BBC announce first 'truly digital' Glastonbury coverage

(c) 2011 Ben Challis

The BBC has announces plans for its broadest and best Glastonbury coverage to date, giving music fans better than ever access to their favourite acts, live and on-demand, at home and on the go. More than 120 live performances will be broadcast exclusively by the BBC over the three days of Glastonbury 2013 on TV, radio, red button and online – well exceeding the number featured two years ago. ]

The BBC will bring together the unrivalled musical expertise of some of its biggest names to guide viewers and listeners every step of the way. Glastonbury first-timer Chris Evans and festival veteran Steve Lamacq will be joined by Nick Grimshaw, Gemma Cairney, Lauren Laverne, Dermot O’Leary, Mark Radcliffe, Jo Whiley, Craig Charles and others to form a team which will work together across TV, radio, red button and online.

The BBC's Glastonbury presentation team

For the first time, the BBC will be live-streaming six key music stages – The Pyramid Stage, Other Stage, West Holts, The Park, John Peel  including the BBC Introducing stage, reflecting over 120 acts being filmed  ranging from the newest talents to the biggest headliners, and amounting to more than 250 hours of live coverage and streaming.

The BBC’s coverage will be available on multiple platforms across TV, radio, and online, on four screens: PC, mobile, tablet and connected TV (including smart TVs and games consoles), as well as BBC Red Button. Music fans will be able to watch and listen to a huge range of performances live, wherever they are, and relive their favourite festival moments or ones they’ve missed on BBC iPlayer.

Bob Shennan, BBC Controller of Popular Music, said: “Glastonbury is one of the greatest pop music events in the world and we want to make this year’s coverage the next best thing for everyone who can’t make it in person to Worthy Farm. We aim to broadcast more of the festival than ever before, and reinvent music coverage as only the BBC can for music fans at home and on the move.”

Mark Friend, BBC Controller, Multiplatform across Radio and Music, said: “Just as we did with sport at the Olympics, our ambition this year is to bring our audiences even closer to the music they love at Glastonbury, with access to all the BBC’s coverage - live and on-demand - at home, at work and on the go. Not only will this be the first truly digital Glastonbury, this will also be the first mobile Glastonbury – we expect mobile and tablet viewing and listening to reach unprecedented levels, particularly over the weekend.” The BBC will stream to four screens - PC, mobile, tablet and connected TV. A wealth of content will be available at bbc.co.uk/Glastonbury, as well as more info about the line-up, acts, stages, photo galleries and interviews. BBC iPlayer Radio will be the place for all music on the go with a dedicated tab in the mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

On BBC iPlayer, all the action from BBC One, Two, Three and Four will be available live or as catch-up for 7 days after broadcast. In addition, you'll be able to catch up on all the full sets from the main stages. On TV, three additional red button streams will offer more content and highlights from the festival, and the BBC’s Connected Red Button service available on Virgin Media’s TiVo service will bring viewers all the live streams and on-demand video seamlessly on their TV.

Festival founder and organiser, Michael Eavis, said: “The BBC have stuck with us through thick and thin since 1997 and they’ve earned their stripes the hard way. It’s been quite a journey since 97 and to have a complete record of what we’ve been up to over the years is music history gold dust.”

Coverage will kick off on Friday 28 June and continue until after the final headliners on Sunday 30 June. Across the weekend it will feature on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, Radio 1 and 1Xtra, Radio 2 and 6 Music. Acts playing at the Festival include the Arctic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons, Primal Scream, The xx, Chase & Status, Dizzee Rascal, Portishead, Jake Bugg, Public Enemy, Chic with Nile Rogers, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Castles, Bobby Womack, Foals and the legendary Rolling Stones.