London Olympics

Last year’s spectacular Olympics opening ceremony almost didn’t happen.

Director Danny Boyle has said in an updated book of conversations with journalist Amy Raphael that he was very close to resigning as artistic director of the London 2012 opening ceremony due to disputes with organisers Locog.

Boyle was unhappy with many of the decisions made by the organisers and said he was “close to walking away” when he learned of the plans to install ground-to-air missile silos on building near the Olympic site in East London.

“Occasional threats to resign were useful,” he said. “There’s a terror of bad headlines in the press, which you have to turn to your advantage.” Continue reading »

He may be mega famous in the UK thanks to his heroic exploits last summer but it seems not everyone is familiar with Mo Farah.

US TV presenter LaTonya Norton asked Farah during an interview following his win in the New Orleans half marathon if he had run before, clearly oblivious to the fact he is a double Olympic gold medallist.

The BBC has announced a fast-turnaround documentary on Oscar Pistorius.

The special will take a detailed look at the South African athlete and the circumstances around the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last week.

The 1×60 is commissioned by Fiona Campbell of the BBC and the Executive Producer for Mentorn is Steve Anderson. The Producer/Director is Nick London and Associate Producer is Shekhar Bhatia. The presenter is Rick Edwards, who recently made his debut fronting BBC Three’s Free Speech and who presented Paralympics coverage for Channel 4. Continue reading »

Former Team GB hurdler Tasha Danvers has reportedly tried out for The Voice UK.

The Beijing 2008 bronze medallist is believed to have auditioned for the BBC One series in an attempt to launch a singing career.

The 35-year-old missed out on a spot in the Team GB squad for London 2012 due to injury.

There is no word yet as to whether she made it further in the competition or even if she possesses any musical talent.

Jade Jones has been named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality Of The Year 2012, following the results of a public vote.

The award was announced at the prestigious BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality Of The Year 2012 awards ceremony held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the evening of Monday, 10 December.

At the age of 19, Jade Jones from Flint in north Wales won Britain’s first ever Olympic gold in Taekwondo, in the women’s featherweight 57kg category at the London 2012 Games. Having begun the sport at the age of eight years old, she credits her granddad Martin with making her the success she is today. Continue reading »

BBC One today announced that it is to revive the popular sporting entertainment show Superstars for a one-off spectacular Olympic special – Superstars 2012 – due to be broadcast this Christmas.

It was commissioned by Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One, and Mark Linsey, Controller, Entertainment Commissioning. Superstars 2012 is being produced for the BBC by IMG Media, part of IMG Worldwide.

Sixteen of London 2012’s British Olympic heroes (eight men, eight women) will compete against their Team GB teammates in a dramatic and thrilling competition, as they vie to be crowned the two best all-round Superstars.

The athletes’ versatility and determination will be pushed to the limit as they participate in eight different disciplines – on the track in the 100 metres and 800 metres, on the field in the javelin, take to the pool in a 50 metre swim and test their archery skills. Continue reading »

ITV reported this week lower than usual ad revenue for the third quarter due to the London 2012 Olympics coverage on the BBC over the summer.

The Olympics blunted ITV’s ratings and ad momentum but the broadcaster still says they are on track for unchanged ad revenue across the whole year.

ITV claims they are still outperforming the overall UK TV advertising market despite the packed summer sporting calendar on the BBC.

Ad revenue dropped for ITV by 6 per cent during the third quarter, which was in line with what most analysts expected. Continue reading »

Russell Howard has given his thoughts on what he believed to be a censorship from the BBC on comedy during the Olympics.

Howard told Digital Spy that he feels the broadcaster should have been gutsier and allowed comedians to make jokes about the games.

“I was quite upset really. There was no comedy on during the Olympics at all. None whatsoever,” he said.

“There’s too much money in it. The powers that be didn’t want people making jokes about the Olympics, it’s too important apparently. Continue reading »

12:50am Monday, September 10 on C4

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are over and now is the time for the city of London to celebrate those who took part. Jon Snow guides us through the live coverage of our greatest team parade, joined by Ade Adepitan and Giles Long. While out on the route, from Mansion House to Buckingham Palace, Clare Balding, Iwan Thomas and Rachael Latham hop on and off the 22 floats on which the triumphant athletes are travelling. More than one million people are expected to line the streets of the capital as the parade travels through. With commentary from Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

Sky News will devote a full day of coverage to the London 2012 Parade next week.

The network announced their plan to air live coverage of the parade all day on September 10 as the capital celebrates the success of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Coverage will begin with Sunrise at 6am and continue through until 9pm.

Sky News presenters Adam Boulton, Stephen Dixon, Gillian Joseph, Sarah-Jane Mee, Dermot Murnaghan, Jeremy Thompson and Samantha Simmonds will cover the event. Continue reading »