Break of serve, starring Rishi and Saj

While not watching any of it, I've read so many complaints recently about falling BBC competence when it comes to scheduling and sports broadcasts. 

This afternoon, for example, I read complaints that the BBC was dumping Novak Djokovic and focusing on someone the complainants clearly considered 'a British little-hoper'. 

On both BBC One and BBC Two, simultaneously.

I must admit that my immediate reaction was to think that the BBC clinging onto British hope for 'a British little-hoper' was no great sin, even if they were doubling-up and messing-up across two channels. 

And then came the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid well before 6pm. 

And BBC One continued broadcasting the match featuring the 'British little-hoper', even after their news website had reported the breaking news at 5.42pm, postponing BBC One's News at Six...

...until, with the tennis match reaching a 2-2 situation and a final set yet to play, the BBC realised that they had to bail out and drop the match in favour of the news.

And even then the BBC couldn't simply switch from a tennis match to the news of the Chancellor and Health Secretary resigning. Immediately after finally, sensibly, cutting away from the tennis match to tell the news - albeit half an hour too late - they still felt they had to put out their usual string of self-promoting adverts. 

Here BBC One viewers had to watch an advert for a BBC Freddie Flintoff series about underprivileged kids and a plug for the BBC's One Show featuring something about Doctor Who between the cut-off from the tennis at 6.17pm and the very late arrival of the News at Six a minute or so later. 

Some immediate reaction:

Alastair Stewart: Extraordinary BBC decision to have delayed the news for the tennis, given the lead story...

Simon McCoy: Lots of jobs suddenly available. In politics. And BBC scheduling.

The BBC is too big and bureaucratic. It can't react quickly enough, even when their news department must be feverishly chomping at the bit to finally finish off Boris [Johnson, not Becker].