They also apologised to viewers whose enjoyment of other programmes was spoiled by the tennis, but stopped short of making excuses for Andy Murray’s capitulation in last Friday’s semi-finals.
It was reported that more than 100 viewers (who presumably have no knowledge of the mute button) actually went to the trouble of registering their displeasure at the level of banter.
The corporation’s pundit team for the two-week tournament included a host of former champions and British players including; ‘Come On Tim’ Henman, the always serious John McEnroe, Andrew Castle (??), celebration pioneer Pat Cash, cupboard dwelling German Boris Becker, former champion Lindsay Davenport, former world no.1 Tracey Austin, actual British Wimbledon winner Virginia Wade and big-serving funny-talking Greg Rusedski.
A BBC spokesperson apologised for their witterings and said that they had been aiming to “inform our audience and give context to the matches”.
“We felt that the diversity of the team itself added balance and insight where necessary,” the BBC’s official response said. “Views on our commentary are of course subjective and we do appreciate that over-talking can irritate our audience.
“We hope that across our coverage we have achieved the right balance and have accurately reflected the event, but we are of course sorry if on occasion you have not been satisfied.”
“We realise that not all our viewers will be interested in Wimbledon or indeed sport,” the broadcaster said. “However, the BBC has a duty to represent all licence fee payers and there is a large section of our audience who appreciate the coverage we offer.”
