What is the ITV Boat Race site?
The ITV Boat Race site is the official broadband channel of the Boat Race on ITV - a new addition for 2007.
What is there to watch on the ITV Boat Race site?
ITV will be streaming full coverage of the 2007 Boat Race from 3.30pm on Saturday, April 7th 2007.
As well as this you can watch the race back again on demand and, in the run-up to the event, you can watch a trailer for ITV's Boat Race coverage.
Who can watch the live stream?
The content is only available to UK based users. You will need a broadband connection using Microsoft Internet Explorer on a PC - unfortunately at the moment the service is not available to view on Mac operating systems. Microsoft Vista is also currently not supported.
What quality is the live stream?
The live stream is offered at one speed, 384kbps.
What do I need on my PC?
Please refer to the following table for details of supported Operating Systems, Internet Browsers and Media Players.
Please note that these are only the software packages we have tested the Boat Race site on directly. Other combinations may operate successfully, but you must use Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player on the platforms mentioned below.
The following are the support platforms for this service
| Operating System | Windows Media Player Version | Internet Explorer | DirectX |
| Windows '98SE | 9.00.00.3250 | 6.0.2800.1106 + SP1 | 9.0C |
| Windows ME | 9.00.00.3250 | 6.0.2800.1106 + SP1 | 9.0C |
| Windows 2000 | 9.00.00.3250 | 6.0.2800.1106 + SP1 | 9.0C |
| Windows XP | 10.00.00.4036 | 6.0.2800.1106 + SP1 or upgrade to XP SP2 | 9.0C |
| Windows XP SP1 | 10.00.00.4036 | 6.0.2800.1106 + SP1 or upgrade to XP SP2 | 9.0C |
| XP Media Center Edition 2005 | 10.00.00.4036 | 6.0.2800.1106 + SP1 or upgrade to XP SP2 | 9.0C |
| XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2 | 11.0.5721.5145+ KB900325 + KB925766 | 7.0.5730.11 | 9.0C |
| Windows XP SP2 | 11.0.5721.5145 | 7.0.5730.11 | 9.0C |
| Mac./ Linux | Not Available | Not Available | |
| Firefox support coming 2007 1st Qtr. |
To discover what revisions you have:
Operating System and Revision: (Right click "My Computer" / Properties)
Internet Explorer Version: (Open IE go to Help/About Internet Explorer)
Windows Media Player Version: (Open WMP go to Help/About Windows Media Player)
Windows Media Player can be upgraded here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/versions.aspx
Internet Explorer 6.0 can be upgraded here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/downloads/critical/ie6sp1/default.mspx
Or Internet Explorer 7.0 here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx
If the advice contained in these pages does not resolve your issue then you should go to our Help Page (http://www.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Help), which contains all of the most up-to-date advice on software and systems set-up required.
What do I do if I'm having a problem?
Below is a list of technical specifications to aid you to get the most from the ITV Boat Race site
Firewall Settings
If you have a Firewall (security hardware/software) or any other related security software running on your PC it may affect your access to the site. You should consult the manufacturer's manual or contact them directly regarding the package/hardware configuration.
Ensure Player is set correctly:
a. Open Windows Media Player and choose the 'Tools' Menu or click the arrow in the top right hand corner to see this option
b. Select 'Options'.
c. Choose the 'Performance' Tab.
d. Ensure 'Detect Connection Speed' is set..
e. Ensure 'Use Default Buffering' is set.
f. Click 'OK'.
Reconfigure Player to TCP Streaming
a. Open Windows Media Player and choose the 'Tools' Menu. (if you have WMP 10 you may need to click the arrow in the top right hand corner to see this option)
b. Select 'Options'.
c. Choose the 'Network' Tab.
d. Remove the ticks from 'Multicast', 'UDP' and 'HTTP'. Only 'TCP' should be ticked.
e. Hit 'OK'.
Limitations of broadband, Please remember that broadband connections are shared by location. This is due to what is known as the "contention ratio". If many people in your area also have the same product then you may be sharing the same connection with them. For these reasons it may be necessary to sometimes attempt to view clips at a lower quality to you would like.
Save bandwidth, other programs and windows you have open will sap bandwidth from the stream
a. Close as many other Internet windows or 'peer to peer' programs as possible.
b. Close as many applications in your service tray (bottom right corner of screen) as possible to conserve RAM.
