And so, slowly but regularly, the BBC loses touch with British national life. The BBC has just lost the radio broadcast rights to the Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race to Times Radio, which will cover the event for three years. It comes after Channel 4 won the deal last year for TV rights for the next five years, meaning it will cover the 200th anniversary of the first boat race in 1829.

What was once the finest broadcaster in the world becomes a navel-gazing, self-obsessed purveyor of frivolous rubbish

What was once the finest broadcaster in the world becomes a navel-gazing, self-obsessed purveyor of frivolous rubbish

Until now, the BBC had broadcast the radio commentary of the race since 1927, except for a brief spell from 2005 to 2010, when LBC had the radio rights. The BBC had televised it (with interruption between 2005 and 2009) since 1938.

The Boat Race may not be quite so embedded in British hearts as it once was but, still, 2.82 million people watched it on the BBC last year, making it the most-watched sporting event that weekend on TV.

It’s true, too, that the Boat Race is a decidedly odd........

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