5 live made unavailable outside the UK

BBC Radio 5 live’s epic weekend of live radio from the Olympics has been limited to a UK audience only because they were broadcast from the Olympic Park.

However, programmes from the venue on Radio 2 and Radio 4 have now been given the green light to stream abroad.

It’s because The International Olympic Committee holds the international broadcast rights from Olympic venues and has not allowed international coverage for the BBC sports station.

Originally, programmes such as Today on Radio 4 and The Chris Evans Show on BBC Radio 2 were banned from streaming internationally because they are broadcasting from the Olympic Park. But after urgent talks at the weekend, the IOC has lifted the ban on these shows. The ban on 5 live stations however remains in place as they will be devoted to the games.

BBC Radio 5 live delivered 75 hours of live sports coverage on 23 sports across three different stations – Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra and 5 live Olympics Extra.

Mark Friend, head of online services for BBC Audio and Music told BBC.co.uk: “Unfortunately there are some types of content where we are restricted from distributing overseas, usually because of sports rights.

“The impact of this will be very noticeable throughout the Olympic games because the BBC has the rights to broadcast from Olympic venues only to the UK.”

Commenting on the coverage so far, Radio 5 live Controller, Adrian Van Klaveren, said: “Our aim for London 2012 was to bring 5 live listeners coverage of the Olympics as never before. Our news and sports teams have been covering the 2012 story long before Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening ceremony, and now that the Games are finally underway we’re committed to delivering the very best commentaries, together with capturing all the stories as they unfold.

“In addition to our bumper Olympic schedule, 5 live sports extra will continue to deliver commentaries on the other big sporting events, from Test and county cricket to Formula 1 and rugby league. 2012 is a huge summer of sport and 5 live will be there throughout bringing all the drama and excitement as it happens.”