BBC unveils Olympics and Wimbledon streaming app for Facebook

The BBC has unveiled a Facebook application that will allow users of the social networking site to stream live coverage of the Olympics and the Wimbledon tennis championships.

The broadcaster said the application would feature up to 24 different streams of Olympic events and will include several social elements from Facebook such as the ability to ‘Like' broadcasts so friends can show one another what they are watching.

There will also be the ability to chat in comment threads under the live streams to discuss the action taking place.

Currently the application is in beta mode for the Wimbledon tennis tournament, with the full version expected before the Olympics begins.

The BBC's general manager for news and knowledge, Phil Fearnley, said that the organisation hoped the application would cater for the vast number of people expected to watch the Games online.

"It's a core part of the BBC's mission to bring our quality content to audiences wherever they are, so I'm very excited to be able to offer sport fans on Facebook a really distinctive live streaming experience," he said.

"With our Facebook app we aim to bring even greater value to our online audiences, enabling them to watch together and share their excitement. We hope to use it to test the benefits of social viewing, as part of our ambition to deliver more innovative and transformative experiences to sports fans."

While the application is good news for sports fans, it may well cause a few headaches for IT managers in organisations as it provides yet another outlet for staff to access the Olympics on their networks, potentially causing disruption.

Businesses have already been urged to ensure they have all the necessary preparations in place to avert any IT issues before the Games begin on 27 July.