Gary Lineker to return as host of Match of the Day: BBC apologises for ‘confusion by grey areas’ March 13, 2023 Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker will continue as a BBC presenter after the corporation apologised for a “difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters, and most importantly, our audiences”. A host of sports presenters and pundits pulled out of BBC shows at the weekend after the former England striker was told to step back [...]
Gary Lineker row: Now George Osborne weighs in on Tory immigration rhetoric March 12, 2023 Support has poured in for Gary Lineker following his suspension from the BBC amid an ongoing row over the government’s policy on stopping small boats crossing the Channel. Football pundit Lineker was pulled off air last week after tweeting about the UK’s asylum policy following the announcement of the new Illegal Migration Bill by Suella [...]
Does the BBC’s Gary Lineker row show that the government has a problem with football? March 12, 2023 The weather forecast finished and then suddenly there it was: the BBC’s hurried replacement for Match of the Day following its spectacular bungling of the Gary Lineker row. Shorn of its theme tune, opening title, studio, presenter, pundits, commentators and about an hour of running time, this was bleak and surreal; a sort of post-apocalyptic [...]
Former BBC sports commentator John Motson dies, aged 77 February 23, 2023 John Motson, the former BBC commentator who became one of the most recognisable voices in sports broadcasting, has died aged 77. Known affectionately as “Motty”, he combined an encyclopaedic knowledge of football with a palpable love for the sport that was reflected in his work. Motson, who also became synonymous with his trademark sheepskin coat, [...]
Watch: BBC chair Richard Sharp must ‘fall on his sword’ and quit honourably, veteran broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby says February 14, 2023 Richard Sharp is facing growing calls to “fall on his sword” and resign as BBC chairman over the cronyism row caused by him helping Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan facility. Rishi Sunak was standing by the embattled former banker despite a highly-critical cross-party report by MPs finding Sharp chairman made “significant errors of judgment”. [...]
BBC ‘fully co-operating’ as offices raided by India tax officials after documentary on PM Narendra Modi February 14, 2023 Officials from India’s Income Tax department began conducting searches on Tuesday at the BBC’s offices in the capital, New Delhi. It comes weeks after the British broadcaster released a controversial documentary that examined prime minister Narendra Modi’s role during 2002 anti-Muslim riots. Teams from the tax department surveyed the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices, the [...]
Sharp under pressure to quit BBC after report finds ‘significant errors’ over Johnson loan February 12, 2023 BBC chairman Richard Sharp has been told that his position is “increasingly untenable” today after a report found that “significant errors of judgement” were made in helping to arrange an £800,000 loan guarantee for Boris Johnson while Sharp was applying for the top job at the BBC. Ex-JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs banker Sharp, who [...]
BBC to show NBA matches for rest of the season January 19, 2023 NBA matches will be broadcast on the BBC for the rest of the 2022-23 season as the British broadcaster replaces its lost Super Bowl billing. Tonight’s fixture between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons will be the first to be broadcast as part of the deal. The two NBA franchises will compete in the [...]
More viewers watched BBC’s Happy Valley than Prince Harry’s bombshell ITV interview January 9, 2023 More viewers watched BBC’s Happy Valley than tuned into the much-anticipated interview with the Duke of Sussex on ITV, according to overnight figures. Harry: The Interview drew an average TV audience of 4.1 million, based on overnight figures released by ITV. The broadcaster said the 90-minute programme, in which Harry was interviewed by Tom Bradby [...]
The Apprentice review: A recap of the new series of Lord Sugar’s show January 5, 2023 There is something unbearably heavy about the prospect of a new series of The Apprentice. Tuning in to see this nightmare unfold yet again is like watching a battered old walrus drag itself back up the same beach year after year, ungraceful, wheezing, a shadow of its former self, the light in its eyes dimming [...]