BBC Sport to replay the best of 2012 - Red Button Schedule

BBC Sport are giving sports fans the opportunity to relive some of the most memorable moments from a tremendous year of sporting action throughout the festive period.

From Tuesday 18 December through to New Years Eve, viewers can relive the memorable moments from London 2012, Euro 2012, Wimbledon, The Six Nations and the F1 Grand Prix season on the BBC Red Button, online, via connected TV, tablet and mobile devices.

Below is the schedule so you will not miss your favourite moment from an incredible year of sport.
Olympics Super Saturday
Tuesday 18 December 15:00; Christmas Day 17:15 & 23:30
Relive the evening dubbed “Super Saturday” at the London 2012 Olympic Games when Team GB won three gold medals in a magical 45 minutes thanks to Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford. Across the city, Michael Phelps swam in his final Olympic race to round off a record-breaking career.

Olympics Super Sunday
Tuesday 18 December 17:30; Christmas Day 19:45; Boxing Day 02:00
Another chance to see Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and compatriot Yohan Blake battle for the title of world’s fastest man on the ninth evening of the London Olympic Games, racing in the final of the men’s 100m sprint. On the same night, Team GB’s Christine Ohuruogu fell just short in her quest to retain her 400m title, claiming silver behind Sanya Richards-Ross of the United States.

Wimbledon Men’s Final
Wednesday 19 December 11:00 & 19:30; Wednesday 28 December 00:30
Roger Federer broke British hearts by defeating Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men’s singles final. Murray had become the first British man to make the final since Bunny Austin in 1938, but the 25-year-old could not overcome Federer, losing in four sets as the Swiss claimed a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title.

Wimbledon Ladies’ Final
Wednesday 19 December 22:30; Thursday 20 December 11:00
Serena Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title by overcoming a determined effort from Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams later followed up her singles success to also claim the ladies’ doubles title with big sister Venus.

Olympic Cycling
Friday 21 December 14:00; Christmas Day 21:45; Boxing Day 04:00
Team GB took their track cycling medal haul to seven on the final night of action at the Olympic Velodrome, matching their tally from Beijing 2008. Sir Chris Hoy won gold in the keirin to become Britain’s most decorated Olympian, while Victoria Pendleton retired with a silver medal and Laura Trott claimed her second gold in her first Olympic Games.

Olympic Boxing
Friday 21 December 15:45; Sunday 30 December 1900; New Year’s Eve 17:45
Another chance to see the historic session in London’s ExCeL where Nicola Adams became the first female boxer to win a gold medal, closely followed by Ireland’s Katie Taylor amid a raucous atmosphere.

Six Nations – England v Wales
Friday 21 December 17:15; Boxing Day 20:00; Thursday 27 December 02:15
Wales won the Triple Crown with nail-biting victory over England at Twickenham in front of a crowd of 81,598. England had an opportunity to win the game in the dying seconds, only for David Strettle’s try to be ruled out by the video referee.

Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix
Sunday 23 December 13:00; Christmas Eve 03:00; Boxing Day 21:45
A chance to relive the dramatic climax to the 2012 Formula 1 season as Sebastian Vettel fought his way through the field to claim the World Championship after a first-lap collision left him in last place. The Red Bull driver made his way up to sixth to claim a third successive title, beating Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by just three points.

Olympic tennis men’s singles final
Sunday 23 December 15:30; Christmas Eve 00:30; Friday 28 December 20:30
Britain’s Andy Murray avenged his Wimbledon singles final defeat to Roger Federer with an emphatic straight-sets victory to claim Olympic gold. Murray became the first British man to win the Olympic singles since Josiah Ritchie in 1908, with the emotional win spurring him on to claim a first Grand Slam title at the US Open the following month.

Euro 2012 final – Italy v Spain
Boxing Day 18:00; Thursday 27 December 00:15; Sunday 30 December 16:00
Reigning champions and favourites Spain comfortably beat Italy 4-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships, and the first international team to win three straight major tournament titles.

