Rio 2016 on the BBC - TV

Building on the huge success of London 2012, the BBC will have an elite team of former Great Britain Olympic athletes out in Rio.

Unparalleled expertise and knowledge will come from sporting legends such as Sir Chris Hoy, Denise Lewis, Beth Tweddle, Sir Steve Redgrave, Rebecca Adlington and Sir Clive Woodward, who will give their own unique insight into the key sporting moments, bringing audiences closer to all the action.

Making his BBC debut, Olympic and IBF world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua will also be out in Rio sharing with viewers his thoughts and insight on the medal hopefuls in the ring.

The BBC’s live coverage of the Games begins with the Opening Ceremony on BBC One on Friday 5 August, with Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter providing commentary from the Maracanã Stadium as the formalities get underway.

The following afternoon, Hazel kicks off BBC One’s live daily coverage, which continues throughout the Games from 1pm until 4am. Clare Balding and Mark Chapman will guide viewers through the live action each day from 7pm-midnight, with Jason Mohammad taking over from midnight until 4am.

Ore Oduba will welcome viewers to BBC Four daily between 1-7pm, while Dan Walker will anchor the channel from 7pm until the end of the day’s action.

Bringing viewers right to the centre of the drama, Gabby Logan will be in position at the Olympics Park to present Athletics, while Clare Balding will be trackside at the Velodrome for Cycling. From the Aquatics Centre, Helen Skelton fronts Swimming with Matt Baker at the Olympics Arena for Gymnastics and John Inverdale live at the Lagoa Stadium for the Rowing.

The live sporting action concludes on 21 August, when Hazel and Andrew will again oversee proceedings for BBC One’s coverage of the closing ceremony as the celebrations come to an end and Rio’s Olympic flame is extinguished.

BBC Sport and BBC News will join forces throughout the Games to bring a special edition of BBC Breakfast. The famous sofa will move home and come live from the centre of BBC Sport’s hub to bring viewers all the highlights and extended Games coverage every day from 6am. This is followed by a replay programme with all the best bits on BBC Two from 9.15am to 1pm.

BBC line-up and schedule**

(All schedules are subject to change)

Friday, 5 August, BBC One

Coverage begins with the Opening Ceremony from Maracanã Stadium in Rio with commentary by Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter.

From Saturday, 6 August and for the duration of the Olympic Games the BBC One and BBC Four schedule is as follows:

BBC One / BBC Two

06:00-09:15: BBC Breakfast
09:15-13:00: Replay of the best of the overnight action (BBC Two)
1300-1900 UK - Hazel Irvine
1900-0000 UK - Clare Balding / Mark Chapman
0000-0400 UK – Jason Mohammad

BBC Four and BBC Four HD
1300-1800 UK - Ore Oduba
1800-0100 UK - Dan Walker
0100-0400 UK - live action**

BBC TV Team

Athletics

Presenter: Gabby Logan

Commentators: Steve Cram, Brendan Foster, Andrew Cotter, Steve Backley

Guests: Michael Johnson, Denise Lewis, Paula Radcliffe, Colin Jackson

Reporter: Phil Jones

Boxing 

Presenter: John Inverdale

Commentators: Ronald McIntosh, Richie Woodhall

Guest: Anthony Joshua 

Canoe

Patrick Winterton, Helen Reeves

Cycling

Presenter: Clare Balding

Commentators: Simon Brotherton, Chris Boardman

Guests: Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton

Reporter: Jill Douglas

Diving 

Commentators: Bob Ballard, Leon Taylor

Equestrian

Presenter: Lee McKenzie

Commentators: Michael Tucker, Ian Stark, Andy Austin

Gymnastics

Presenter /commentator: Matt Baker

Commentators: Craig Heap, Christine Still

Guest: Beth Tweddle

Hockey

Commentators: Matt Chilton, Simon Mason, Mel Clewlow

Modern pentathlon

Presenter: Eleanor Oldroyd

Commentator: Steph Cook

Rowing

Presenter: John Inverdale

Commentators: Garry Herbert, James Cracknell

Guest: Sir Steve Redgrave

Rugby Sevens

Presenter: John Inverdale

Commentator: Eddie Butler

Guests: Sir Clive Woodward

Sailing

Presenter: Shirley Robertson

Commentator: Niall Myant, Ian Walker

Swimming

Presenter: Helen Skelton

Commentators: Andy Jameson, Adrian Moorhouse

Guests: Rebecca Adlington, Mark Foster

Reporter: Sharron Davies

Triathlon

Presenter: Jonathan Edwards

Commentators: Matt Chilton, Annie Emmerson

Other commentators/reporters

Sir Matthew Pinsent, Rishi Persad, Jess Creighton, Simon Reed, Paul Hand, Ollie Williams, Nick Hope, David McDaid, Kat Downes

For all other sports, BBC Sport will be taking the World Feed from Olympic Broadcasting Services

** All details are correct at time of publishing

The use of BBC Four with extended hours to cover the Olympics is part of a number of temporary services which will allow the BBC to offer extended coverage of Summer 2016’s major events.

This extended coverage comprises:

1. BBC Four and BBC Four HD will be available on extended hours from 1pm  for the duration of the Commonwealth Games.

2. For the duration of the Olympics, additional SD and HD Red Button streams will be available. The number and availability of these varies between platforms for capacity reasons.

Apart from the use of BBC Four, there are two impacts of providing these additional, temporary services:

1. CBBC HD and CBeebies HD will have reduced coverage on Freeview/YouView shortly before and after the Olympic Games. Both channels will remain on air in standard definition. Users are advised to check availability on their sets for series links set for CBBC HD and CBeebies HD will not record, and if these need to be reset for CBBC SD/CBeebies SD.

2. BBC Parliament will be off-air shortly before and after the Olympics. This coincides with parliamentary recess.

In addition, Red Button streams will be offered as separate temporary services of limited duration for Wimbledon (27 June – 10 July), and Glastonbury (22 – 26 June). The number and availability of these varies between platforms for capacity reasons.

We can confirm that we have completed an assessment of necessary permissions from Ofcom and that all requirements are satisfied by these arrangements. The temporary services have been offered to all platform providers on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory basis. 

Related BBC Links

• BBC Sport - Olympics > Rio 2016