Having spent five hours showing the tense John Higgins-Mark Selby quarter-final in the UK Championship, the BBC decided to break off from the match seven minutes before the end to bring us the vitally important programme, Strictly: It Takes Two.
Selby and Higgins were tied at 5-5 with Selby leading 44-39 in the deciding frame. Within seven minutes of the decision to switch over, Selby clinched it 6-5. Only those with red button access caught the BBC coverage of the event. Eurosport stuck with it til the end.
Strictly: It Takes Two is a spin-off of the Strictly Come Dancing programme. It is a kind of Big Brother's Little Brother to Strictly Come Dancing's Big Brother.
Some snooker fans were irate that the BBC couldn't have stuck with the match til the end. The allegedly vacuous nature of the programme which followed added to the ire of some.
Eurosport does not leave a brilliant game of snooker to talk about celebrity wannabes talk about dancing. You're a disgrace. @BBCSnooker
— Darren Belfast LFC (@ddot42) December 2, 2016
BBC leaving it there? Invested 5 hours, final few balls in a decider? Quick switch to Eurosport #snooker #bbcsnooker
— SalisJack (@SalisJack) December 2, 2016
Dam you BBC! Moving to .@BBCRedButton with the last shots of Selby V Higgins to go! By the time it worked, match was over! #screwstrictly
— Brad (@bradleywhayes) December 2, 2016
Can't believe @BBCSport ditched that decider for strictly spin off nonsense #snooker
— Silver Fox (@SilverFoxZone) December 2, 2016
Last frame decider with Snooker and BBC turn it off to show Strictly Come Dancing take #2. Would they have done that with any other sport?
— James Tivendale (@youandibooks) December 2, 2016
Damn you Strictly I'd rather watch snooker with one of the most interesting matches in a generation. @BBC You couldnt delay it for 5 mins?!
— Matt Wilcoxson (@MWilcoxson) December 2, 2016
5-5 in the snooker between Selby and Higgins and the BBC decide to end the coverage. Grrr ???? #bbc #wankers #snooker
— Stephen Thomas (@pikeyman1975) December 2, 2016
@colingar oh but it's ok to disrupt live snooker?!..it's not even the proper show it's a bloody discussion programme! Fancy dans!
— Carl Dever (@DeverCarl) December 2, 2016
But the hard-headed bosses at the BBC made their call.
Strictly: It Takes Two was too important to be deferred. Or else, snooker wasn't important enough to force its deferral. One or the other.
There would be no Alf/Home and Away situation here.
The BBC's snooker frontman Jason Mohammad responded to one angry fan. He used the term 'Strictly' on its own in that breezy, familiar fashion. Balls will not be following suit.
@chrisroberts405 Never easy Chris but we had to leave for Strictly. Thank you for writing.
— Jason Mohammad (@jasonmohammad) December 2, 2016
Read more: Mark Williams And Liam Highfield Played Out Four Incredibly Bizarre Minutes Of Snooker
