''Today at Wimbledon'' is a BBC TV show, showing highlights and discussion from the day's play at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

currently hosted by

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the ...

. The show lasts for 60 minutes and is broadcast on BBC Two at 8:30 pm.

Origins

The BBC (the UK host broadcaster of the Championships) began broadcasting Wimbledon in 1937. David Coleman hosted the live coverage from 1964 to 1966 and from 1968 to 1969.

Harry Carpenter Harry Leonard Carpenter, OBE (17 October 1925 – 20 March 2010) was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing. He was presenter of programmes such as ''Sportsnig ...

hosted the live coverage in 1967 and from 1970 to 1990 (and in some years also hosted the evening highlights programme). Des Lynam fronted Wimbledon live coverage on BBC television from 1991 to 1997 and in 1999 (

Steve Rider Stephen Rider (born 28 April 1950) is an English sports presenter, and was the anchorman of ITV's football coverage. He anchored ITV's Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010. He was the lead presen ...

hosted the live coverage in 1998). After Wimbledon 1999, Lynam moved to ITV and was replaced from 2000 by

Sue Barker Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits islan ...

who hosted Wimbledon live coverage on BBC television until 2022.

Broadcast history

The evening highlights programme was initially broadcast late evening on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

when the channel launched in 1964 and titled ''Wimbledon: Match of the Day''. It moved to

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in 1984, in the era when Des Lynam hosted with Gerald Williams as a studio guest. It was renamed ''Today at Wimbledon'' in 1990 and moved back to

in 1997 when it was allotted a fixed start time of 9.30 pm before moving again to an 8:30 pm slot in 2005 and the following year to an even earlier start time of 8.00 pm in 2006 as BBC2 schedules non-sports output between 9 pm and 10.30 pm. As a result, if significant matches last beyond that time the programme is usually cut short (and occasionally not shown at all) to allow the live tennis coverage to be shown, which attract regular viewers. The show is presented either from the BBC's dedicated studio in the Wimbledon media centre, or from the landscaped garden on the building's roof, adjacent to court 18. The theme music is from "Sporting Occasion" by Leslie Statham.

Hosts

Wimbledon 2day

In 2015, the programme was rebranded ''Wimbledon 2day'' (a pun on the channel's name).

became the new presenter after long-time host John Inverdale left to join the BBC's Wimbledon commentary team. The opening week was presented from The Gatsby Club – a temporary hospitality venue outside the grounds – with stand-up presentation, handheld cameras, various social media features and a small live audience. The changes prompted many complaints, in particular the reduction in highlights. The BBC tweaked the format in the second week, Balding hosting a more traditional show, without an audience, from the upper floor of Centre Court with views across the grounds. For 2016, the show returned to the ''Today at Wimbledon'' name and format.

References

External links

* 1964 British television series debuts 1960s British sports television series 1970s British sports television series 1980s British sports television series 1990s British sports television series 2000s British sports television series 2010s British sports television series 2020s British sports television series BBC Sport Wimbledon Championships Tennis on television {{BBC-tv-prog-stub