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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| BBC Boat Race coverage to be investigated over swearing | BBC Boat Race coverage to be investigated over swearing |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ofcom has launched an investigation into the BBC1's coverage of the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge, after viewers heard one of the coxes repeatedly use the word "fuck" to motivate his team. | |
| The incident during the broadcast on Sunday 31 March, in which victorious Oxford cox Oskar Zorrilla was heard to use the expletive as many as five times, prompted more than 200 complaints to the corporation. A BBC Sport spokeswoman said most of the total number of complaints about the race were likely to have been related to the bad language. | |
| BBC commentators apologised for Zorrilla's unsavoury language, but did not turn his microphone off or down. | |
| The media regulator has launched an investigation into the BBC's broadcast to see whether it was in breach of the broadcasting code, such as rules relating to offensive language and generally accepted standards. | |
| An average of 6.6 million viewers tuned in to see Oxford win the 159th running of the clash between the two universities, more than 40% of all UK TV viewers in the 30 minutes the race itself was run from 4.30pm. | An average of 6.6 million viewers tuned in to see Oxford win the 159th running of the clash between the two universities, more than 40% of all UK TV viewers in the 30 minutes the race itself was run from 4.30pm. |
| Many turned to Twitter and online forums to complain about the foul language. | Many turned to Twitter and online forums to complain about the foul language. |
| BBC Sport, which has used microphones to hear coxes issuing instructions since 2006, pointed out that its production team had warned the coxes of both boats about their language before the race "to emphasise that they should not swear because their voices would be picked up by on-board microphones". | BBC Sport, which has used microphones to hear coxes issuing instructions since 2006, pointed out that its production team had warned the coxes of both boats about their language before the race "to emphasise that they should not swear because their voices would be picked up by on-board microphones". |
| The BBC issued a lengthy apology for two instances of swearing during its broadcast, pointing out that in both cases the commentators immediately apologised on air. | |
| The language was removed from the broadcast before it was made available on the BBC's catchup TV service, the iPlayer. | |
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