Putting the Commonwealth Games behind a paywall reminds us why the BBC matters

Glasgow has recently been abuzz with activity due to the recent Commonwealth Games. Athletes representing 56 Commonwealth member states have been battling it out for medals in their respective sports.

But you'd be forgiven for not knowing that the Games had even happened at all. Lack of proper coverage seriously harmed the publicity for the event. Just 800,000 viewers tuned in to the opening ceremony on Channel 5, with substantially lower numbers on TNT Sports. The closing ceremony gained a dismal 100,000 viewers on TNT. Meanwhile in Australia, Channel 7’s free to air coverage got record overnight figures.

Usually the BBC would have wall-to-wall non-stop coverage of the event, broadcasting via a gazillion iPlayer streams (or a gazillion Red Button channels like in 2014), but this time it was not to be. Instead it was the aforementioned TNT Sports who had the honour of providing domestic coverage of Glasgow 2026.

I did watch TNT's coverage, and it would be unfair to say that they weren't trying their best. I don't believe TNT did a bad job - far from it in fact. Although the "360" thing felt pretty jarring as no single event got nearly enough airtime as it should've done. Not to mention at least 4 or 5 ad breaks an hour. Channel 5's coverage (if you're kind enough to call it that) was just an hour long highlights show...which was the exact same highlights show as on TNT but with a different presenter! Watching TNT's effort has definitely made me appreciate the BBC's coverage much more.

I honestly don't they managed to get away with this. Surely an event with the prestige of the Commonwealth Games should be on the "golden list" of events that must be on free-to-air alongside the Olympics and Paralympics. Although the Commonwealth Games have fallen on hard time recently, the event still matters! Especially for the athletes from lesser-known areas who have prepared for years for the rare opportunity to represent their tiny land on the world stage.

The next Commonwealth Games in 2030 will (hopefully) be held in Ahmedabad, India. Broadcast rights for those Games are very much up for grabs. Let's hope the BBC can get in there quickly and secure the rights so we don't have to put up with another Games locked behind a paywall.