How much influence does the BBC have on the order of play each day? All broadcasters can put their requests for when they would like a match to be played via official systems at the club and those are then passed on to the referee's office.
Clearly as host broadcaster, the BBC would like to feel we have a good degree of influence on the order of play. But at the end of the day it is simply a request we put in. There are so many other factors that the order of play committee need to take into account.
Why do you leave matches before their conclusion to go to other matches? Its always a very difficult decision. It is great that we often have two channels running at the same time, which means that we can leave matches on air whilst other good matches are coming up. Also 80% of the country have access to BBCi on the red button so we can switch a match to Interactive and people can carrying on viewing it there.
Its an editorial decision that we have to weigh up and its not always straightforward. We understand that people can feel cheated when they have watched a match for a long time, but options are always available to them to carry on viewing the match of their choice.
Why is Wimbledon on so much and on two channels simultaneously? This is probably the biggest complaint that we get. Wimbledon is the biggest annual sports event we broadcast. For two weeks there is tremendous interest from around the world and the UK and we feel, and the channel controllers feel, that it deserves the sort of air time that it gets. The overlap is not that extensive as it is only for perhaps a couple of hours in the afternoon.
Why do you show so many / few Brits? The fact that we get an equal amount of complaints about not enough action of British players and showing too much of British players. Hopefully means that we get the coverage just about right.
Certainly early on in the tournament the lesser known Brits tend to play on courts where we have only a few cameras covering the action, where as the bigger names and higher seeds are on the main show courts where coverage is much more comprehensive.
If we always showed the Brits on those minor courts it would not make for such good quality television. Clearly if there is an editorial reason to show a British player then we would go across to it and again there is always our interactive service to back it up.
Why do you always focus on the same few fans in the crowd? There tends to be a group of fans during a game who get animated and the cameramen focus on them to provide good cutaways. I think it is a mistake to show them too much or too often as it becomes repetitive. I think we need to work harder at getting alternative shots and images of the atmosphere, so I think thats a fair complaint.
Did you try and get Andy Murray on as a commentator? We did not try and get Andy Murray on as a commentator as it is simply not on the agenda for him at the moment. He wishes to get fit and has no desire at this stage to do any commentary. Andy has been brilliant doing interviews for the BBC and we have a great relationship with him, but commentary is not for him at the moment.
Why does Tim Henman get so much exposure on TV and on Centre Court when he has such a low ranking? Tim Henman is a unique case. If it purely went by his ranking, his matches would not be on Centre Court, but I think his pedigree at Wimbledon merits such reward. Weve seen how competitive he remains and the type and nature of audience he can get, not just on Centre Court but on TV, dictates that he deserves to be there.
If he had progressed further then maybe the officials would not have been able to have kept him on Centre so it would have been an interesting call.
I can't believe that so many people have complained about Wimbledon being on so much ???
For crying out loud, there's precious little tennis on terrestrial TV as it is (thank goodness for internet streams !), it's only 2 weeks of the year and one of the biggest sporting occasions in the world. Compared to the sh*t which constitutes the afternoon TV schedules for much of the rest of the year, the more Wimbledon on the better
I think that the final question must just be from all the Henman-bashing idiots on the BBC boards who need to get a life !
I wonder if these people who complain about the amount of coverage Wimbledon gets do the same when the BBC show snooker all day for several weeks throughout the year.
I have a question for him. Why on earth do they have the highlight show "Today at Wimbledon" at 8pm. Almost every day there will still be live play going on until nearly 9pm meaning their schedule gets all jumbled up and they have to push the show back half hour. Would be much simpler if they scheduled it for 10pm. Besides, people who have been on an evening shift at work still wouldn't see an 8pm show, I really don't see the point in it. Most bizarre scheduling ever.
__________________
Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
And another - tennis coverage starts as early as noon, and there are usually live matches on from then if not from eleven. But what do we get? Sue Barker and an assortment of ex-players chattering.
Now, I could do without this chattering altogether; if some people like it, fair enough, but can't they do it off-screen and SHOW THE DAMN TENNIS!