Great that the BBC is broadcasting all the World Cup matches via its website (and Wimbledon as well). I’ve normally tuned into the webcasts, whether the Olympics or the national events as usually they give the best choice, allowing you to pick what you want to watch outside of the single track on the TV.
But because I’m going to be abroad I’m not going to be able to watch it online. I’m going to be subject to the whims of US TV..and apparently the commentary on ABC/ESPN leaves much to be desired (the Spanish commentary is supposed to be better, if only I had more than the basics).
But I’ve paid my licence fee..so why can’t I watch it. I’ve got perfect credentials to prove this – a licence number. tied into an address. So why can’t the BBC let me log in with these details and watch the matches. Instead I’m going to have to dig up a proxy.
Back in the UK for the weekend, World Cup fever is really building. Many of the advertising has a football connection and the build up is all over the papers; every single edition today has ‘World Cup’ guides as well as the endless specualation about Rooney.
In addition, a couple of World Cup related sites. The New York Times look to be pulling together a comprehensive blog on the topic. Big Picture Advertising have started a blog StattoStattolisting places in the UK where you can watch your team play (that is, if you don’t support England)
Update Unsurprisingly, this post is one of the most viewed over the last few days..there’s a lot of interest in doing this. For a far more detailed explanation of what can be done see ghacks here and here, or WorldCupWatcher. The bad news for me is that no-one seems to have got the BBC commentary/video working through a UK proxy yet…but if you are just after watching the matches in general, there are lots of options.
You can always pay for true UK proxy to view BBC broadcasts. http://www.bbcproxy.com/
Someone is doing some marketing by promoting their pay for use proxy in the above comment…interesting to see that they have ‘borrowed’ completely the BBC style and layout for their site..there is a tiny disclaimer on the page to deny any association with the BBC, but domain and design all suggest otherwise!
Well, ‘tiny disclaimer’ is colored with RED and it is on every page of the website.
I just have no free time to redesign it since I have to manage with bandwidth problem and BBC admins trying (without any success) to ban my proxy.