Peter Dimmock

Died: November 20, 2015

Peter Dimmock, who has died aged 94, was a sports broadcaster with a number of firsts to his name. He was first presenter of Grandstand and of Sportsview, which later became Sportsnight, and he was the first presenter of the Sports Personality of the Year awards. He also produced and directed the broadcast of the coronation of the Queen in 1953, the first time such an event had been televised.

He had started his career as a racing correspondent with the Press Association after the Second World War, but moved to the BBC in 1946 as a producer and commentator. However, he also quickly proved his merit as an organiser and administrator and helped to run the BBC's coverage of the London Olympics in 1948.

He was born in London and attended Dulwich College. On the outbreak of the war, he joined the Territorial Army and later trained as a pilot and worked as a flying instructor.

After his early successes on joining the BBC, including the television coverage of the funeral of King George VI in 1952, he was charged with the difficult and sensitive task of broadcasting the coronation. Initially, the authorities were reluctant to support the idea, but Dimmock won them over with a technical demonstration in Westminster Abbey which showed that the cameras would not be too intrusive. In fact, wherever you were sitting in the Abbey, it was hard to see the cameras at all.

In the end, the event was such a success that Dimmock became the BBC's official liaison with the Royal family and remained so until the 1970s. The coronation also cemented Dimmock's reputation as a broadcaster who could organise the broadcast of huge public events and do it with style and flair.

During the 1950s, he also made his name as a sports broadcaster. He was the anchorman of the BBC's first regular sports magazine programme Sportsview, which was launched in 1954 and was responsible for a number of pioneering techniques such as on-board cameras. It also introduced the BBC Sports Personality of the Year the same year (when it was won by the athlete Chris Chataway).

When Grandstand was launched in 1958, Dimmock was also the natural choice as its presenter and he remained there until 1964, when he handed over to David Coleman.

He also continued to produce and direct the televising of major events, both sporting and non-sporting, including the State Opening of Parliament in 1958. He also organised the BBC's coverage of Sir Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965.

However, speaking earlier this year, he said arranging coverage of the Coronation had been the finest memory of his career.

He said: "The Duke of Norfolk and I had long discussions about it, and momentum built up in the country so that in the end it happened," he said.

However, Churchill is supposed to have of the idea: "Why should the public get a better view than me?" Mr Dimmock said: "I don't know whether he said that, but if he did it would have been as a joke. I met him seven or eight times and he was a charming man."

Of Churchill's funeral, he said: "I will never, ever forget it. It was the most moving and wonderful day.

"I was in the discussions about whether the cranes (near the Thames) should dip or not. It was fascinating because some people, much to my surprise, in Cabinet, said no, but the majority view was that they should dip when his coffin was put on the barge."

In 1964, Dimmock left sports broadcasting to become head of BBC Enterprises, the corporation's commercial arm, and he increased its turnover. But in the 1970s he was disappointed at not being appointed managing director of Visnews, the BBC's newsfilm agency, and was headhunted by ABC in New York. He became vice president of their international arm and stayed there for 13 years.

He eventually returned to Britain in 1990 to become chairman of the independent production company Zenith which produced, among other successful programmes, Inspector Morse. He also ran his own consultancy Peter Dimock Enterprises.

BBC director-general Tony Hall said: "Peter Dimmock was a true pioneer of broadcasting. A man of many firsts.

"As the man who oversaw coverage of the Queen's Coronation he was also responsible for a seminal moment in British broadcasting history. Peter's broadcasting mirrored the man - charming, warm, and authoritative. He is a much-admired figure who will be deeply missed."

Dimmock was appointed OBE in 1961 and CVO in 1968. He was married twice – the first time to Mary Elwes, who died in 1987. He married again in 1990, to Christabel Scott, who survives him along with his three daughters from his first marriage.