BBC 'planning Have I Got Sport For You'

Top comedians attached to HIGNFY spinoff

The BBC is working on a spin-off from Have I Got News For You – all about sport.

The news comes after the broadcaster cancelled A Question Of Sport after 53 years amid s plummeting rating.

Trade website Broadcast reports that the new programme – inevitably using the title Have I Got Sport For You – is in development with ‘high profile comedic and sporting talent attached’.

It is being made by Hat Trick Productions, which also produces the long-running news quiz.

Sporting personalities such as Gary Lineker, pictured, and Gary Neville have also featured on the original show which aired its 66th series in the autumn, as guest hosts.

Broadcast says Have I Got Sport For You is expected to launch at the end of this year but the BBC declined to comment.

When Question of Sport was axed, the BBC blamed ‘inflation and funding challenges’. Audience numbers for the show dropped below one million with Paddy McGuinness in the chair having regularly five million under previous host Sue Barker.

Hat Trick previously made an episode of Have I Got Sport For You for Radio 4, which aired in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics.

It was hosted by Nick Hancock – who previously chaired the TV sports comedy quiz They Think It's All Over from 1995 to 2004 – with panellists Paul Merton, Andy Hamilton, Mark Steel and badminton player Gail Emms .

Thanks for reading. If you find Chortle’s coverage of the comedy scene useful or interesting, please consider supporting us with a monthly or one-off ko-fi donation.

Any money you contribute will directly fund more reviews, interviews and features – the sort of in-depth coverage that is increasingly difficult to fund from ever-squeezed advertising income, but which we think the UK’s vibrant comedy scene deserves.

Subscribe or donate here

Published: 29 Feb 2024