Olympic diving
Thursday 27 December 19:00; New Year’s Eve 16:00
Tom Daley’s 10-metre men’s platform diving final began in dramatic fashion when a large number of camera flashes caused him to dive poorly and lead to a protest over the situation to the referee. Daley then made a successful re-dive and thrilled the nation by winning the bronze medal in a hotly contested final.

How the BBC picked which F1 races it would cover live in 2012

Found this about how the BBC picked which F1 races it would cover live in 2012

It has been interesting to see the response to the BBC/Sky announcements today regarding their coverage for next year (you can read about their plans 81 Comments). Most of the feedback coming my way from fans, it has to be said, has been pretty damning of the BBC. Here's a selection of Twitter reactions I have received:

"Absolute joke. 3rd round before a LIVE race. No full re-runs either (another Lie) sadly Black Friday now has a meaning in F1"

"it's not great Tom, 4 out of the 10 are iconic #f1 tracks with history and excitement, the rest well… VALENCIA says it all."

"I'll be going to sky… I want to see everything!!"

"I'm devastated we're only getting highlights of 10 of the races. I could cope with non-live full race replays but not this!"

"Surprised TBH! If they did get the first pick of the pot, why didn't they pick Oz? Or Canada or Japan?"

The 'extended highlights' rather than full re-runs is clearly a sore point – not helped by the fact that there has been confusion over this issue from the start. Martin Whitmarsh said when the deal was first announced that Bernie had promised the teams full re-runs on the BBC and fans had got their hopes up (although 90mins and 120mins of highlights is pretty comprehensive).

As far as which live races the BBC picked – another sore point – I think it is worth mentioning the selection process.

My understanding is that the BBC had the first three picks. It went for Monaco, Silverstone and the season finale in Brazil. You can't really argue with any of those. The first two speak for themselves while the third – well, imagine if we get a repeat of 2008 next year with Lewis Hamilton going for the title at Interlagos… the BBC couldn't afford to take the risk.

Sky then had the next three picks and then there was a system whereby I'm told they alternated. But there were stipulations. Neither channel could pick three consecutive races. In other words, the BBC was not allowed to have three consecutive races live while Sky was not allowed three consecutive races exclusively live, which made it rather tricky. Try it for yourself.

For instance, the BBC could not have Monza – one of the classic circuits and one which most F1 fans would want – because that would have made it three in a row with Spa and Singapore on either side. The BBC also had other considerations such as the Euros next summer, which clash with Canada.

All in all I don't think BBC has done too badly with its picks considering the limitations imposed on it by the contract (it's the contract which is the real bone of contention here, of course, but remember the BBC coverage could not stay as it is now forever, cost-cutting etc – but that is a separate debate). Having both the Spanish races is a bit of a drag. And not having a race until China is also a blow with Sky having a golden opportunity to steal a march.

But Sky will be sweating, too, particularly on the outcome of the Bahrain and Austin grands prix, both of which it has exclusively live. One or both of those could be dropped at the WMSC meeting in a couple of weeks.

source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tomcary/100021994/bbc-race-picks-disappoint-fans-but-aunties-hands-were-tied/

Sky to launch F1 channel in HD for 2012

Sky is to launch a new sports channel devoted entirely to Formula One motor racing and will use it to drive takeup of high definition television.

Sky Sports F1 HD will be the satellite broadcaster's first channel devoted to a single sport. Sky bagged UK TV rights to Formula One for the first time earlier this year in a joint deal with the BBC, which previously had exclusive coverage of the sport.

The channel, which will broadcast for all of the nine-month F1 season from next year, will be available to subscribers to Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2, and to non-sports customers who subscribe to its HD services. Sky Sports subscribers without HD will receive a standard definition version.

more http://www.satandpcguy.com/forum/showthread.php?94009-Sky-to-launch-F1-channel-in-HD

BBC reveals 2012 F1 coverage plans

The BBC has announced its coverage plans for 2012 - revealing the 10 races it will broadcast live and outlining its plans for highlights programmes.

With Sky showing every grand prix live, the BBC will not broadcast its first live race until the third round of the championship in China.

After that, it will broadcast the races in Spain, Monaco, Valencia, Britain, Belgium, Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

more http://www.satandpcguy.com/forum/showthread.php?94010-BBC-reveals-2012-F1-coverage-plans