Yes! I thought it was soem kind of aircraft to begin with!

...has anyone noticed tonight the little black object fluttering on the main BBC TV shot of the Stadium...just before the results/placings scroll on screen?

It must be a fly resting on a spider's web, with the best seat in the house ;o]

fourm member

Channel 4 has three channels it could use, (Ch4, E4, More 4) or even more if it splits out the +1 channels and drops the films from Film 4 for a fortnight.

As long as they don't make the mistake it did of the last Athletics event it covered and use a load of pretty faced, vacuous E4 talking heads...

Could any of the other TV broadcasters put as many channels of games on for the public, or is this one of the unique gems in the BBC's crown?

"the BBC charter says that it must cater for minority interests."

It is morddwyd old boy, if you want to watch only the shot put, or only the javelin, or only the long jump, or only the ping pong, or only the apple dunking, the BBC has a dedicated channel for that minority;)

I selected Other; as in I won't be watching the Olympics, as I don't give a rats which athlete wins loses or has a hissy fit.

Condom did she say.. "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device" ...

alan14

I understand perfectly and can see your point of view. Unfortunately you don't seem to be able to understand that just because you hold that opinion, it doesn't make it right. More people are being inconvenienced than would be the case if this were on a less popular channel - those that wanted to watch would still be able to whilst those that didn't could still enjoy their normal routine.

I'm sorry you've given up - I was enjoying winding you up!!

alan14 "I maintain that the audience interested in the Olympics is bigger than the audience for say Bargain Hunt, so who is being selfish?"

I'm sure you are correct in your very narrow assessment but I am sure that there are more people who would prefer to have their regular programmes shown than those WANTING to watch sport. Even those watching the Olympics won't want to watch every event.

The point is that having 1 event take over a main channel is severely restricting choice for EVERYBODY, particularly the majority who are not into sport. (BBC survey on the effect of the torch relay showed less than a third of those interviewed had any enthusiasm for the Olympics).

TV and "TV catchup" on ipad

Unless we (they) want these things to be truly amateur again (which they don't, there's too much money for CocaCola at stake), then the uninterested must simply find a good book or th eother channels for a few weeks.

I'm in a one man household, and haev only one TV. But in others, maybe the interested could go to their bedrooms, or arrangements could be made so that important routines are not adjusted.

Dr Robert Lustig is of the belief that children are in fact not less active nowadays, and certainly not enough to be as obese as some are**

It's food, and the amount and type of it.

**It isn't just kids of course. Also, Lustig would probably object to my addition of "...and certainly not enough to be as obese as some are".

alan14

"a prestige event should be broadcast on the main channel" Why? Are the sports fans not capable of changing channels?

"you only got one TV in your house? Does it only pick up BBC1?" So do people who want to watch Olympics send their disinterested family members to their rooms for the next 3 weeks?

"Why is that? BBC 1 & BBC 2 are on 24/7, so is BBC HD." Simply because these are the most watched channels and therefore showing sports deprives the majority of their 'normal' viewing. My mother, like many others, suffers from dementia and any change of routine is a bad thing for dementia sufferers - it frustrates and confuses them.

The arguments put forward if favour of blanket coverage on the main channels is basically "We want it so anybody who doesn't will have to put up with it and miss the programmes which they really enjoy". A somewhat selfish attitude, don't you think?

alan14

1. "Repeat until it sinks in "we will not dig ourselves out of the recession without spending money""

Of course, but spend it on something sustainable - not a one-off 3 week event.

1. "On top of this, the BBC would have made assurances to the IOC that it would give prominent coverage to the Games, otherwise it wouldn't have won the bid to cover them."

So the IOC (and BBC?) are not confident that most people want to watch it either!!

1. "You can be pretty certain that the Olympics will be the most watched program on TV for the next couple of weeks,"

of course it will - it will be almost impossible to avoid it and a fair proportion of those watching will be the reluctant partners, sons, daughters etc.

1. "BBC Three & BBC Four don't start broadcasting until 7pm, as they're on the same multiplex as the kids channels (Childrens BBC & C Beebies) which turn off at 7pm. This means these two channels are no good for Olympics coverage."

This simply means that the BBC has NO channels which are suitable for Olympic coverage.

Sport at school was never made enjoyable for me - I was never any good and was forced to participate. I then became the butt of jokes (staff and pupils) for mucking it up). Had I been allowed to take part non-competitively (i.e. just for fun) then I might have learned to enjoy it.

Surely the whole point of sport is that it's for doing and not for watching. The doers benefit from it - the watchers get fat not fit.

Woolwell - a debate is allowing both/all sides to put their point of view - I don't get upset when others think the games are the best thing since sliced bread! "We already know who the competitors are and those outside EU will require visas. Their passports, etc will be checked on entry." The UK has one of the most sophisticated system recording its people from birth to death. Some of our families can be traced back to the Doomsday Book. BUT we are not allowed certain firearms - to practice Olympic sports. Some keen shooters have made arrangements to go abroad now and then for practice - but few can afford the time/money to do that on a regular basis.

