Desperation to keep games off pay-TV is holding up £300m CVC deal and there is a danger rugby union could be left behindWhen an advisory panel reviewed in 2009 the list of sporting events that had to be broadcast on terrestrial television, the Welsh Assembly submitted a proposal that the Group A list, made up of matches or tournaments that could not be sold to pay TV for live coverage, should include Wales’s home matches in the Six Nations.It argued that as the television audience for those games amounted to 65% of the population, the national interest demanded that they be kept free for all. The panel agreed and amended the Group A list accordingly in their report for the...
Japanese cliches, popular victors and a confusing tackle ‘demonstration area’ made for interesting viewing on day oneClose your eyes and design, in the realm of your imagination, a Japan-themed TV studio. Come back whenever you’re ready. Of course you’re probably not a professional studio designer, and you almost certainly won’t spend more than a few seconds on the task, so you might have accepted a few lazy cliches and tired stereotypes. I’m wagering there was a lot of cherry blossom involved, a bonsai tree or two, perhaps some paper lanterns and a view of Mount Fuji. Well that image in your head is the ITV World Cup studio. They gave the Great Wave a wide berth and shirked the sushi,...
Gary Lineker has led a largely stellar cast of voices while on the other side Eni Aluko has shone and Patrice Evra was a disasterMain host: Gary Lineker Continue reading...
The broadcaster takes over the television coverage in 2017 – but mostly on ITV4, no one’s first port of call unless they are really obsessed with Ironside and MinderI expect to spend both Monday and Tuesday afternoon with a group of old sporting friends. Most of them I will never see again. The following week another crowd will be there instead – and they will not be spending time paying tribute to their predecessors. Related: Disqualified jockey James McDonald released from Godolphin contract Continue reading...