:00:00. > :00:15.constitutional change. It is time for Newswatch.
:00:16. > :00:23.Scores of complaints as the BBC leads the six o'clock News on the
:00:24. > :00:30.sacking of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
:00:31. > :00:33.Tim Peake became the first edition Astra on the International Space
:00:34. > :00:39.Station but did the BBC do it justice?
:00:40. > :00:48.And was the BBC in hyperdrive promoting the latest Star Wars film?
:00:49. > :00:52.Scores of you got in touch about the amount of coverage given to the
:00:53. > :01:00.sacking of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho which led the six o'clock
:01:01. > :01:04.News on Thursday. Good evening and welcome to the BBC
:01:05. > :01:09.News at six. Chelsea has sacked their most successful manager Jose
:01:10. > :01:13.Mourinho after a terrible start to the season. He led his team to
:01:14. > :01:21.Premier League triumph in May but just seven months later the club has
:01:22. > :01:28.seen a complete reversal of fortune. Many people got in touch with us. I
:01:29. > :01:31.was watching the news and I was surprised to see with everything
:01:32. > :01:36.going on in the world today that the first item should be the sacking of
:01:37. > :01:45.Jose Mourinho. I do not suppose he wanted at 81 but it is only
:01:46. > :01:51.football. It is yet another example of stuff happening in London gets
:01:52. > :01:57.priority. I felt that way and I am a football fan. There are millions out
:01:58. > :02:00.there who are not football fans. I wonder if they have the same
:02:01. > :02:07.concerns that it should have been given slot one. There is bigger
:02:08. > :02:16.stuff. I am an easy-going individual but I was incredulous to see an
:02:17. > :02:20.extended bulletin on the demise of someone, who Jimmy, is an
:02:21. > :02:23.insignificant football celebrity. I have little interest in sport but I
:02:24. > :02:28.can understand there are those who do but on an evening when the Prime
:02:29. > :02:32.Minister was in Europe attempting to make some quite significant
:02:33. > :02:40.decisions on the future of the entire country, to have the or four
:02:41. > :02:46.minutes on this football character and his future at the top of the
:02:47. > :02:50.news did not seem quite right to me. We are joined by the editor of the
:02:51. > :03:00.six o'clock News and the ten o'clock news. Was this really the lead?
:03:01. > :03:03.First of all, I do recognise that parts of the audience do not think
:03:04. > :03:08.sports stories should be at the top of the news bulletin. Some viewers
:03:09. > :03:13.think sports should not be in a news bulletin at all. We did think and
:03:14. > :03:16.discuss this decision long and hard. We have had their claims and
:03:17. > :03:22.counterclaims for this story and other stories so there was a good
:03:23. > :03:26.process and discussion around it. And we do not do read sports stories
:03:27. > :03:31.that often. But in the end it came down to a number of reasons. It is a
:03:32. > :03:35.big football story. Chelsea are the Premier League champions. They have
:03:36. > :03:38.had a spectacular demise of the last six months. Unprecedented for a
:03:39. > :03:45.Premier League champions to potential relegation candidates.
:03:46. > :03:49.There is something within that. Also Jose Mourinho is one of the biggest
:03:50. > :03:56.figures in football, in world football. But also he is a football
:03:57. > :04:02.personality that transcends the sport. Lots of people and viewers
:04:03. > :04:06.know about Jose Mourinho. There is a lot of interest in him as an
:04:07. > :04:11.individual. That takes you to the next part of it. It is more than a
:04:12. > :04:15.football or a sports story in the sense that the Premier League,
:04:16. > :04:19.Premier League clubs, our global brands. This is the biggest football
:04:20. > :04:24.league in the world. This is one of the biggest sporting weeks and plans
:04:25. > :04:28.in the world. And these are global brands with a global interests, not
:04:29. > :04:33.just a UK interest in the story. There is interest around the world.
:04:34. > :04:38.We saw that in our audience teacher after the story emerged. We got a
:04:39. > :04:47.lot of hits on the individual websites. 4 million hits on that
:04:48. > :04:53.story. When the top person goes, the leader of the brand, almost the
:04:54. > :04:56.chief executive, the creative leader of that organisation, that is a
:04:57. > :05:02.story with is a lot of interest. What about The View of a football
:05:03. > :05:06.fan who says the prominence was due to the fact it was a London Premier
:05:07. > :05:11.League club and it just gets more attention. I heard that clip but
:05:12. > :05:15.this had been Manchester United Manchester City there would be
:05:16. > :05:19.similar assessment around that story as well. They are both huge football
:05:20. > :05:24.clubs, huge global brands, and have a resonance beyond simply football.
