BBC Responds to Olivier Coverage Complaints???

The BBC yesterday (24 March 2011) officially responded to complaints from viewers about the quality of the their Red Button coverage of the 2011 Olivier Awards. The broadcast, which was hosted by Jodie Prenger and Paul Gambaccini, came live from the ceremony on 13 March 2011 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. In a statement in response to complaints the broadcaster said: “BBC Red Button broadcasts normally need to relate to an existing BBC TV or radio programme. Radio 2 was the main broadcast partner for the Olivier Awards, and for this reason we decided that the BBC Red Button programme should be a filmed version of the Radio 2 transmission. However, we realise that this treatment did not meet audience expectations and we’re sorry for any disappointment caused to viewers, especially where it led to viewers missing key live moments from the stage.”

The Beeb drew particular ire from viewers after it cut away from coverage of Nancy Carroll accepting the Best Actress Award for her performance in the National Theatre’s After the Dance for an interview with TV’s Gok Wan. In response to complaints about the incident the BBC said: “Unfortunately we also experienced a technical error at the same time Nancy Carroll was going on stage to accept her Best Actress award, resulting in Radio 2 listeners and BBC Red Button viewers missing her speech. The Gok Wan interview which was broadcast instead was, in fact, intended as a pre-recorded interview and should not have gone out live. We are very sorry for this and are taking steps to minimise the risk of this technical fault happening again”.