Sports fans have slammed the BBC‘s Olympics coverage – blasting the broadcaster for ‘too much chat’ and not enough action.
With live channels and iPlayer only able to screen limited viewing of the games, onlookers have been left furious that commentators have been left to waffle instead of switching quickly to view alternative live options.
And enthusiasts have been left switching over to radio coverage as they become increasingly frustrated by some live sports being skipped over in preference of tributes to historic performances.
It comes as Brits who want to watch full coverage are having to pay to subscribe to Discovery+ – with the BBC only able to show two live events at any one time.
The fury was sparked amid a stellar kick-off for Team GB, winning Bronze in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard and a silver in the women’s individual time trial.
One, RSPB volunteer Robin Morrison, was left frustrated by unsung sports being neglected in favour of nearly an hour’s build-up for the swimming.
He said: ‘Very disappointed with BBC Live TV coverage of the Olympics. Too much of the coverage on BBC One is chat, historical videos etc etc.
With live channels and iPlayer only able to screen limited viewing of the games, onlookers have been left furious that commentators have been left to waffle instead of switching quickly to view alternative live options
Enthusiasts have been left switching over to radio coverage as they become increasingly frustrated by some live sports being skipped over in preference of tributes to historic performances
The fury was sparked amid a stellar kick-off for Team GB, winning Bronze in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard and a silver in the women’s individual time trial. Pictured: Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen
‘Just show the athletes currently competing for medals in all sports. BBC radio 5 Live is just brilliant with their coverage.’
He continued: ‘I had seen that the BBC are limited to One network channel and one other live feed. So yes it’s a challenge, but this evening from 7pm there was nearly 50mins of build-up and chat for the swimming.
‘I feel that this was time wasted given what other sports could have been shown.’
Others raged that the BBC was using the prime Olympic channel to show reminiscent documentary segments while other sport was playing – when that content is exempt from the coverage rules and could have been played on BBC2 or BBC3.
Double-Olympic torchbearer Kasam added: ‘There are 20 streams on now and instead the BBC is showing a montage of older Olympic results. Absolute joke.
‘They could have put it on BBC 3 or online or any other time. Not while live sports are on.’
It comes four years after two former BBC chairmen called for broadcasting rules to be changed to make sure free to air channels can show much fuller coverage of the Olympics.
That followed the broadcaster being hit by a tidal wave of complaints about the lack of the live coverage compared to previous games during Tokyo 2020.
Under the current deal the BBC is restricted to showing two live events at any one time, while Discovery+ is able to show 100 per cent of the action for the entire games.
With the limited viewing time, fans shared their anger that it was not being used to highlight the proudest moments of Britain’s athletes
This means for Paris 2024 the BBC will show more than 250 hours of live coverage compared to Discovery+ airing 3,800 hours of live coverage.
And with the limited viewing time, fans shared their anger that it was not being used to highlight the proudest moments of Britain’s athletes.
One – Trevor – said: ‘So 4 young women worked their socks off to get to the final of the Women’s 4 x 100m relay and their chance in the limelight and the BBC, their NATIONAL broadcaster, would rather talk about who visited somebody’s school than show their entrance! Shameful.’
And TV critic Scott Bryan took to Twitter – now X – to add that the broadcaster should be making the most of the airtime they can use.
He said: ‘Whilst Discovery+ has all the Olympics, it does not curate any coverage onto a singular channel like the BBC does.
‘You’re just expected to know where everything is and make it up as you go along.
‘Meanwhile BBC already struggling having to cover gymnastics, diving, swimming heats and more at the same time.
‘Studio bits should be at a minimum, and they are not.’
Great Britain take on Spain during the men’s pool A match today – which they won 4-0
Adam Peaty during the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Semi-final at the Paris La Defense Arena
It comes after the UK boss of Warner Bros. Discovery’s media business defended the company putting much of the Olympics behind a paywall, saying it represents ‘equally good, if not better’ value than the BBC ’s coverage.
Andrew Georgiou said given the amount of content from Paris 2024 that would be available on subscription service Discovery+ it was not ‘unreasonable’ to ask for £3.99 to get ‘100 per cent of everything’.
When asked if he was worried that Warner Bros. Discovery would get blamed for putting so much of the coverage on a pay service, Mr Georgiou said: ‘We have said to the British consumer, that if you want everything then it costs you £3.99 for a month subscription to watch all the Olympics.
‘And if you think about that value proposition to a consumer that’s a very, very good value proposition, which we are very happy to stand behind.
‘And then if we put that up against also the BBC, the value proposition for us is equally good, if not better, given the amount of content we have versus the BBC.’
Speaking to journalists he claimed that during the Tokyo games, die-hard fans of events like equestrian categories signed up to the subscription service, because they could see more of it there than on the BBC. He said: ‘And the BBC can’t give you everything.’
This week the BBC appeared to be laying the groundwork to avoid another row about its reduced coverage for the Paris games, by putting a piece up on its website to ‘avoid any confusion’ about what it is allowed to show.
The BBC added for Paris 2024: ‘The BBC will have a network TV channel and a second broadcast stream throughout the games.’
Anna Henderson claims silver in the women’s individual time trial in treacherous conditions as the cyclist makes it a memorable first day for Team GB
It said: ‘Since the Winter Olympics in 2018 what’s changed is that if you are really into a specific sport that isn’t the main story of the day, we may not be able to broadcast it live.
‘We will still update you on all the stories of the day, but if it’s wall-to-wall Greco-Roman Wrestling you’re looking for, then Discovery+ will be the place to watch.’
The BBC’s explainer about Olympic rights included the question ‘Why didn’t the BBC just pay more to have everything?’. To which it answered: ‘Quite simply because we take decisions over our spending very seriously as it is licence fee payers’ money that we are using.’
It added: ‘As much as we’d like to, we can’t buy everything we want.’
In 2021, when the delayed Tokyo games took place, Lord Grade, who was chairman of the BBC between 2004 and 2006, said: ‘I think that Parliament needs to look at this and find some way, not of interfering in the market, but making sure that there is fuller coverage on free to air.’
Speaking before he was made Ofcom chair, he said: ‘It’s a huge disappointment to people not to be able to have the usual fuller BBC coverage. The Olympic games belongs to everyone really.’