On Thursday, Andy Murray made what we now know to be his last-ever Wimbledon appearance. The coverage was, as ever, on the BBC, who brought out legendary broadcaster Sue Barker to interview him. They showed a brilliant montage and cameras tracked the two-time champion through the clubhouse and onto the bridge where he greeted cheering fans.
It was all perfectly planned and brilliantly executed. In short, it was everything that is good about the BBC.
Later that night, General Election voting ended and the BBC and its rivals cut to all-night election coverage. Normally, the BBC is the place to watch the results come in. This year, it was nothing short of a mess. It was slow, with far too much emphasis on projections and polls instead of actual results. Sky News proved a far better source.
Why The BBC Election Coverage Went Wrong
This is nothing against BBC hosts Clive Myrie and. Laura Kuenssberg, both of whom I like. The structure of the show just did not seem to work. They were also far too obsessed with the fate of Reform, but the right-win insurgent party only got four seats in the end.
In contrast, Sky News was quick, focussing on bringing viewers as many declarations as possible. ITV also put in a good showing. Channel 4 was bordering on the unwatchable. There is only so much Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell anyone can take when trying to stay awake most of the night.
One experienced former BBC newsroom source explained why the corporation’s coverage may have gone in the direction it did. The issue is that the Beeb is really under pressure to bring accurate results and this “means they’re usually behind other sources, especially social media”. Furthermore:
They book top-name guests to avoid having dead air especially when nothing’s happening in the first couple of hours. But the temptation to use those guests rather than break news is huge. Presenters love interviewing the big-name guests, so interviews run long to keep them happy. And producers will be very aware of need to keep guests happy by giving them plenty of time.
Essentially, “if you book, say, [ex-Labour minister Lord Peter] Mandelson and then cut him off after a couple of minutes to hear the declaration from Droitwich West, he’s unlikely to come back next time!” Apparently it used to be particularly hard to dislodge David Dimbleby if a debate he was interested in was taking place.
In fairness, the radio coverage with Nick Robinson and Rachel Burden was pretty good. I’m sure Aunty top the ratings charts too.
Following the Huw Edwards scandal, election night was always going to be a challenge for the BBC. They probably thought they were going to have more time to prepare. However, in contrast to the success from Centre Court, the election coverage ended up being a failure by the corporation on one of the nights on which people depend on it.
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