Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Wimbledon 2023: Ron Chakraborty Reflects on Production Schedule Changes, A New Presenter, and Another Successful Championships for BBC Sport

24/07/2023

Wimbledon 2023: Ron Chakraborty reflects on production schedule changes, a new presenter, and another successful Championships for BBC Sport By Will Strauss

Thursday, July 20, 2023 - 12:54

Print This Story

BBC Sport's Ron Chakraborty, lead executive, major events pictured at Wimbledon in 2019

With record viewing figures for the men's singles final, the BBC had a steller Wimbledon in 2023.

Talking to SVG Europe at the culmination of the Championships, Ron Chakraborty, lead executive, major events at BBC Sport, discusses how this year's coverage differed from previous editions, and contemplates the sport's changing of the guard.

SVG Europe: Did you do anything differently with your Wimbledon coverage for 2023 versus 2022? Ron Chakraborty (RC): The main adjustments to our production revolved around the changes made to the tennis scheduling at Wimbledon in the last couple of years, with later start times and increased intervals between matches meaning that play now regularly runs late into the evening.

Our nightly highlights show had often been squeezed by late matches down the years but over the last couple of Wimbledons it regularly failed to make the air at all which was frustrating given all the work that goes into it. Even though all the day's matches are available on iPlayer we still felt there is value in a crafted digest of the day's best action, especially during the week when many viewers will have missed the daytime matches, so we changed the format from a live studio programme to a show that was built off-tape during the day.

As a result, it was always ready to play out at 9pm - if the live tennis had finished it went out on BBC2 but if not it went out on iPlayer and Red Button and was available on catch-up immediately after play finished with a later repeat on BBC2. It worked as both a terrestrial and digital offering, with peaks of 1.5m viewers on BBC2 and over 300k stream requests.

After experimenting with Wheelchair play on Number 1 Court last year, Wimbledon put all the main finals on there this year which made them a far greater spectacle, especially with the huge increase in camera coverage and replay quality.

We also adjusted the programme shifts to cope with the longer days, with Isa Guha our early' presenter for the first eight days working until mid-afternoon and Clare Balding taking over for the evenings. Isa and Clare were part of a new look line-up with Qasa Alom taking over Today at Wimbledon and Andy Stevenson hosting the Wheelchair Finals over the final weekend. We were delighted with how all of them performed.

While all 18 courts were available on iPlayer, along with Centre Court in UHD, we reduced the number of feeds available on the Red Button [interactive service] from six to one, reflecting the priority of online viewing, on iPlayer in particular. It seems to have worked as we once again broke the record for online viewing requests, with a total of 54.3m.

SVGE: This year, you had a new frontperson in Clare Balding. What did she bring to the coverage? RC: After working on Wimbledon for 30 years, Sue Barker was a broadcasting legend and loved by millions so her departure was always going to be a huge moment in our history of covering the Championships. However, in Clare we have another one of the UK's best presenters when it comes to sporting major events, and she also has a long history of working on Wimbledon, having joined the radio team in 1995 before switching to TV and presenting Today at Wimbledon from 2015.

As a result, she took over the role very smoothly with her customary energy and enthusiasm but inevitably approached the tennis from a different perspective, often looking at things from a viewer's point of view as opposed to trying to match Sue's experience as a tennis player and Grand Slam champion.

SVGE: British participation in the men's and women's draws ended early. Did this prompt you to change the way you covered the tournament editorially? RC: Sadly I'm old enough to remember when the nation went crazy because Jeremy Bates had made the second week of Wimbledon so the prospect of a Championships without significant British success in the singles events is not a new experience! While Andy Murray has been a wonderful gift to our coverage until the epic Men's Final the 5m peak for his match against Tsitsipas was still the peak for the Championships and there were some wonderful moments for the likes of Katie Boulter and Liam Broady, a second week of Wimbledon means we can put the spotlight on some of the new names and storylines who might otherwise have been overshadowed.

There were some great matches in the Women's draw in particular, and as we approached the climax of the competition you had the prospect of the first Arab Wimbledon winner in Ons Jabeur, or the emotion of Elina Svitolina winning for Ukraine, but in the end they were trumped by the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, Marketa Vondrousova, who began the tournament with no sponsors and ended it with the Venus Rosewater dish in her hands.

And in the end, we did have a weekend of British success with Ken Skupski in the Men's Doubles, Henry Searle in the Boys Singles and Reid & Hewett in the Wheelchair Double so we ended with the best of both worlds.

SVGE: How was the Wheelchair success showcased? RC: We've been showcasing the Wheelchair Finals over the final weekend of the Championships for a number of years now, but this year saw a real step forward in the profile of the event for two reasons. The first was that after experimenting with Wheelchair play on Number 1 Court last year, Wimbledon put all the main finals on there this year which made them a far greater spectacle, especially with the huge increase in camera coverage and replay quality.