:05:25. > :05:28.Do you not think that the BBC is setting out a message of importance
:05:29. > :05:32.by the order that puts things in and actually even as the most important
:05:33. > :05:37.story and you could have made this second rest absolutely and that is
:05:38. > :05:41.why we do think and talk about this a lot. There are a number of things
:05:42. > :05:47.we take into consideration. You could read on the unit story every
:05:48. > :05:51.day between now and when the referendum happens. I am not sure
:05:52. > :05:56.that it be a perfect service for audiences either. These are
:05:57. > :06:02.decisions we make. We have a think. The user story rumbles on into next
:06:03. > :06:06.year. The Chelsea story was one which unexpectedly happened
:06:07. > :06:15.yesterday afternoon and was a very current story at six o'clock
:06:16. > :06:19.yesterday. Do let us know your thoughts on that
:06:20. > :06:23.or on any aspect of BBC News. Because of who to contact us at the
:06:24. > :06:29.end of the programme. One of the big stories this week was
:06:30. > :06:32.about Tim Peake, Britain's first official astronaut who went into
:06:33. > :06:37.space to work on the International Space Station. They will spend six
:06:38. > :06:41.months conducting scientific experiments and carrying out
:06:42. > :06:54.educational to encourage young people to do science. Quite an all
:06:55. > :07:02.inspiring moments. Some separation confirmed off the part of the rocket
:07:03. > :07:09.that will separate by stages as it makes its way towards orbits. But
:07:10. > :07:13.some of you were not all that happy with the BBC coverage overall. One
:07:14. > :07:17.viewer got in touch with us. I was interested in the Tim Peake story. I
:07:18. > :07:31.was not interested in the paedophiles and the old friends that
:07:32. > :07:34.added nothing to the story -- was not interested in the peripherals
:07:35. > :07:39.and the old friends that added nothing to the story. So much time
:07:40. > :07:45.discussing things that did not fit into what was happening. You can
:07:46. > :07:51.tell how proud they are by their size of the arrow on his school
:07:52. > :07:57.photo. Who knew then what this little boy would do? Certainly not
:07:58. > :08:04.his school best friends. It is the biggest thing that has happened
:08:05. > :08:05.since I was born. I am proud. The BBC issued this statement in
:08:06. > :08:27.response. And finally you may well be where
:08:28. > :08:33.there is a new science-fiction out the speech. I am talking about Star
:08:34. > :08:40.Wars, the force awakens. Several viewers said the BBC gave it to much
:08:41. > :08:45.coverage. It is premiered in the UK this
:08:46. > :09:01.evening and our man is in Leicester square. It has been very busy. Can I
:09:02. > :09:10.get you to turn around? You have come from? From Germany. Did you
:09:11. > :09:15.make this costume yourself? And you are very excited? I will leave you
:09:16. > :09:23.in peace. Thank you. A pleasure to meet you. If that does not mean
:09:24. > :09:26.anything to you these next three minutes will be even more
:09:27. > :09:35.mysterious. For anyone who doubted me earlier on the one o'clock news
:09:36. > :09:43.when I said I had met and Ewok here he is.
:09:44. > :09:47.Their blanket coverage of Star Wars, to show one item on either side of
:09:48. > :09:53.the premier would have been sufficient. There are more potent
:09:54. > :09:57.things going on in the world than simply another Star Wars film. I am
:09:58. > :10:02.interested in the trachea used by the BBC to select such items because
:10:03. > :10:06.they obviously have strict rules about product basement and yet this
:10:07. > :10:10.product has been advertised so extensively, the advertising has
:10:11. > :10:12.been worth millions. We asked the BBC about this and they issued this
:10:13. > :10:43.statement. That is all from us. Thank you for
:10:44. > :10:48.all your comments this week. If you want to share your opinions on BBC
:10:49. > :11:03.News and current affairs you can contact us.
:11:04. > :11:12.We will be back in the New Year on January eight to hear your thoughts
:11:13. > :11:13.about BBC News coverage. Until then have a happy Christmas and New