Some other countries have,compared,very poor records and we have seen that our borders/controls are very poor/porous.We have even seen recently that a person was put on the "No Entry" list and he just walked in. The records may have been checked but if there are no or poor records there is little point. I have nothing against the other people who are allowed to partake - we should have had the same privilege?

mole1944

Unlike the Millenium Dome, the Olympics have sold out most events. The only event that seems to have struggled selling is the football.

BBC Three & BBC Four don't start broadcasting until 7pm, as they're on the same multiplex as the kids channels (Childrens BBC & C Beebies) which turn off at 7pm. This means these two channels are no good for Olympics coverage.

You can be pretty certain that the Olympics will be the most watched program on TV for the next couple of weeks, so why should it be pushed down to a less popular channel.

On top of this, the BBC would have made assurances to the IOC that it would give prominent coverage to the Games, otherwise it wouldn't have won the bid to cover them.

As someone who grew up during rationing I can't honestly agree with your view that it should be brought back again. There wasn't just a shortage of many foodstuffs but often the right foodstuffs. I do however agree that many of today's youngsters are couch potatoes and I dread to think what their future longevity may be like. It could be argued that us war babies, who are now causing the Government such problems with our own longevity, might be a shorter lived phenomenon that many predict. Many of my father's generation died before reaching pension age and the next generation to come along are certainly living longer than expected.

I do agree that given a few minutes we were outside in all weathers kicking a ball around or chasing girls or anything that involved running. The few of us who could get our hands on a second hand bike were tearing round the streets on them which you couldn't do now.

MT has much to answer for by beginning the sale of school sports grounds and giving children the perception that being active and sporty was secondary to learning how to cheat people out of their money by becoming bankers ;-)

Mind you we didn't have PC's to keep us glued to our seats for long periods or even 24 hour TV.

marvin42

We are in the worst recession since records began (BBC Radio 2 this morning) and yet are spending billions on this event

Repeat until it sinks in

"we will not dig ourselves out of the recession without spending money"

There's an awful lot of telling folk what to do going on. There's also a lot of "with us or against us" logic.

The fat kids will see the Coke and McD's ads and continue to be fat. Excercise would do them little good in any case unless they eat less too.

My original reply shoudl have contained something to the effect of "if i watch it at all". I'm a cynic, I confess, but I will probably tune in to soem of it, though i dont know what yet.

And you can't watch anything with an off button ;)

Maybe an Off Button option should have been in the poll.

It's just occurred to me that I'll use a smartphone more than I thought as I'll be at the Headingley test for a couple of days. I wonder what sort of proportion there will be doing the same?

Quickbeam

"If this poll in indicative of the whole country, we might as well cancel the games now...!"

I assume you meant this thread,in which case I'm fairly sure that the negative opinions expressed are not indicative of the feelings of everyone in the country.

Those who don't like sport and/or the idea of the Olympic games are perfectly entitled to say so, but frankly I find it hard to believe that many of those same people won't end up watching along with the rest of us - even though they would die rather than admit it.

Yip, just the half a dozen positives as I expected.

If this poll in indicative of the whole country, we might as well cancel the games now...!

My only complaint is that it all should have taken place up north. Somewhere just north of Birmingham would have been ideal. Then it might have been more accessible and would have stopped all the southerners moaning about it.

By the way I don't think the Daily Mail has been any worse, or any better than any other newspaper.

woody

Which of the sports is illegal in this country?

You can do any of the shooting sports in a registered gun club under supervision. Which is precisely how they'll be carried out in the Olympics.

This forum gets more & more like the Daily Mail every day, and I'm getting increasingly annoyed by the intense negativity I read here

Mobileman - Does that indicate you are doubly sure you wont be watching ! :-)

none wont be watching olympics

Mole - I agree - How can anyone justify a games which has some of the sports illegal in the host country!! We allow foreigners (wait for the bigot/race comments) to use their guns/firearms when often we are not able to check properly who they are !

With ref the survey - I would enter but there is no space for - will not watch it. Out of interest me and the other half - asked each other - if we were offered a lift to/from the games in a limo - 90 mins at the games - how much would we have to be paid to go?I THINK I would possibly go for £10K ,certainly not for less - other half would not go for £20K.

It'll be TV. streaming video is blocked on our network, so I won't be watching anything on my PC at work.

quickbeam. That's it then, we are the half dozen.

The full stop? Happened when I couldn't get on the forum site a week or so ago, during the troubles. I think I re-registered and it asked for a different name. Something like that.

TV and laptop

The little I will be watching will be on PC as I am working during the day when the events are on.