someone has to try and encourage it, the last time we were on the BBC it was on BBC 3 in a doc about binge drinking women, not our finest moment, but im serious they would have played far more tennis today had they played it in Peterborough.

oh and the Cycle Tour series, but you didnt really see Peterborough in that.

until the spectators stole all the tennis balls probably...

The answer is that the audience for athletics is almost entirely a casual one and the BBC knows it can't put too much athletics on as there is only so much that a casual audience can take.

So the norm is Olympics / World / European championship each summer plus UK domestic meetings. That's enough.

Now they don't have the World Championships they know there's room for some more Diamond League.

The funny thing is that the BBC has spent the last 30 years telling us how Grand Prix meetings (as they used to be called) don't matter and that the major championships are all that counts.

Wonder if they'll change their tune a bit this season?

Well, that was great scheduling from RTE!

I guess so. I do think the IAAF have made the Diamond League too big - the more meetings which are apart of it the less important those meetings were. With the Golden 4 and then the 6-8 leg Golden League it truly was the most prestigious meetings on the calendar, and if they had kept it say to 8 meetings the BBC would probably be more likely to give them a regular BBC2 slot.

Murray having a really poor first set , wonder wil this have any rating implications, I'm sure he will probably pull things back. Wow one set down, ouch!

Yeah, he's just lost the set, definitely going to dent BBC1 and ITV1 as it'll run deep into primetime now.

It's true what they say about HD - you can see every bead of his sweat.

Yeah, Case Histories has been unlucky: first the F1 and now this Murray match possibly clashing against it which will dent its figures.

If it looks like he's on his way out by 8.30pm might the BBC hit the panic button and shift it to BBC1?

thanks i couldn't find them thanks, can u post them weekly
great for miriam, corrie and CDWM

I highly doubt it. Wouldn't look good abandoning one of their few true PSB primetime shows on BBC One for a fleeting ratings fix.

But then, I really doubt he's on his way out anyway. Murray has previous for going about things the hard way sometimes. From a TV audience point-of-view it's all good, sustaining interest even in the early rounds of the competition.

If Murray went down 2-0 (in sets) or 2-1 then I reckon it would go to BBC1.

They wouldn't allow him to be knocked-out on BBC2.

Betfair latest

Murray 1.09 (91.7% chance of winning)

Gimeno 11.5 (8.7%)

Adds to 100.4% due to market rounding.

I wonder if they would swap at 8pm, and move EastEnders to BBC2, or wait until 8:30pm?

I'd be surprised if it remained on BBC2 throughout.

no good reason to move EE.


sadly you have a point, it comes to something when the only time the city gets on TV, is in a doc about the effects of immagration on local employment, and about women boose drinkers.

The Tour Series is not really a big deal.

Don't see why not. Didn't he win a tournament on BBC Two last week?

Wimbledon is a far bigger deal, but it's only day 1. A simple heads up on the situation after EastEnders would suffice, would it not? As we saw with the Formula 1, viewers will find it on Two.

This is what i think will happen tonight

BBC 1
Eastenders: 7.9m
Panorama: 2.1m
Case Historys: 3.2m


BBC 2
Tennis: 3.9m


ITV 1
Emmerdale: 6.7m
Corrie: 8.1m
The Dales: 3.0m
Corrie: 8.3m

Tennis staying on BBC2. Overnights tomorrow will tell us if that was a sensible decision or not.

If Murray can steam through the fourth set then it'll be the right decision. If not I think BBC2'll seriously dent BBC1 (not to mention ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 etc.)

Its sensible regardless of the ratings. What would happen to the final part of Case Histories if tennis was on BBC1 from 9-10pm?

I'd imagine in that scenario (not that I would approve) it would get moved to Two. Can't see what else they could do. Made in Britain would have to be pushed back to next week.

Basically it would create a terrible mess. Hardly worth it on day 1.

Murray match should be over in ten minutes or so, Murray romped home last two sets, 4-0 ahead in what's looking like the last set. Pretty much done and dusted

Murray's match is over...almost perfect timing for the BBC really!

Even time for the interview before 9pm. They couldn't have timed it better if they tried.