Daegu2011 - Channel 4 UK drops main presenter from Daegu 2011 coverage after hundreds of complaints

Black British presenter Ortis Deley has been dropped as the main anchor of the 2011 IAAF World Athletics Championships coverage on Channel 4 Television station, after receiving hundreds of complaints from viewers. 

Deley, who has been replaced by T4 presenter, Rick Edwards, will remain on the presenting team in Daegu, South Korea, but will no longer be the main presenter, a Channel 4 spokesman has confirmed.

The channel said that his role had been "scaled back" although he will continue to feature in the IAAF World Championships programmes.

A spokeswoman for the station said: "Channel 4 is committed to developing new presenting talent and this extends to our coverage of sporting events.

"Ortis Deley's role in Korea covering the world athletics has been scaled back but he will continue to be on air for the duration of the competition.

"In total we have a team of 10 commentators covering this event, from Michael Johnson and well-loved British athletes Dean Macey, Katherine Merry and Iwan Thomas to new presenters."

Since the competition began at the weekend, viewers have seen his stilted delivery as he repeatedly had to refer to his printed script.

He also had to correct himself frequently when he misread his lines and failed to get his tongue around the names of fellow presenters.

At one stage he told viewers they would see "history in the making as Oscar Pistorius from South Africa makes history".

A video of many of his appearances in Daegu, South Korea, has been placed on YouTube accompanied by comments blaming Channel 4 for putting him in the spotlight.

One said: "The bosses at Channel Four have to take all the blame for this embarrassment. This is a very big event for them and they should've made sure they hired a half-decent presenter who could handle live TV."

What do you think about this story, was the presenter performance so bad to warrant such barrage of complaints? Have your say below: