{"id":117024,"date":"2026-04-03T12:22:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T12:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/three-bbc-stars-lose-boat-race-jobs-as-new-line-up-confirmed-after-rights-change\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T12:22:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T12:22:05","slug":"three-bbc-stars-lose-boat-race-jobs-as-new-line-up-confirmed-after-rights-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/three-bbc-stars-lose-boat-race-jobs-as-new-line-up-confirmed-after-rights-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Three BBC stars lose Boat Race jobs as new line-up confirmed after rights change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_68255d\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">The Boat Race will be broadcast on Channel 4 for the first time on Saturday after leaving the BBC and the presenting team has changed dramatically<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36965585\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The Boat Race will debut on Channel 4 this weekend\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The Boat Race will debut on Channel 4 this weekend<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Three BBC presenters have lost their Boat Race roles as coverage moves to <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/channel-4\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Channel 4<\/a>. Only one member of the presenting team has made the jump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">History will be made in more ways than one when the 171st annual rowing contest between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Not only does this year mark the 80th edition of the women&#8217;s race, but for the first time, <a aria-label=\"coverage of the event will be broadcast on Channel 4Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/boat-race-route-tv-channel-36941751\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">coverage of the event will be broadcast on Channel 4<\/a>. The race was <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/bbc-boat-race-radio-rights-36842245\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">initially televised by the BBC in 1938<\/a> after the corporation had brought it to the airwaves via radio in 1927. <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/itv\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">ITV<\/a> covered it from 2005 until 2009.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But this time around, as Cambridge looks to extend its head-to-head lead in both the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s events, <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/bbc-boat-race-sports-wimbledon-36842778\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">fans will have to tune into Channel 4<\/a>. One familiar face awaits, while <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/tv\/tv-news\/channel-4-star-cant-wait-36950646\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">the rest of the punditry team has been shaken up<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MirrorSport#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_de167e\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36950646\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/tv\/tv-news\/channel-4-star-cant-wait-36950646\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Channel 4 star &#8216;can&#8217;t wait&#8217; as he lands exciting new role ahead of documentary with wife<\/a><\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_de167e\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36941751\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/boat-race-route-tv-channel-36941751\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boat Race 2026 start time, route, TV channel, full schedule and odds<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Last year, the <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">BBC<\/a> programme was fronted by Clare Balding and she will return for Channel 4 this weekend. Balding acts as the lead presenter once again.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36965584\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36965584\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.48\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"George Nash (R), president of Cambridge stands with Alex Davidson, president of Oxford and BBC presenter Clare Balding prior to the BNY Mellon 159th Oxford versus Cambridge University Boat Race on The River Thames\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965584.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-165120356.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965584.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_GettyImages-165120356.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965584.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-165120356.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965584.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-165120356.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Balding is back to front the revamped coverage\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Balding is back to front the revamped coverage<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She was joined by commentator Andrew Cotter 12 months ago, as well as reporters Lee McKenzie and Qasa Alom. However, these three do not feature on Channel 4&#8217;s line-up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Former Paralympics GB wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan joins Balding as co-presenter and Alex Jacques will be on lead commentary duty following the competitors down the Thames.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Olympic gold-medal-winning rower Martin Cross and Olympic silver-medal-winning rower Jess Eddie are also part of the punditry team, as is triple Olympic champion Pete Reed OBE. Broadcaster and mathematician Hannah Fry will also be present, as will Jamie Laing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Pete Andrews, head of sport at Channel 4, said: &#8220;We are very excited to be broadcasting the race on Channel 4 for the first time and, as we get closer to Race Day, it&#8217;s a thrill to confirm our team to present this historic race for us.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36965594\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36965594\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ade Adepitan attends BBC Sports Personality Of The Year 2024 at Dock10 Studios\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965594.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2190434745.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965594.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_GettyImages-2190434745.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965594.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-2190434745.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36965594.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2190434745.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Adepitan is also on the presenting team\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Adepitan is also on the presenting team<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;m delighted Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan will be joining us on the banks of the Thames, along with the brilliant commentating talent of Alex Jacques and a gang of expert pundits, plus we&#8217;ll be adding in more Channel 4 faces as we build up to the big day, too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Channel 4 won the competitive rights to become the exclusive free-to-air home of the Boat Race for the next five editions, with Times Radio taking the radio rights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The women&#8217;s race will air first, beginning at approximately 2:21pm on Saturday. The men&#8217;s race will then take place an hour later at an estimated 3:21pm, with a daunting 4.25-mile stretch from Putney to Mortlake on the Tideway awaiting the rowers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContentsEmbed_affiliate-contents-container__oTiet\" data-testid=\"affiliate-contents-embed\">\n<div data-testid=\"affiliate-content\" class=\"AffiliateContent_affiliate-content-container__10EX_ affiliate-content\">\n<p>Get \u00a3250 to switch to Virgin Media&#8217;s sport packages<\/p>\n<div class=\"AffiliateDisclaimer_affiliate-disclaimer__dG5ST\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateDisclaimer_affiliate-text__8nmDa\">This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/affiliates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-container__JMDzM AffiliateContent_content-details__U6C2M AffiliateContent_has-content-img___LY95\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-content__QCkL9\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_content-image__FxPNL\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36895344.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s510b\/0_Virgin-factboxjpeg.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_content-price-details__OpMC_\">\n<p>from \u00a352.99<\/p>\n<p>Virgin Media<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"AffiliateContent_content-buy-btn__xWiVO buy-btn\" aria-label=\"Buy button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=6399&amp;awinaffid=213635&amp;campaign=&amp;clickref=Mirror-football.london&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.virginmedia.com%2Fbroadband%2Fswitch&amp;platform=pl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Get the deal here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-container__JMDzM\">\n<div id=\"product-description\" class=\"AffiliateContent_section-content__QCkL9\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Virgin Media is paying new customers up to \u00a3250 as a bill credit when they switch to one of its TV and broadband packages, several which are packed with hundreds of channels including Sky Sports, Netflix and fibre broadband.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/boat-race-bbc-channel-4-36965601\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Boat Race will be broadcast on Channel 4 for the first time on Saturday after leaving the BBC and the presenting team has changed dramatically The Boat Race will debut on Channel 4 this weekend(Image: Getty) Three BBC presenters have lost their Boat Race roles as coverage moves to Channel 4. Only one member [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[471,1486,1487,1490,1021,1488,1489],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}