Failure to travel to London for the 2012 Olympic Games will not stop Kenyans from watching the live competitions thanks to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) bid to have the games watched on mobile phones and computers in real time, and at no cost.
The IOC will live-stream the London 2012 Olympic Games in 64 territories on the IOC’s channel on YouTube.
“We are delighted to be able to offer live online coverage of London 2012 to sports fans free of charge across these markets,” said Timo Lumme, Managing Director, IOC television and marketing.
The channel will provide exclusive digital access in Sub-Saharan African territories where the IOC’s broadcast partners including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria have not yet acquired digital broadcasting rights.
The event will run from July 27 to August 12 and Internet subscribers in 64 countries in Asia and Africa will enjoy the live coverage of the events online, or using Internet enabled devices such as smart devices or mobile phones, as well as other YouTube-enabled devices.
Lumme said that the live streaming will consist of 11 different simultaneous high-definition broadcasts, all with an English language commentary. There will be ten live feeds from London 2012, running from 9a.m. to 11p.m. London time on some days.
“This will start early or finish later based on competition schedule, plus a 24-hour broadcast of the Olympic News Channel, which includes summaries of the latest results, general reports on different events, and interviews with athletes,” Lumme said.
To Kenya’s over 6 million Internet users looking to watch the games live, this comes as an excellent relief.
In total, the IOC’s YouTube channel will offer over 2,200 hours of sporting event coverage including all the medals finals.
