The BBC, the United Kingdom’s national broadcaster for Formula 1, faced over 700 complaints from angry viewers after the extended-Canadian Grand Prix led to the cancellation of Antiques Roadshow.
A torrential downpour meant the race was red flagged and suspended for over two hours, making it the longest ever F1 race in history.
The grand prix, described as one of the best races in recent memory, was finally won by McLaren’s Jenson Button after a thrilling and tense final lap.
Over eight million people in the UK witnessed Sebastian Vettel make his last lap error, handing the victory to the 2009-world champion.
The broadcast was switched to BBC2 to avoid futher delays on the flagship channel, but still hundreds complained that it ruined their evenings television.
“I’m disgusted family shows should be treated with such disregard,” said one viewer, adding: “Instead of Roadshow we were left staring at pundits standing in the rain for hours on end.”
The BBC pays roughly £40 million a year to exclusively show the sport in the UK, and a couple of other countries, so it makes sense for them to continue showing a program they pay many millions for, no doubt ending the F1 broadcast before the race had finished would have attracted many, many more complaints.
We for one believe the BBC made the right choice, because Antiques Roadshow is, if you’ve never seen it before, really, really boring!
