Tennis fans hit out at the BBC for failing to show the start of Andy Murray’s potential tennis farewell on their main Olympics channel.
The Beeb has a limited amount of action which it can cover at the Paris Olympics, with Discovery the lead broadcaster for the games. Events are split between a main channel – BBC One – and an ‘extra’ segment, accessible via the red button.
Those tuning in to BBC One hoping to watch the tennis were made to wait, with rugby sevens action being shown on the primary channel when Murray and Dan Evans started their match. It eventually moved to the main channel, though, in time for the Team GB pair to win a tie-break to level things up at one set all.
After Murray and Evans entered their tie-break decider, they remained on the same channel while relegating the swimming to red button coverage. Despite finding themselves five match points down, Murray and Evans recovered for a dramatic victory.
“This is probably Sir Andy Murray’s last EVER tennis match and BBC One is showing rugby sevens group stage instead,” one viewer wrote. “Utterly bizarre. And frankly shameful”
“Why on earth isn’t Murray’s (potentially) last match on BBC One?” asked another. “Why is it on the Red Button? Genuinely a bit angry about this. More people should be able to see it easily.
“BBC are a joke not showing Andy Murray’s potential last ever match on their main channel instead showing Rugby Sevens,” was the response from the third. It remains to be seen whether Murray and Evans’ second round game will get the full BBC One treatment.
