Response from the BBC to my complaint:
"Thanks for contacting us regarding the BBC Red Button.We understand you were unhappy that coverage of the Track Cycling World Championships ended before the conclusion of the race. We appreciate in your view, the BBC consistently sidelines sports like cycling in favour of others, which is both unfair and unacceptable. We note your strength of feeling on this matter, and therefore we forwarded your concerns to the Cycling Production team at BBC Sport. They have responded with the following:“We are very sorry that you were unhappy with the abrupt curtailment of the Women’s Omnium elimination race coverage on Freeview. It was very unfortunate and we can understand that it was irritating. Unfortunately the cycling was over-running and while we had hoped for some time that the race might finish before we showed the Masters Golf, it became clear that there was going to be a direct clash. Unfortunately the golf could not be delayed because of another service that was following it directly and it was not possible to edit the golf down at late notice to fill a reduced slot. In those circumstances we chose to leave the cycling and show the golf. Clearly to those watching the cycling that was infuriating, but similarly if we had dropped the golf we believe we would have also irritated golf fans. “We try very hard to avoid these situations but sometimes time conspires against us particularly on Freeview where there is more limited transmission space available. The elimination race coverage continued in its entirety on satellite, cable and the BBC Sport website, and it featured in the highlights which were shown that evening on Freeview and the extended highlights show on BBC Two on Easter Sunday.
“Nevertheless, we are sorry that the clash of events and the way we dealt with them left you so unhappy.”
We hope this response addresses your concerns, and please be assured your comments were also registered on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's made available to many BBC staff, including channel controllers and other senior managers.The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.
Thanks once again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints"
Didn't address my point that the scheduled coverage at 19:00 was delayed for 25 minutes to cover a footy game which was duplicated on the main channel, nor did it answer my question about whether golf coverage would be extended if that ran past its scheduled end time, of course, but that was pretty much the response I expected.
