Wimbledon 2024: Sally Richardson on the BBC’s “complex” and comprehensive coverage
Clare Balding, who leads the BBC’s mid-afternoon and evening coverage on BBC1, with Marion Bartoli and Annabel Croft (Credit BBC iPlayer)
The BBC is once again providing comprehensive coverage of Wimbledon across BBC1 and BBC2, with all matches shown on iPlayer, plus coverage via radio, online and the broadcaster’s app. With a minimum of 175 scheduled hours across both networks during the Championships, it is a considerable – and sometimes complicated – undertaking, as executive producer Sally Richardson explains.
“Besides the Olympics, this is one of the most complex operations and it’s grown over the years,” says Richardson, who is working on her 25th – and final – Wimbledon Championships. Having started as a trainee assistant producer, her role now as director/exec producer is twofold; pre-Championships, she liaised with all external stakeholders including suppliers NEP and Moov, AELTC and WBS. And now, with the tournament underway, Richardson is on-site directing output on BBC1 and BBC2.
“We looked at the end of the 2022 Championships and said we need to reinvent this, because we’re not getting value for money”
“I liken what we do at Wimbledon to buying your first starter house, which might be a two up and two down. And then you might have kids, and maybe you get a dog, and then the mother-in-law comes to live with you, and you build an extension, and then maybe a carport, and then you knock through the roof.
“And then it gets to the point where you realise you are trying to cram an awful lot in, and you’ve outgrown the structure. And so, if you were to start from fresh and have a look at providing coverage of Wimbledon for two BBC networks at the same time, you might not start with it this way.”
Richardson is referring to working out of one (NEP) OB truck with one presenter, and the “complexity” of servicing two network channels at the same time with different output.
“NEP is here on site for the BBC’s domestic operation for over eight weeks,” she says. “They are the first to arrive on site, five weeks ahead of the Championships. Then, they are here for two weeks during the tournament, and then they’ve got a week to derig. They know every single cable and every fibre intimately, and touch wood, we have very few technical issues at all. They are absolutely top class, and we couldn’t do it without them.
“We’re so blessed with the crew we have here. They’ve been doing it for years, and they are the best in the business, whether its sound, cameras, VT. It’s really, really complex and without them, it could be even more challenging…continuity is really important at an event like this so we always try to go for continuity of staff, and fortunately we do get it, which helps us a great deal.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) signed a new deal with the BBC back in 2021, extending the oldest broadcasting partnership in sport to 2027, by which time it will be a 100-year old relationship.
Says Richardson: “We have a very long standing and great relationship with AELTC and latterly WBS. We’ve got eight presentation positions around the grounds, which is great and gives us real immediacy for our viewers, and the ability to be really in and amongst the action, particularly with the positions that we have behind the nets on No.1 and Centre Court.
“Each year, we make sure that those are still maintained, that we’re still happy and that the club is still happy for us to go there, and we will explore other positions as well to try and refresh things.”
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Last year, the BBC considered a presentation position on the roof of the new media centre but decided against it because it was a bit too exposed. This year, however, it has added two cantilevered parasols on the Hill Lawn Platform which provides an external wet weather position – vital given the particularly damp conditions of this year’s Championships.
“We always have the safety of our fabulous VR studio, but we do like to get out and about as well because we’re on air for up to 12 hours a day so it’s nice to be able to refresh our coverage and provide chapter headings for the viewers.”
Online enhancements
While there are no major changes to the BBC’s coverage this year, there is greater emphasis on collaborating with multiplatform colleagues and digital teams. Prior to last year, daily highlights programme ‘Today at Wimbledon’ was live from Wimbledon, but inclement weather meant matches continued and knocked ‘Today at Wimbledon’ off its network slot.
“We looked at the end of the 2022 Championships and said we need to reinvent this, because we’re not getting value for money having a team here working on ‘Today at Wimbledon’ which may not hit the air because of live play, which we obviously must cover,” says Richardson.
“So last year, it became a tape-based programme with links recorded and edited on site and put together as an entire programme which was then scheduled to go out at 9pm if play was not ongoing.
“If we were still on air with live play, it would go on the iPlayer at 9pm instead. What that revealed was a 300% increase in iPlayer viewing, which really confirmed it was the right decision. What’s happened this year is that we’re still doing the same format, but as ever we are challenged with making financial savings, so the programme is now put together remotely in Salford.”
In addition, edits that serve daytime programming are also done remotely in Salford, where the library and graphic design team are also now based, having previously been on site at Wimbledon. “That not only helps deliver savings but also reduces our carbon footprint,” says Richardson.
And while continuity among crew is key, there have been some changes to the on-screen team with the injured Nick Kyrgios and recently retired Ash Barty joining the team, providing fresh perspectives and insight and greater appeal to younger audiences.
“We had Nick with us yesterday before and after the Djokovic match, and he was saying, ‘I practiced with him yesterday’, so it’s great to be able to bring that strong editorial into our coverage because Nick and Ash are in touch with the players so we can get the latest news and insight.”
“We must continue our drive to appeal to younger audiences, and with the demographic of our daytime audience skewing a bit older there has to be a combination of both; they’re not mutually exclusive. We have legends such as John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova in our team and then when you can introduce the newer players who might appeal to the younger audience, that’s a perfect recipe.”
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