Man City lodge complaint with BBC over its local radio coverage of the club

Manchester City have lodged a complaint with their local BBC radio station over its coverage of the club.

Officials at the Etihad Stadium were left stunned when no dedicated City reporter was present from BBC Radio Manchester for the pre-derby press conference, which they believe is the first time in living memory for such an occurrence.

The broadcaster has the rights for City matches and the club are usually covered by the station’s own City journalist.

However, that reporter has been regularly diverted in recent times, with others brought in to cover the club in a move that has left those at City scratching their heads.

They believe that no other top flight side has been subjected to the same treatment and that listeners who support the club are missing out as a result. The lack of a City reporter at the derby preview was viewed as the final straw.

It is understood that City have now contacted Radio Manchester to make their feelings clear on the matter.

Rights deals are seen as precious for local BBC stations up and down the country. Radio Manchester does not have a similar deal, for example, with Manchester United.

The BBC declined to comment, although insiders insisted no ‘official complaint’ had been made, even though Mail Sport believes that to be the case.

They added that they are covering City ‘as much as usual’, along with matches and said that for the derby there was a City and United commentator, as is the norm.