The app will deliver a rich social viewing experience, plugging online audiences into the communal excitement of big sports moments. You can watch events with friends who are also online and chat together about the action as it happens, while comment threads under each stream enable you to take the pulse of reaction from the Facebook community in real time.

Press play on a stream, or ‘Like’ it, and it is shared with your friends via the Facebook news feed. The in-app Activity Stream updates in real time to show you what your friends are watching, allowing you to discover events beyond your favourites.

A beta version of the app is launched today for Wimbledon, offering BBC’s network TV coverage plus up to six extra match streams from across the courts, as well as comment threads and sharing features. Live chat functionality will be added in time for the Olympics. Access the app here(you need to be logged in to Facebook to access the app).

Phil Fearnley, General Manager BBC News & Knowledge, said: “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.

“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.”

Alongside the new Facebook app, audiences can watch BBC Summer of Sport coverage online at bbc.co.uk/sport, on mobile and tablet, on connected TVs, and via the Red Button. By bringing audiences the action whenever they want, wherever they are, the BBC is making sure they never miss a moment of an epic year of sport from the BBC.