Over 90 hours of live-streamed performances, complemented by extensive coverage across television, radio, iPlayer, online platforms, and social media – all originating from a dairy farm in Somerset. This can only mean one thing: the BBC at Glastonbury Festival.
“Our sole aim is to provide the best seat in the house for our audience,” says Alison Howe, executive producer at BBC Studios for Glastonbury on TV, overseeing the BBC’s television coverage of this highly anticipated global event.
This year’s festival features headliners such as The 1975, Neil Young, and Olivia Rodrigo, alongside a stellar lineup of renowned artists including Charli XCX, Alanis Morissette, Rod Stewart, and numerous others.
“The BBC coverage uniquely offers a beautiful mix of diverse artists,” Howe notes.
“It’s ingrained in our DNA as a public service broadcaster.”
“The BBC is committed to showcasing major moments for a wide audience, while also strongly supporting live music of all types, emerging artists, various genres, and global talents – all of which Glastonbury excels at.”
Glastonbury coverage stands as a centerpiece of the BBC’s pop culture offerings, with a record-breaking 23.1 million viewers tuning in on television in 2023.
This year, the BBC aims to provide even easier access for fans to experience the festival’s highlights.
Jonathan Rothery, head of BBC Popular Music TV, describes Glastonbury as “the gold standard of pop, comparable to Wimbledon in tennis and the World Cup in football.”
Howe and her team recognize the significance of their role and its impact on millions of viewers.
“It’s essential to place live music at the forefront,” she emphasizes.
“Music is deeply integrated into people’s lives, contributing to well-being and cherished memories.”
Howe highlights the “great joy” of the BBC’s coverage, noting the ability to “introduce artists who might not typically appear on TV during prime time to a new audience.”
“It’s a simple yet rewarding outcome of our work.
“We’re privileged to showcase so many talented artists in such a unique setting, offering a sense of escapism for a few days, and we strive to capture every bit of that magic,” she adds.
Howe’s involvement with the BBC at Glastonbury began in 1992, when the festival was only covered on radio.
Channel 4 later provided television coverage, before the BBC introduced its cameras in 1997.
“Both the festival and the BBC coverage have grown in tandem each year, creating a beautiful, synchronized journey,” Howe reflects.
Over the past 30 years, Howe identifies technology as the most significant change, transforming the scope of the BBC’s coverage.
“Back in 1997, even the iconic Radiohead performance wasn’t live-streamed as we know it today,” she recalls.
“The TV coverage joined midway through the set, and all coverage was primarily a late-night affair.
“With the advent of digital TV channels in the 2000s, we had greater opportunities to expand coverage, appeal to diverse audiences, and adopt different presentation styles.
“Now, with iPlayer and streaming services, people can catch up on content at their convenience. The way people watch and listen has evolved, and our coverage has adapted accordingly.”
Broadcasting such a grand event requires meticulous planning, especially when working with some of the world’s leading artists.
Peter Taylor, head of operations for BBC Studios, oversees the technical facilities for the TV broadcasts and live stage coverage.
He explains that extensive planning goes into aligning the team’s objectives with the program’s goals, as well as coordinating with artists’ production teams to anticipate stage elements.
“I collaborate with our camera, sound, and vision teams to ensure we have the necessary equipment and connectivity to capture the spectacle,” he says.
The physical setup for such a vast operation begins two weeks before the first artists take the stage.
The initial stages involve laying temporary trackways, distributing power, setting up office cabins, and establishing basic facilities. The technology becomes progressively more complex, with the arrival of large outside broadcast trucks on the Tuesday of festival week.
“We have just two days to rig all the cameras, sound feeds, signal distribution, and radio camera equipment before going live on Thursday night,” Taylor notes.
“It’s an intense period of work that passes by far too quickly as the festival unfolds,” he adds.
Taylor identifies the biggest challenge as “the sheer scale of the site and the breadth of coverage we aim to provide.”
While the BBC broadcasts larger events, such as the Olympics, Taylor points out that the Glastonbury team delivers “a similar number of hours of complex broadcasts, with the added challenge of matching the creative ambitions of the artists on stage, potentially while wearing wellington boots.”
He highlights the strong, trusting relationship built with the festival’s production staff on site, while Howe emphasizes the importance of year-round relationships with top performers in delivering a spectacular show.
“If you’ve worked with particular artists through Later with Jools Holland or BBC Radio shows, that relationship and trust are invaluable when they have a significant moment at Glastonbury, as they are essentially entrusting their performance to us,” she explains.
This is supported by the BBC’s lineup of presenters, including Jo Whiley, Zoe Ball, Lauren Laverne, Nick Grimshaw, Clara Amfo, Greg James, and others.
BBC iPlayer is promoted as “the ultimate destination for Glastonbury,” offering viewers over 90 hours of performances via live streams from the five main stages: Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies, and The Park.
The Glastonbury Hits Channel has been live since early June, and The Glastonbury Channel returns later on Friday.
Extensive coverage will be available on BBC One, Two, and Four, while radio teams from six BBC radio networks will provide hours of live coverage, with additional content on BBC Sounds.
This year, the BBC is introducing audio description for coverage on BBC One, and Rothery adds that they are “particularly proud to stream Pyramid Stage sets live in British Sign Language for the third year.”
Delivering all of this from a field in Somerset adds another layer of complexity.
“It’s the perfect blend of feeling transported to a unique island, an Isle of Avalon, with a variety of delights, combined with the community spirit of camping and the adventures shaped by the weather – good or bad,” Howe concludes.
With the festival approaching a fallow year – allowing the fields to recover – Howe says that for everyone at the BBC, there is “a slight level of wanting to make sure it’s the best it can possibly be.”
“Because when it’s not on, it’s truly missed,” she says.
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