The Sport Thread

I've just (slightly obsessively) tweeted Mr Humphrey to see if we can find out.

Of course, qualifying on the Saturday also poses a problem for the ladies' final.

The BBC were very clear at the start of the season that EVERY Grand Prix (including qualifying) would be on BBC One, with the exception of the Hungarian Grand Prix highlights which will be on BBC Two (during the Olympics). http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17238688

Will the BBC be testing the Olympics HD App with Wimbledon? If so I won't complain too bitterly if BBC HD goes blank late afternoon again.

All (yes ITV and C4 too) DTT HD channels seem to have switched to 1920 x 1080 running yesterday by the way, and a fifth HD stream is also present with a BBC Sport holding caption (also 1920 x 1080)

ITV couldn't have wanted for a better Murray match to fill the ITV1 slot this afternoon, and get shot out of the way for their football friendly.

The problem with that is that on the occasions when live tennis runs past 8pm John Inverdale will be recording Today at Wimbledon at the usual time, for airing at 11:20pm. If he was doing the live coverage as well that could be a problem. (although I suppose if they were stuck the commentators could close the programme)

More graphics howlers on BBC Wales' coverage of Wales v Barbarians today: the little translucent boxes which pop out of the bottom of the scorebar showing pitchside analyst names, carries etc. was in the old Zurich font style.

I don't think they film Today at Wimbledon until the days play is concluded as sometimes they'll just run a shortened programme later in the hour. It has on occasion been live at 9pm on the red button too.

I think there are a number of issues here at play that are causing this delay in awarding the rights to 2016.

Firstly I think basic IOC greed is a major issue here. They somehow managed to get NBC to pay through the roof for the rights between 2014 to 2020, despite there being a cultural change afoot in the US television market and viewer appetite for pre-recorded highlights disappearing fast. Had the US negotiations went on for longer and been more drawn out it would have been a good indicator to them that the days of ever increasing rights fees were over.

Secondly the next Olympics, particularly the Summer games, are likely to be the least attractive games ever for the BBC. They will have just been able to broadcast the Olympics in their home country whilst paying the EBU a nominal fee in reality. The 2012 will never be bettered in the eyes of the BBC so there maybe an attitude at the BBC that they hold out for a better deal

Thirdly the BBC can rightly believe that they are the only players in the market. Whilst SKY may want a piece of the Olympic action I readily agree with previous posters that the attractiveness of the Olympics in pushing up subscription figures for SKY is limited. At the same time certain Olympic coverage remains covered as ‘crown jewels’ so they would need to partner with a terristerial broadcaster and the BBC are really the only show in town. I would say that a deal similar to what we have in London with SKY showing the 24 streams is an option they would much rather have.

Fourthly the IOC bundle the rights to 2014 and 2016 together and this a problem in the UK. The Winter games are not an attractive option to broadcasters in the UK. The BBC buy the rights basically as an add-on to the Summer games. If they were sold on their own I could see Channel Four being interested in the Winter games but not as part of a package with the Summer games. Again the BBC are the only player in town.

Ultimately I think the BBC will end up broadcasting both but viewers (and the IOC) need to realize that the level of committment that they are showing to the London games is simply a one-off.

Brekkie is right and if a match is reaching its conclusion around 8pm they'll stick with it and do a shorter TAW straight after. IIRC, last year, on the days it did get out at 8pm, TAW was on an hourly loop on the red button from 9pm. On a couple of occasions it has gone out live on the red button first and been repeated after Newsnight on BBC2. There was one. maybe two days when a TAW wasn't made I think because Andy Murray was playing beyond 9pm or even 10pm on BBC1.

I still think there are many improvements that need to be made to the scheduling of Wimbledon, and TAW should be at 21:00 or even 21:30. No doubt there will be evening matches featuring Andy Murray being shifted back and forth between BBC One and BBC Two again this year.

Considering post-news on BBC1 is another area which has been hit by cuts surely now more than ever it would make sense to move it there - but they seem reluctant to use sport to plug up other holes appearing in the schedule. I guess too Euro 2012 highlights and then in a couple of years live World Cup games might put them off doing that too, but in isolation it's easily the most sensible solution.

The other option is to save BBC2 some cash by reverting back to the 9.30-10.30pm slot with usually comedy and lifestyle repeats from 8.30-9.30pm - meaning BBC2 don't have to shell out for 90 minutes of nightly primetime TV for the fortnight.


And back to the Olympics and although the anticipation won't be as high as London I think Rio is pretty well timed for UK broadcast. OK, the key swimming and athletics finals will be after midnight but we should get things like rowing and cycling in primetime which can potentially get great audiences. And as for the Winter Olympics - the BBC have never viewed them as a problem and they are more than just the price worth paying for the main summer games. And by 2014 BBC2 will have a practically empty schedule from 6am-8pm, so perfect for Sochi.

The French Open highlights packages don't appear to be made by ITV. I think the voiceover on tonight's edition (the first I've watched) is the same person who did the highlights of the Australian Open that were on the BBC Red Button earlier this year. I wonder if there are logistics reasons why they can't be on any earlier, as there was action until well past 9pm CET.

I think if the BBC committed to showing live play from Wimbledon through until 9.00pm, they could get away with showing Today at Wimbledon on the Red Button at 9.00pm, with a repeat showing on BBC Two at 11.20pm. It would solve all the scheduling issues. During the latter part of the tournament, when there may not be live tennis until 9pm, there's nothing to stop the main programme showing extended highlights of the afternoon play for those who missed it.