British golf fans are set for disappointment with the news that the BBC will not start their television coverage of the final round of the Open Championship until 1.45pm BST – six hours after the start of play – instead choosing to show programmes such as Council House Crackdown, Homes Under The Hammer and Bargain Hunt.
Play started at 7.45am BST on Monday morning, but live play on BBC One won’t start until 1.45pm, with only five of the 40 pairings teeing off after that time. On Friday, coverage of the tournament’s second round was moved from BBC Two to BBC Four in order to make way for the first night of The Proms.
It was confirmed by the R&A in February that Sky will assume live Open TV rights from 2017, but the BBC’s live screening of the Open could cease after this year’s event at St Andrews, with consideration being given to ending the broadcast arrangement 12 months earlier than originally planned.
The BBC has lost control of the rights to the Olympic Games from 2022 onwards after the US broadcasting giant Discovery, owner of Eurosport, signed a £920m exclusive pan-European deal.
The BBC has joint deals for the FA Cup, Formula One and now the Six Nations – which will be shared with ITV under a new £50m-a-year deal to thwart Sky, who had been invited to bid for the rights for the first time.
In January, the corporation paid £204m to renew the rights for Premier League action on Match of the Day for three more years, until 2019.
