When asked why the BBC was on site in a big way at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham for the European Athletics Championships 2026 (10-16 August), the answer from Matt Griffiths, lead director, BBC Sport, was clear. “It’s the first time the Europeans have been in England. We had to be here. It’s also much better to be here because then we get to be part of the atmosphere and we can convey that to the viewers at home.”

Much of this atmosphere has been conveyed from the BBC studio on site, where hosts including Gabby Logan and Jeanette Kwakye have welcomed pundits and medallists across the seven days of the event.

“Being on site gives us access to medallists. We’ve had medallists in the studio every night so far,” he adds. “Again, one of the reasons we’re on site is that we know Team GB has got some of the best athletes in Europe, so we knew we were going to get medals and it was going to be a good occasion. The atmosphere every night has been really good.”

While Griffiths has been impressed by the coverage offered by the host broadcaster, particularly the new angles captured by the drone and monowheel coverage, the BBC has also added to this with some of its own cameras.

“We’ve got two of our own ISO cameras – head-on and a back side camera – which we’re using to get in and out of the coverage neatly,’ he says. “We’re not adding anything too much, but we are getting some of our own celeb shots and family shots, so we can use it to pick out people. We’ve got some lovely setup shots and when [400m gold medallist] Matt Hudson Smith went to the stand named after him [after his win], we used our cameras for that, so it’s been a useful addition.” 

The coverage across the BBC has been comprehensive, with content shown on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, as well as daily coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds. 

Social content has also been a big focus this year, particularly following the strategic partnership announced with YouTube earlier this year.

“We formed a new partnership with YouTube around six months ago so we’re prioritising that because we don’t actually know how athletics content works on YouTube,” explains Emma Cook, content editor, BBC speaking on the final weekend of the event. “On the BBC Sport side we concentrate quite a lot on football content, but here we’ve been doing highlights every day, so short-form content.

“Social content is a mixture of using our rights material, using our studio access, using our mix zone. We’ve also got people making bespoke content, behind the scenes and the like. So we’re really using our rights deal and our relationship here to try and give our audience a behind the scenes view as well. Back at base, there’s a huge operation – our live text is really important, that’s such a gateway into all the video clips we do.”

The BBC has also recently launched Shorts, which replicates YouTube within the BBC app. 

“A lot of our athletics content is now repackaged be a really big part of this. And this is flying. So it’s a really different world, but we’re really happy,” she continues.

All of this has added up to impressive viewer figures across all platforms for the broadcaster.

“It’s performing really well,” Cook adds. “It’s been great to get so much of BBC One – it’s been a real network priority and the audience has been building all week. We started off with around 2 million viewers on Monday night, and we grew to 3.8 million last night [Friday]. It’s gone up pretty much every night and I hope it will stay around that over the weekend. We’re also performing really well in the daytime on BBC Two. 

“The priority is that live studio, making sure we get guests in, making sure we keep it really fun, really vibrant, and it gives us the ability to get the athletes in, talk to them and tell their stories.”

Digital figures are still to be confirmed but as of Wednesday morning over 600,000 views had been recorded.

The Europeans form part of a bigger focus on athletics for the BBC, with Diamond League coverage continuing until the finale on 4-5 September, the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship coming to the BBC on 11-13 September and the first UK outing for Athlos, the all-women’s professional track and field league, streaming live from StoneX Stadium on 18 September.

“The BBC has really invested in and committed to athletics, and I think that’s really important. What we’ve been trying to do, particularly with our Diamond League coverage, is provide that spine through the season. So we’re always coming back in and out of the Diamond League and then, on top of that, we have the Great North Run, the London Marathon, this championships and then everything else that we have. We’re really trying to make the BBC the place you come to for athletics, and that is for your live coverage, but also for some great journalism that our team at Salford are across. That is the place to come and have a bit of fun with the behind-the-scenes access. It’s a place to come if you want to get the results and to know what’s going on and to get that guidance and that pathway through a season. We’re trying to make it a one-stop shop.”