By Eirian Jane Prosser and Adrian Bishop For Mailonline
20:43 15 Dec 2023, updated 22:11 15 Dec 2023
BBC bosses tonight dramatically axed A Question of Sport after running for more than 50 years.
Making the shock announcement, the Corporation blamed inflation and dwindling ratings as the long-running sports quiz show that spanned more than 1,300 episodes was cancelled.
The decision to halt production comes after long-running host Sue Barker was sacked, sparking fury among viewers.
The show first debuted in 1970, and initially fronted by former Match of the Day reporter David Vine, but is best known for being presented by Barker, who captained the programme for 24 years.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist joined the programme in 1997 quickly progressing to become the face of the show.
In 2020, however, she was ousted in a shock move that the presenter admitted left her feeling ‘slightly damaged’.
‘Naively, I’d expected more after 24 years,’ she wrote in the Daily Mail following the fallout. ‘Don’t get me wrong: I had no problem with being replaced,’ she said. ‘Everyone has their day. Producers must always have the right to refresh a programme and take it in a new direction.
‘It was the way it was handled. It taught me there is actually no way of leaving a role in a nice, pleasant and helpful manner, with your head held high.’
The former tennis star was removed from the programme with captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell, so that bosses could draft in fresh talent to revamp the long-running sports quiz.
Paddy McGuinness was brought into to replace Barker in 2021. Olympian Sam Quek and retired rugby star Ugo Monye replaced Dawson and Tufnell as team captains.
A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline tonight: ‘Due to inflation and funding challenges difficult decisions have to be made, therefore Question of Sport is currently not in production at the moment.’
When McGuiness was drafted into replace Barker, he said: ‘I love the fiercely competitive nature of sports stars coupled with having a laugh.
‘That’s why ‘A Question of Sport’ has always been one of my favourite shows and having been weaned on it from an early age, this is an honour and opportunity I’m certainly not taking lightly.’
McGuiness said that he will attempt to put his own mark on the show, which was previously hosted by David Coleman and David Vine.
He added: ‘I grew up with both Davids hosting but it’s Sue who made this show her own.
‘She will always be A Question of Sport icon, but I’ll try my best to stamp my own mark on it.’
But earlier this year, he revealed his Top-Gear co-star and pal Freddie Flintoff warned him ahead of hosting BBC’s panel show A Question Of Sport.
‘For me personally, the pressure I felt, I felt it more for ‘A Question of Sport’ than Top Gear,’ he said.
‘I remember Freddie [Flintoff] when I got the job, and he rang me up and said ‘Oh God, be careful because it can be talked about online and stuff,’ he added.
The show’s heyday was in the 1980s, breaking records in 1987when 19million tuned in to watch Princess Anne take part.
At the time, David Coleman was running the show along with team captains Bill Beaumont, Gareth Edwards and Emlyn Hughes.
Beaumont was the one of the longest serving captain making 319 appearances, being beaten by footballer Ally McCoist who starred in 363 episodes.
While Barker was still presenting, 4million people were still tuning in to watch the show, with the number almost halving to 2.2million when Mr McGuiness took over. Soon under a million viewers were tuning in.
In 2022 ratings for Question of Sport slumped to an all time low dropping to an average of 850,000.
One episode on August 19 peaked at 750,000, with the programme being beaten by a Channel 5 show about Britain’s Poshest Farm Shops.
Between four and five million viewers regularly tuned in when Sue was host before she was given the boot in 2020 when bosses decided to refresh the programme.
Insiders working on the show said the presenters and captains have been informed of the show’s demise and were ‘gutted’, the Mirror reported.
It is a particular blow for McGuiness, 50, who lost his presenting show on Top Gear earlier this year when the BBC announced it would scrapped for the ‘foreseeable future’.
Last week BBC bosses complained that the recently announced £10.50 licence fee increase is not enough and will result in programmes ‘that audiences love’ being axed.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer revealed that the household payment would jump to a total of £169.50 as she announced a review into the broadcaster’s funding model.
The broadcaster’s governing body, however, has said the below-inflation rise, will have an impact on its content budgets and as a result ‘have a significant impact on the wider creative sector across the UK’.
In a statement the board said the increase will mean ‘further changes on top of the major savings that we are already delivering’.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
