The BBC and the Commonwealth Games: why we should be worried |
The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year won't be on the BBC. It's a sign of some pretty profound change, says Mark Smith
I’ll be honest: I was a bit grumpy about the idea of following a bit of wood around the country for several weeks no matter how important the bit of wood was, but my editor at the time insisted, so that’s what I did in the summer of 2014. I mention it now because a couple of the experiences I had back then might help shed a bit of light on what’s just happened between the Commonwealth Games and the BBC.
The gist of it is that the Games are coming back to Glasgow again in July and August next year (as you know) and the assumption was the BBC would be showing the event as they have done for every one of the Games since 1954. But there was a bidding process, as there is with these things, and the subscription channel TNT Sports won, which means most of the coverage will be available only if you have the channel as part of your subscriptions.
The reaction to this bit of news has been interesting, and predictable in some cases. Scotland's former culture secretary Neil Gray, known for his exceptional performances in the Men’s 200m dash to blame the UK Government, said he had written to the UK Government making it clear to the UK Government that the UK Government should enable the Games to be accessible to all but that the UK Government had not put the necessary protections in place. “It is also the duty of the BBC as our national broadcaster,” he said, “to play its part in ensuring people in........