Tokyo 2020: Olympics slammed by Bill Maher

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Critics have accused the corporation of failing to show key moments live and being insensitive after British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith dropped out of her race due to injury. An Express.co.uk poll subsequently asked readers: “Should BBC lose Olympics as anger grows at Tokyo 2020 coverage?”

A poll of Express.co.uk readers found 91 percent think the BBC should lose coverage of the Olympic Games, with just 7.7 percent disagreeing and the rest unsure.

In total 2,604 people took part in the survey, which ran from 3.15pm on Saturday 31 July to 3pm on Sunday, August 1; and 2,370 called for a new Olympic broadcaster, 201 backed the Beeb and the remaining 33 opted for ‘don’t know’.

The BBC came under fire on Friday, after failing to show British BMX biker Kye Whyte winning a silver medal live on TV.

Presenter JJ Chalmers said: “We are very sorry that we didn’t get to show Kye Whyte’s race live on BBC One.

“It was on the red button, but there’s been a bit of a timing issue.

“There have been some delays in the schedule as well.”

Separately there was anger the BBC didn’t cut an interview with Ms Asher-Smith, after she became emotional and started crying following her injury.

Team GB sprinter Adam Gemili tweeted: “Why they zooming????”

Another social media user added: “Interviewer should have shut that down when she got upset.”

Unlike at the London and Rio Olympics, the BBC is only able to show two events live at a time from Tokyo due to a new broadcasting deal.

Coverage is shared with non-terrestrial broadcaster Discovery, which agreed to a £920million pan-European deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for TV rights.

However, a number of Express.co.uk readers said the BBC failed to provide the quality of coverage they expected.

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One wrote: “Completely pathetic coverage.

“The BBC have no place in British broadcasting and should never have priority in such competitions. GB News should cover Team GB and that’s what we want.”

Another added: “Overpaid mediocre presenters that’s the BBC.”

A third said: “Lose the Olympics? I would be happy if they lost their broadcasting licence.”

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The BBC have already signed deals to cover the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing, along with the 2024 summer games in Paris.

Speaking to Express.co.uk a spokesperson for the BBC defended their coverage of the Tokyo Olympics.

They said: “The IOC [International Olympic Committee] sold the rights for the Olympics in 2022 and 2024 to Discovery and, as a result, we needed to carve out a comprehensive deal that ensured the Olympics remained on the BBC.

“With over 500 hours of live coverage, and more BBC One hours than ever before, alongside 24-hour catch up and extensive radio and digital rights, we have secured an extensive offer for audiences that has already been watched by over 26 million people.”

Britain currently sits sixth in the Olympic medal table, with nine gold medals.

Max Whitlock and Charlotte Worthington both won golds on Sunday for Team GB, on the pommel horse and a BMX bike respectively.

China is leading, with 23 gold medals and 50 in total.
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