even at a modest level? And it is not just about the individual. I suspect that children (particularly girls) are much mopre likely to be involved in sports if their parents still actively participate.

Good programming relies almost entirely on integrity and communicating something real, not something fake.

That's entirely different from saying it's showing sport or talking emotions.

A few examples: I am now almost in need of a bowl by my side to be sick into when certain anchors ask the twentieth athlete of the programme the inane question: 'What does it feel like?' after some sports star has won the most important race of their life. At least it would be good fun if one of them actually said: 'Actually it feels so bad that I'm going out before the medal ceremony to top myself! What do you think it feels like, you moron?' The reason I say this is that this inane approach adds nothing, but nothing, to the watcher's experience. Other than, as I said, a strong compulsion to be sick.....

Now when a sports star expresses, in a highly charged but deeply empathic programme, some challenges they had to face as a child, as a player or as a parent, that is educational for some, emotional heart-warming or gut-wrenching for others but it links challenge to performance in an educational way. It adds to societal understanding of difficult things and builds cohesion as a result.

In general, the best programming ditches the formulaic and lets the anchors and reporters use their experience to play it their way.

The worst has, in effect, reduced the watching public to predictable, uniform, preprogrammed addicts to media cocaine. By which I mean dishing out the same stuff again and again, with the 'high' experienced getting less and less unless the shot gets stronger and stronger.

I hope that 2012 programmers adopt the former not the latter approach, myself.....

Not got round to watching this yet, but disapointing the 91Èȱ¬'s actual live coverage of the World Cup Diving won't be available on the biggest digital platform due to reasons we all know about.

Nice though to see football knocked down the pecking order for once in order to cover the Gymnastics - but if these events can't be shown live on all TV platforms it shows how coverage on 91Èȱ¬1/2, even if just a half-hour of highlights, is still a necessity.

another variation on the interaction theme -
six world class Kenyan athletes coming to Bedford for a week from 6 June, including Tergat, Ndereba, Wanjiru & Bungei to inspire a generation of kids to 'be the best they can be'