BBC
Sport tees-off with extensive and innovative tri-media coverage
of The Open
17
to 21 July on BBC ONE, BBC TWO, BBC Radio Five Live and BBCi
The
2002 summer of sport continues as the BBC heads to the fairways
for exclusive coverage of the world's most prestigious golf tournament:
The Open Championship.
With extensive and innovative tri-media and interactive coverage
across TV, radio and the web , the BBC takes viewers and listeners
to the heart of the Muirfield action.
In
the story of the tournament, Tiger Woods - the golfing phenomenon
- attempts to record golf's first "grand slam" following
his victory in the US Open.
Woods, who also landed The Masters in April, needs to win The Open
Championship and the US PGA Championship to claim the ultimate achievement
of all four Majors in a calendar year.
Capturing
all the action in over 42 hours of coverage across BBC ONE and BBC
TWO, Steve Rider hosts daily live coverage and is joined by the
voice of golf Peter Alliss, with Ken Brown, Alex Hay and Wayne Grady.
Also returning for her second year with the tv team is Laura Davies,
the world's most famous female golfer.
Sports
reporters Dougie Donnelly and Phil Jones are joined by fellow golf
enthusiasts, Matthew Pinsent and Jeremy Guscott while Gary Lineker
is back for BBC TWO's nightly highlights.
Viewers
watching live coverage on digital BBC ONE and digital BBC TWO can
access the channels' interactive coverage with up to five extra
features through BBCi.
These
features include the option to follow the two top groups of players
around the course; live action from holes one and eighteen as well
as continuous updated highlights capturing the best shots of the
tournament.
The
complex production uses some 50 cameras and 100 miles of fibre optic
cable to cover every angle and undulation.
Cameras
attached to two mobile cranes offer continually changing aerial
views of the fairways; six hand-held cameras provide unique access
to the course and one camera, attached to the biggest hoist in Europe,
surveys the whole of the course for a bird's eye view of every hole.
Not
to mention the newest technical addition for the 2002 production
team - the buggy - a mobile studio which can be taken onto the course,
taking viewers closer to the action.
The
buggy allows the presentation team onto the greens and fairways
to interview, commentate or present.
Fitted
with a monitor stack and communication feeds, the buggy can be set
up almost anywhere on location.
To
complement the pictures, and truly bring the course to life, computer
graphics dynamically and accurately animate the greens and fairways,
illustrating yardage and putt distances, and instantaneously superimpose
every burrow and undulation directly onto the grass.
BBC
Radio Five Live (Sony Event Award Winner 2000 for its coverage of
The Open) delivers the most up-to-date and authoritative radio coverage.
John
Inverdale heads up a team which includes Five Live favourites Tony
Adamson, Mark Pougatch, Andrew Cotter and John Murray providing
regular reports every 15 minutes throughout the morning, and comprehensive
live commentary in a dedicated programme each afternoon.
The
morning's activity will be hosted on Five Live's sister station,
Five Live Sports Extra, and the team will also be providing the
on course commentary for Muirfield visitors.
For
golf fans that are going to be deskbound during the Open, the BBC
Sport website has up to the minute reports, with every swing and
putt plus news reports hot off the press from BBCi.
www.bbc.co.uk/golf
takes fans straight to Muirfield's running fairways via its clickable
guide to the course.
Internet
users can listen to the Peter Alliss' advice on how to play all
18 holes, check the latest scores, leader boards, player profiles
and photo galleries.
Golf
lovers can also check out the golfing clinic where leading pros
Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington are on hand to give top
tips and advice to players who want to improve their game and handicap.
The
Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers is the oldest golf club
in the world with continuous records from 1744.
They
began in Leith Links, in Edinburgh, moved out to Musselburgh when
the Links became too congested and then to their present home at
Muirfield.
Muirfield
is the location of James Braid's and Harry Vardon's first Open wins,
Jack Nicklaus's first in 1966 and Trevino's mauling of Jacklin in
1972.
It
is one of the most famous Open Championship courses and home to
two of Nick Faldo's Open triumphs.
Notes
to Editors
BBC
Television transmission details
Wednesday
17 July
Open Golf Preview: BBC TWO, 6.00-6.45pm
Thursday
18 July
Open Golf: BBC TWO, 9.00am-2.40pm
Open Golf: BBC ONE, 2.40-3.30pm
Open Golf: BBC TWO, 3.30-7.30pm
Highlights: BBC TWO, 9.50-10.30pm
Friday
19 July
Open Golf: BBC TWO, 9.00am-7.30pm
Highlights: BBC TWO, 9.40-10.30pm
Saturday
20 July
Open Golf: BBC TWO, 10.00am-12.10pm
Open Golf: BBC ONE, 12.10-5.15pm
Open Golf: BBC TWO, 5.15-7.10pm
Highlights: BBC TWO, 10.45-11.45pm
Sunday
21 July
Open Golf: BBC ONE, 11.00am-1.30pm
Open Golf: BBC TWO, 1.30-2.55pm
Open Golf: BBC ONE, 2.55-6.55pm
Highlights: BBC TWO, 10.45-11.45pm
BBCi
BBCi is the name for the BBC's interactive enhancement to its existing
services working across the web, interactive TV and personal organisers.
BBCi
provides a single signpost and easier way of getting to the BBC's
great information, entertainment and education services, no matter
how you choose to access it.
Accessing
the BBCi Digital services
Sky
(Digital Satellite) and Telewest (Digital Cable) viewers watching
coverage via BBC ONE or BBC TWO are prompted to press the red button
by the on-screen BBCi logo to reveal the Open Golf Multiscreen.
Any
of these five video screens can be selected by using the up and
down arrow keys on the remote control and then Select. To return
to the Multiscreen service at any point or to exit the interactive
service, viewers should press Back Up on the remote control.
By
pressing the blue key in the Multiscreen, viewers are taken through
to a leader board option. This provides dynamically updating scores
on all the players in the tournament, allowing fans to keep track
of their favourite players while still watching live action in quarter-screen.
Anyone
with a former ITV Digital set top box or free to view digital TV
receiver will also have access to three video options, through digital
terrestrial.
By
pressing the red key during live BBC broadcasts, viewers can choose
from coverage following the top players around the course and continuous
updated highlights, by scrolling through an on-screen pop up menu.
BBCi has also created a comprehensive 24-hour text-only service
including the latest news, clubhouse leader board and event details
for NTL and Telewest viewers plus Kingston viewers in the Hull area,
to make sure they don't miss out on all the action.
BBC
Radio Five Live Sports Extra
Radio
Five Live is broadcast on 909 & 693 AM and its sister service,
BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra, can be accessed through DAB digital
radio sets, digital satellite television (currently in five million
British homes, number 907 on Sky EPG) and via the internet at www.bbc.co.uk/radiofivelive.
Notes
to Editors
Update
- 18 July - Jean van de Velde joins the BBC Sport Open Championship
team and BBC Radio Five Live extends hours of coverage
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