The Sport Thread

[Andrew]

End of an era but the right time to go, and glad she was able to go on her terms considering another deal was on the table.

It will almost certainly be Clare replacing her as a like for like replacement.  Replacing Clare might be where they take a risk and the choice not so obvious - Lee McKenzie would be the safe bet but I think they may look elsewhere.

If Clare moves to main presenter, I wonder if they will attempt to reinvent the wheel again with the highlights programme. Do some crazy new format that all gets rolled back after about 3 episodes?

If Sue is leaving the BBC on good terms, I wonder if they will use her as a guest occasionally, as she will no doubt clearly be attending Wimbledon in a personal capacity, and will actually be able to watch a few matches live in person

[XIII]

I think Clare Balding is a shoo in to replace Sue but I wonder if Tim Henman might be considered for Today at Wimbledon? He's done commentary for a number of years now and probably would be quite good presenting.

[Newshound47]

I think Clare Balding is a shoo in to replace Sue but I wonder if Tim Henman might be considered for Today at Wimbledon? He's done commentary for a number of years now and probably would be quite good presenting.

It depends on if his committee role would be seen as a conflict on interest. As a commentator he sometimes has to sidestep certain discussions

[Brekkie]

If Clare moves to main presenter, I wonder if they will attempt to reinvent the wheel again with the highlights programme. Do some crazy new format that all gets rolled back after about 3 episodes?

To be honest given it only makes it to air half the time perhaps time to admit defeat on it and just schedule live coverage through to 9pm, filling with highlights if play finishes early.

However that arrangement would still benefit from a second live host and ideally they'd schedule a new highlights format later in the evening.   Mark Chapman would be good for a more relaxed highlights show but the biannual clash with the football tournaments likely makes that a none starter.

[RhysJR]

The Telegraph reporting that Clare Balding the strong favourite to replace Sue Braker. An outside candidate is deemed unlikely, with Hazel Irvine, Gabby Logan and Mark Pougatch also namechecked as potential candidates.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2022/...bbcs-face/

[bkman1990]

There was a loss of sound on Channel 4's F1 coverage of the qualifying from Baku a short time ago. There was no audio available at all when Lee McKenzie was trying to introduce Alex Jacques commentary to the session.

There was also no sound coming from some of the cars competing in the Q1 session on Channel 4 either. However the commentary was heard through it as normal. But it has gone back to normal about 5 minutes ago.

[RhysJR]

[RhysJR]

[RR]

In India it sounds as if Disney Star has retained the TV rights to the IPL, and Viacom18 gained the digital streaming rights.

https://bestmediainfo.com/2022/06/ipl-me...for-202327

Oversea rights still outstanding.

[SuperSajuuk]

The BBC Sport studio for the tennis at Queens is identical in design to that used on the snooker, but its the only thing thats been updated this year: graphics are still in the standard pre-2021 style, and don’t include the flag of the country the player plays for, or a scoreboard filling the entire width of the screen. I don’t see the tennis broadcast changing to fit the [frankly terrible] design choices used on the snooker coverage, especially since a small scoreboard in the bottom left or top left is more than sufficient for tennis, though i expect them to add flags at some point, if they can squeeze them in.

EDIT: flags are only being used on the player name graphic in their BBC pre-match interview, and they’re so out of proportion that i don’t even know why they’re bothering.

[RhysJR]

Anthony Joshua has left Sky Sports to fight on DAZN in a "ground breaking deal".

'Joshua has deepened his partnership with DAZN by becoming a shareholder, special advisor, and brand ambassador for the business. As a special advisor, Joshua will join DAZN’s strategic advisory board as the business develops its global boxing offering by providing a richer and more immersive experience for its customers.'

Will be interesting to see if his fights will be PPV, that DAZN and promoter Eddie Hearn have said they will not do (they have with a few fights in the US but none in the UK yet).

https://www.dazn.com/en-GLOBAL/news/boxi...y47walnbm8

[RR]

Not much doubt that Joshua's fights will be PPV, e.g.:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sp...NewsSearch

I think he was just still with Sky whilst they had PPV and DAZN didn't, but now that has changed.

A question is whether they will try and distribute the fights wider than just their own app - will it be on Sky and / or Virgin Media?

[no1fanofthepals]

[RhysJR]

[bkman1990]

Against The Head on RTÉ2 is coming from Studio 5 tonight instead of it's usual setup.