BT Sport Causes Stir By Cutting To Ads During MH17 Tribute Moment At Friendly

BT Sport "caused outrage after cutting to adverts" while Newcastle Manager Alan Pardew and captain Fabricio Coloccini "were laying wreaths on the seats of the two fans that died in the MH17 disaster," according to Kieran Gill of the London DAILY MAIL. Producers "only cut back to the Newcastle vs Sydney FC match -- following five adverts for other brands and one for their own -- for half of the minute’s silence for John Alder, 63, and Liam Sweeney, 28, who were killed while en route to New Zealand for the game." Twitter "erupted with angry viewers, who described BT Sport's coverage of Newcastle's 4-0 win as 'a complete disgrace.'" A BT Sport spokesperson said that the channel "was sorry for what happened." The spokesperson said, "We apologize for any upset caused by a mistimed break during the Newcastle game. The timing was unintentional, and we will show the tributes and the minute’s silence in full at the end of the game, as well as put all the footage online" (DAILY MAIL, 7/22).