- The BBC made a late change to their schedule following the Pope’s death
- Snooker was removed from BBC Two and switched to the Red Button
- Fans were left bewildered by the BBC’s decision to take the snooker off air
Fans were left fuming after coverage of the Snooker World Championship was removed from the BBC at late notice on Monday morning.
The BBC were forced into a late change of their schedule following the announcement that Pope Francis had died at the age of 88.
A BBC News Special covering his death was put on BBC One, and the broadcaster then had a decision to make over what would be shown on BBC Two.
The third day at the Crucible in Sheffield was due to be on air from 10am, but this was replaced by Rip-Off Britain, which had originally been scheduled for BBC One.
The snooker was moved to the BBC’s Red Button – a call that did not go down well with viewers.
‘Why isn’t the snooker on BBC?’ one perplexed fan asked.
Pope Francis was confirmed dead at the age of 88 on Monday morning
Covrage of the snooker was moved to the Red Button, with Rip-Off Britain replacing it on BBC Two, while there was a BBC News Special covering the Pope’s death on BBC One
Fans were left baffled as to why the BBC were not showing the snooker on BBC Two as usual
One viewer tuned in at 10am only to be disappointed that the snooker was not on BBC Two
An X user was astounded that the BBC had ‘shafted’ the snooker to show Rip-Off Britain
‘Hey #bbc – where is the snooker??? It’s gone 10am!’ another fan raged.
One X user was baffled as to why the snooker had been ‘shafted’ in the wake of the Pope’s death.
‘Imagine if the BBC had a dedicated news channel to show major developing stories,’ they sarcastically wrote. ‘Why then does the snooker get shafted, #BBC1 to move #BBC2 and #BBCNews get duplicated onto BBC1?’
One X user branded the BBC’s decision to take the snooker off air as ‘bewildering’.
They wrote: ‘The Pope special is on BBC1. Ok so snooker is on the Red Button. But why? When BBC2 is now full of fill-in c***. It is bewildering the decisions BBC makes at moments like this.’
The snooker is due to be back on BBC Two from 1pm to show the afternoon session, with former finalist Ding Junhui in action.
The evening session is then scheduled to be on BBC Four from 7pm, and will feature four-time champion John Higgins.
