Media Guardian: BBC shelves Question of Sport, blaming ‘funding challenges’

Story from Media Guardian:

The BBC is pulling Question of Sport, the world’s longest-running sport quiz, citing “funding difficulties”.

The show began in 1970 with David Vine as presenter, followed by David Coleman, Sue Barker and the current incumbent, Paddy McGuinness, who took over two years ago.

A BBC spokesperson said on Friday: “Due to inflation and funding challenges difficult decisions have to be made, therefore Question of Sport is currently not in production at the moment.”

A source said the show is taking a break in order to prioritise content that drives viewers to BBC iPlayer and provide value for money to licence fee payers but “this is not the final whistle”.

The first captains on A Question of Sport (as it was known until 2021) were the boxer Henry Cooper and rugby player Cliff Morgan.

The longest-serving team captain was England rugby international Matt Dawson who appeared in the show for 17 years from 2004 to 2021.

Other captains included rugby player Bill Beaumont, the Scotland footballer Ally McCoist, the long-distance runner Brendan Foster and cricketer Fred Trueman.

Jockey Willie Carson, former Liverpool footballer Emlyn Hughes, cricket icon Ian Botham, former snooker world champion John Parrott, former England spin bowler Phil Tufnell and jockey Frankie Dettori also had stints as team captains.

Former hockey player Sam Quek and former England rugby player Ugo Monye had been in the hotseat for the past two series.

Last month, the BBC announced that Top Gear would not be returning to TV “for the foreseeable future” after the crash involving the presenter Freddie Flintoff in 2022. 11-In a statement, the BBC said it had “decided to rest the UK show”.

The former England cricket captain turned broadcaster was taken to hospital by air ambulance last December after the high-speed crash at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey, which has featured regularly in the BBC show since 2002.

Also last month, the corporation announced that Newsnight is to become a 30-minute “interview, debate and discussion show” as part of wider plans to make £500m of savings. More than half of Newsnight’s 60 jobs will be lost.

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