In the light of the ITV’s recent FA Cup (sponsored by Budweiser, apparently) coverage, they have propelled themselves way out on their own as the worst sports broadcasters on offer.
The problem starts at the top with the commissioners showing a complete lack of understanding and proving time and again how out of touch they are with sport. As ITV own the viewing rights to the FA Cup, they had the choice of which game to televise this week. Due to draws in the first leg, struggling Championship side Brighton travelled to the Racecourse to face non-league Wrexham while Birmingham and Wolves replayed their 0-0 stalemate at Molineux. The early rounds of the FA Cup are all about the exposure of teams that don’t usually make the headlines. Being that Wrexham were the only remaining non-league club in the competition, it should have shone a bright light in the eyes of the decision makers. Their game was scheduled for Tuesday, however due to a frozen pitch; the match was postponed by 24 hours. It should have meant that for one cold Wednesday night, the dragons would act as a curtain raiser for El Classico. Added to this the fact that they had managed an away goal and pushed their superior opponents all the way at the Amex Stadium, it should have been a no-brainer. Instead, the hierarchy at ITV decided that it was more favourable to show yet another West Midlands Derby and the nature of the two legs were summed up quite neatly on twitter by BBC radio 5 live’s football commentator and presenter Darren Fletcher,
“This game is so dull – Wolves 0 Birmingham 0.
“Commentated on the first game and in all honesty it's close which one was worse!!!!”
The problem starts at the top with the commissioners showing a complete lack of understanding and proving time and again how out of touch they are with sport. As ITV own the viewing rights to the FA Cup, they had the choice of which game to televise this week. Due to draws in the first leg, struggling Championship side Brighton travelled to the Racecourse to face non-league Wrexham while Birmingham and Wolves replayed their 0-0 stalemate at Molineux. The early rounds of the FA Cup are all about the exposure of teams that don’t usually make the headlines. Being that Wrexham were the only remaining non-league club in the competition, it should have shone a bright light in the eyes of the decision makers. Their game was scheduled for Tuesday, however due to a frozen pitch; the match was postponed by 24 hours. It should have meant that for one cold Wednesday night, the dragons would act as a curtain raiser for El Classico. Added to this the fact that they had managed an away goal and pushed their superior opponents all the way at the Amex Stadium, it should have been a no-brainer. Instead, the hierarchy at ITV decided that it was more favourable to show yet another West Midlands Derby and the nature of the two legs were summed up quite neatly on twitter by BBC radio 5 live’s football commentator and presenter Darren Fletcher,
“This game is so dull – Wolves 0 Birmingham 0.
“Commentated on the first game and in all honesty it's close which one was worse!!!!”
Meanwhile on S4C, for those that could bare the aggressive commentary of the strident Malcolm Allen, there was a fantastic game of football that encapsulated everything good about a cup fixture. The underdogs took the lead through a stunning first half strike from player-manager Andy Morrell. The 37-year-old’s goal held Wrexham’s lead until late in the second half when Ashley Barnes headed home to equalise. Wrexham had the better of the exchanges but when extra-time didn’t produce any goals, Brighton’s supremacy finally shone through with a 100% success rate and some truly brilliant spot kicks to take the match 5-4 on penalties. It was a cup classic and ITV had blundered once more.
Anyone who witnessed the 3rd round highlights show fronted by Matt Smith were forced to endure a level of broadcasting where even Adrian Durham would have been made to feel at home. Smith’s guests were Paul Ince and Gordon Strachan but his incompetence as a presenter meant that the entertaining Strachan was forced to sit on the sofa and look sombre while the other two in the studio discussed Paul Ince’s son’s career at Blackpool. Sadly, this is commonplace on channel 103 and a similarly droning experience awaits the audience on champions league nights. These are evenings that are meant to be the pinnacle European football and a showcase for some of the greatest talents football has to offer. The skill of Lionel Messi, the flair of Cristiano Ronaldo, the frosty atmosphere of the San Siro and the fearlessness of Carlos Puyol are all on show in these midweek fixtures. Who brings these scenes alive to our living rooms but Adrian Chiles, Gareth Southgate and Andy Townsend; a boring baggies supporter, a man whose career highlight was missing a penalty and a cockney Irishman.
For those who can bear to think back to the rugby world cup, you’ll remember the appalling level of match commentary given by Nick Mullins, Simon Ward and Martin Gillingham. To add to this, their so-called ‘expert’ co-commentators were Andy Gomarsall, Alan Quinlan, Scott Hastings and Phil Vickery. The only decent ringers they brought in were stuck in the studio in the form of Michael Lynagh, Sean Fitzpatrick and Francois Pienaar. Another wise move from ITV as they barely had time to comment because of the constant stream of Americanized commercial breaks. In case you didn’t know that there was an ad break coming up, you needn’t have feared, because ITV will run a black and white line in the corner of the screen for five minutes prior to the break to indicate the impending three minutes of aggravation.
Their most recent gig is the African Cup of Nations. It may not be a headline act in the football calendar, but the entertainment value is superb with an atmosphere of carnival football. ITV’s answer to this? Put it on ITV 4. The mind boggles as to how it’s going to be produced given the shabby way the production team go about delivering the sport on their prime channel. It’s bound to be a cacophony of clichés, puns and generally bad broadcasting.
Thankfully, the BBC have held firmly onto the six nations rugby while sky deliver fantastic coverage of cricket and football. The BBC’s coverage of the six nations tournament, athletics events and of course the iconic events of Wimbledon and The Masters is second to none. Their premier league highlights show Match of the Day has justifiably won countless awards and Alan Shearer aside, it’s a fantastic show. Sky’s power in sports broadcasting speaks for itself and delivers time and again. Their football coverage is the best around and even despite losing front-men Andy Gray and Richard Keys they’ve carried on their seamless coverage of the premier league. Cricket, American Football, Golf, Rugby League and Rugby Union are expertly produced with the finest panellists and presenters. Even channel 5’s cricket highlights package is a brilliant adaptation of the customary channel 4 programme of yesteryear using commentators from the legendary Channel 9 team in Australia. The show is fronted by arguably the finest presenter in world sport, Mark Nicholas, and it’s a great shame that he’s not given the exposure he was once given in Britain through channel 4. New-comers ESPN have upped their game and their coverage of the Premier League and the Aviva Premiership is very watchable.
This just leaves ITV battling it out with Eurosport for relegation. There’s a horrid sinking feeling when a sporting event that the nation is excited about is announced to be covered by ITV. It’s a great shame that they possess so much pulling power, but essentially, it comes down to money. For now we’ll have to make do with their inferior skills in the hope that one day they just stop bidding for events and really hope that Matt Smith reads this and retires.
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