EXCLUSIVE by ROD GILMOUR (Squash Mad Correspondent)
The BBC has assured squash fans of coverage of their sport after an outpouring of dissatisfaction at no live broadcasting from the opening days of the Commonwealth men’s and women’s singles events.
Despite the BBC proclaiming online that ‘every moment’ of the action would be broadcast live on TV, iPlayer or on the BBC Sport website, squash coverage has been scant, with social media awash with rage from angry fans.
A BBC spokesperson told Squash Mad: “Over the first two days of the Commonwealth Games, the BBC One and BBC Two coverage has focused on the sports where the medals have been won so far.
“During this period, squash has been at the last 64 and last 32 of the Men’s and Women’s Singles, so we have to prioritise editorially. We have shown some of the squash on the Red Button over the last few days and have further coverage to come during the rest of the Games for viewers to enjoy.”
The claim that the corporation would screen live squash even left the MC at the University of Birmingham, Michael Absalom, to gee up the crowd to make as much noise as possible with the iPlayer set to showcase the sport.
Despite a Home Nations player scheduled on the show court in every match on Sunday, squash fans were still being denied a glimpse of the action as well as the well-appointed set-up here.
A dearth of coverage and general grievances from ‘general sport’ followers is nothing new for the BBC.
Lucky then that squash is not an Olympic sport just yet.
Last summer, the BBC trimmed down on blanket coverage of the Games to around 350 hours, with the BBC only allowed to show two sports at the same time due to TV rights deals.
It is understood that WSF officials have discussed the TV coverage with the Commonwealth Games hierarchy, who have been made aware of the “feedback from fans” on social media.
UPDATE: This social media post reflects the BBC’s knowledge of squash.
Time then that coverage of these large sporting events was handed to someone else. Plus stop blanket coverage of those sports that they deem to be what the public want, we don’t. People don’t always want athletics, cycling etc for hours on end. With the then endless replays of the “best bits”, we saw it the first time.
When it comes to squash we normally have to rely on you tube, the event organisers or even just coaches and family members to film it and post on social media.
Spot on observations – who wants to watch endless replays of cycling, gymnastics or swimming 🤬🤬
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/621161/sponsors/new?token=Nsh5nN8OjHxyzUT54wIS
All current squash professionals would agree that to develop interest in the sport of squash it has to be available to watch and learn from the best players on live TV
BBC Sport promotes coverage of sports in which their staff presenters have participated. They are all about self promotion and not broadcasting Sport. Coverage of Squash and many other sports from CWG in Glasgow was much more inclusive.
I agree with all the above. Even the iPlayer coverage has been patchy and unreliable. The Technical Fault screen pops up regularly. I am watching the ladies road cycling race on Live BBC broadcast. 50 KM to go and one hour 40 mins in so far. They are all still in a pack no action other than a crash. Is this good use of broadcasting time? I don’t think so. Still, it’s a good pay cheque for Chris Boardman trying to make it sound exciting.
Even after this criticism early on it got no better in the later stages of the tournament. Even if they decide to prioritise which sports are broadcast surely they could make in available on the iplayer. What is available is often mixed with other sports and is in chunks of 3 or 4 hours. The iplayer search facility is abysmal. If they knew they couldn’t devote enough time to do it properly they should have found collaborators who could. Just another example of how poor the professionalism of the BBC is these days.