The second was a piece of good fortune whe
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/wimbledon-2023-ron-chakrabort...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

13/03/2025

You Will Leave Opus Singing the Original Bops Performed by John Malkovich

(L-R) Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, John Malkovich, Ayo Edebiri, and Juliette Lewis attend the premiere of Opus at Eccles Theatre in Park City. (Photo by...

13/03/2025

How Spotify Is Driving Growth, Discovery, and Innovation in the Audiobook Market

Spotify took center stage at the London Book Fair this week, reaffirming our commitment to the audiobook market and showcasing our impact on the publishing indu...

13/03/2025

Spotify Audiobooks Launches a New Publishing Program for Independent Authors

At Spotify, we work every day to lift up new voices, giving creators the opportunity to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, our in-house publishing ...

13/03/2025

Evolving EO/IR Technology For All-Domain Airborne Law Enforcement

Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...

13/03/2025

Craft Interview: Jamie McCombs, Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio

Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...

13/03/2025

Craft Interview: Paul Sandweiss, Production Sound Mixer/Audio Director

On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...

13/03/2025

Riedel To Showcase New StageLink Smart Edge Devices At 2025 NAB Show

WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...

13/03/2025

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring for VOS360 Streaming Workflows at the 2025 NAB Show

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...

13/03/2025

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage Platform that Empowers Video Teams to Scale Effortlessly

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...

13/03/2025

Ajit Pai Appointed President of CTIA

CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...

13/03/2025

NAB: FCC's 60 Minutes Investigation Is Unconstitutional, Invalid

he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...

13/03/2025

CBS Miami to Launch AR Coverage of Weather and Sports for March Madness

MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...

13/03/2025

Meet the co-founder and chief customer success & innovation officer

Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...

13/03/2025

FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...

13/03/2025

SDVI Integrates Rally With Spectra Vail

SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...

13/03/2025

FCC Approves Gray's Acquisition of KXLT

ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...

13/03/2025

NAB Show 2025 Exhibitor Insight: Blackmagic Design

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...

13/03/2025

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions. ...

13/03/2025

Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content

Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content Feature marks Rokus first women's league-branded zone within service By Bra...

13/03/2025

Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew Cross

Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew...

13/03/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size on Completing Customizable Studios for All Clients

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size ...

13/03/2025

IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036; Add Digital Projects, Initiatives

IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036;...

13/03/2025

NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical Video Feed, Mascot Mode, and Popular Boss Button

NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical...

13/03/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive Experience for Daytona, The PLAYERS, and March Madness

SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive...

13/03/2025

Sky Business Launches Cloud Voice A New Cloud Communication Solution for UK Businesses

Sky Business, Sky's B2B division, providing connectivity and content to busi...

13/03/2025

Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark for F band applications

Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark ...

13/03/2025

The ICG Marketing Survey 2025

We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey. Our 2025 survey p...

13/03/2025

Harmonic Amps Up Video Streaming Efficiency with New Origin Capabilities

SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...

13/03/2025

Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025

Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025 Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme Connecting the Present, Building the Future Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...

13/03/2025

2025-03-13

A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...

13/03/2025

Italia 90 Republic of Ireland Squad, Riverdance, Cian Ducrot & B*Witched on Friday's Late Late Show

Here is your host, Patrick Kielty! Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...

13/03/2025

RT Celebrating all things Irish this St. Patrick's Weekend

This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...

13/03/2025

GTC 2025 - Announcements and Live Updates

What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...

13/03/2025

T-Mobile, Thales and SIMPL ease IoT deployments with a flexible and secure connectivity solution

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...

13/03/2025

Relive the Magic as GeForce NOW Brings More Blizzard Gaming to the Cloud

Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library. Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...

13/03/2025

Gaming Goodness: NVIDIA Reveals Latest Neural Rendering and AI Advancements Supercharging Game Development at GDC 2025

AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...

13/03/2025

Drop It Like It's Mod: Breathing New Life Into Classic Games With AI in NVIDIA RTX Remix

PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...

12/03/2025

Como o Impacto Cultural e Financeiro da Indstria Musical Define Seu Sucesso em 2025

O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...

12/03/2025

Cmo el impacto cultural y financiero de la industria musical define su xito en 2025

Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...

12/03/2025

Nourish Mind, Body, and Soul This Ramadan With Spotify

Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...

12/03/2025

How the Music Industry's Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025

Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...

12/03/2025

FAST now transcends back catalog content

More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...

12/03/2025

Viamedia Adopts ShowSeeker Pilot To Streamline Ad Workflows

GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...

12/03/2025

Mediagenix Appoints Wael Yasin as Sales Director Central Europe

BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....

12/03/2025

Omdia: Global Online Consumer Expenditure to Hit $6.6 Trillion by 2029

LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...

12/03/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions Upgrades to Interra Systems BATON Version 9

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....

12/03/2025

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments High-capacity switch enhances existi...

12/03/2025

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...