The BBC's coverage of Wimbledon has been branded a "joke" by viewers who were left furious after missing vital moments on the opening day of this year's championships. Monday saw the competition officially get underway at SW19, with the broadcaster bringing viewers hours of action as it switched between BBC One and BBC Two, as well as iPlayer, to show games. However, the channel switching has already started to frustrate viewers after it led to them missing key moments.
Missed Set Point Sparks Anger
In particular, fans were left fuming during coverage of seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic's first-round clash with Wu Yibing on Centre Court on Monday evening. While Djokovic battled through to progress to the second round, an entertaining match saw Wu win the second set — a moment that viewers missed due to the BBC changing channels from BBC One to BBC Two moments earlier.
When viewers switched channels, they were greeted by the closing credits of EastEnders, with a few minutes passing before the live action from Wimbledon was back on their screens. In that time, Wu had claimed a nail-biting second set.
Social Media Backlash
Fuming at the disruption the channel change caused, fans took to social media to complain about the "shocking" and "unacceptable" coverage, with one even branding it "a disgrace."
"Djokovic serving. Set point down: crucial moment. BBC1 cuts feed and tells viewers to switch to BBC2," wrote one fan. "On BBC2 the Eastenders credits are rolling. Two minutes later BBC finally starts showing the match, by which point the set is already over. F*****g useless, really."
"Would have been nice to watch that set point live @BBC but instead you switched from BBC One to BBC Two with no great hurry," wrote another. "Missed the set point and now they’re closing the roof so there’s a delay anyway — Could you not have waited one minute?!"
Another added: "The BBC coverage of Wimbledon truly is a joke. An absolute disgrace. If you're going to follow a match live, then don't keep switching channels halfway through. Either dedicate yourself to the tournament, or let it go."
A third wrote: "Fed up of BBC coverage of #Wimbledon. Only just started and already there is constant channel hopping, and missing crucial stages of the match as a result is unacceptable."
