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Channel 4: Network Rail ‘over a barrel’
By Will 7 months ago, 2 Comments »
Congratulations are in order to the person at Channel 4 who decided to shame Robin Gisby, operations director at Network Rail, for their disastrous and unforgivable delays today. Shortly before his name popped up, “over a barrel” appeared for a few seconds…so I took a shot for posterity. Well done Channel 4!
Made me smile, anyway.
2 Comments »
Atherton in public “fuck” shocker
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of June, 4 Comments »
Accepting an award on behalf of Channel 4’s coverage of the Ashes last year, Michael Atherton yesterday announced:
Before I joined Channel 4 I played for a team that won f*** all for 15 years
[via Patrick]
On ya, Mike.
4 Comments »Bahhhhhhhhh bleat bahhhh
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of April, 9 Comments »
Oh the Sky Sports chaps are loving this, absolutely loving it. Hampshire have just beaten Ireland, and they can’t stop inferring that they’re all going to get pissed on Guinness. I don’t doubt they will, but SHUT UP about it.
After [whoever] got the Man-of-the-Match award, they said “Ooh, err, I don’t think there will be many clear heads tomorrow morning; Champagne and Guinness. Not the best mixture.” Well fuck me dead. Aren’t you insightful. No, it’s not a good mixture, and nor is the current crop of Sky Sports presenters.
I have no problem with any of them as people. They’re all thoroughly decent and were/are fine cricketers. I just wish they wouldn’t state the bleeding obvious - something I felt Channel 4 got spot on. They had a duty to provide a balance between teaching the game to newcomers (roadshows) and not patronising the longterm fans (us). Sky are all about glitz, glamour and shoving the blatant down our throats. It’s especially hard so early in the season, because it makes me want to eat my feet and stick a pen up my nose, ala Blackadder on the right.
Channel 4 got it so right. It’s now all so wrong, not to mention a total injustice that a large slice of the population will simply not see any cricket on TV for the next few years.
9 Comments »End of the road (for now) for BSkyB deal
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of November, 4 Comments »
The ECB’s decision to give BSkyB exclusive rights to show all Tests on PPV (pay per view) TV is now, almost certainly, non-overturnable. (I don’t know if that word exists, but it’s a cracker.) The following people participated in today’s Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee:
Mr David Collier, Chief Executive, England and Wales Cricket Board, Mr Richard Bevan, Chief Executive, Professional Cricketers’ Association; Mr Roger Mosey, Director of Sport, BBC, Mr Mark Sharman, Controller of Sport, ITV, Mr Andy Duncan, Chief Executive, Channel 4, Mr Colin Campbell, Director of Legal and Business Affairs, Five, Mr Vic Wakeling, Managing Director, Sky Sports (at approximately 10.30 a.m.); Lord Smith of Finsbury and Lord MacLaurin (at approximately 11.00 a.m.); Mr David Brook, Mr Anthony Wreford, and Mr Stedford Wallen, Keep Cricket Free Campaign (at approximately 11.30 a.m.); Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP, Minister for Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (at approximately 11.50 a.m.).
There’s nothing yet at Hansard (incidentally, my family descend from Luke Hansard - the House’s original printer), but Cricinfo have a report here. In it, Caborn says:
“If you are asking me ‘Can a deal be done?’, I don’t think it can,” Caborn said. “I am making no bones about it. I am supporting the ECB in what it has done.”
2009 is how long we’ll have to wait for it to return to terrestrial - although that’s only the end-date of Sky’s contract which will go up for review again. John Howard wouldn’t put up with it, would he? (Scott or whoever - fill me in on the state of play as regards cricket on TV in Australia)
4 Comments »Simon Hughes’ “Morning Everyone”
By Will 3 years ago, mid-June, 2 Comments »
With a title no doubt influenced by his Channel 4 colleague, Mr Benaud, Simon Hughes “The Analyst’s” new book (out in October) has a finalised front cover. Very much looking forward to reading it after his first two were so excellent.
UPDATE 21 October 2005. The book is now available at Amazon, priced £10.19. For more cricket books, see this tag.
2 Comments »Tony Greig joins Channel 4 team
By Will 3 years ago, mid-June, 19 Comments »
Tony Greig joins the Channel 4 team for this summer’s Ashes. Here are the following voices you’ll be listening to in a few weeks time:
Mark Nicholas, Richie Benaud, Mike Atherton, Geoff Boycott, Michael Slater and Simon Hughes
19 Comments »Slater joining Channel 4
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of May, 3 Comments »
Following his admittance of depression, I had hoped Channel 4 would renew Michael Slater’s contract as a commentator this year - and they have. Great news. He’s enthusiastic, interesting and a good foil for Mark Nicholas this summer.
3 Comments »Alec Stewart replacing Dermot Reeve
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of May, 7 Comments »
Although I hated Reeve’s commentary, he did at least have some semblence of a sense of humour. Alec Stewart, cricketing-hero of mine that he is, alas has not. He hasn’t the dry wit of Benaud; the rudeness of Boycott; the fake-glamour of Mark Nicholas or the charm of Atherton. He’s really bloody dull, and on your screens all summer folks! Expect plenty of “Well, at the end of the day,” “To be honest,” “ballpark score,” “absolutely,” or any other equally pointless cliche.
7 Comments »What a snorter! Dermot Reeve: crack addict
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of May, 7 Comments »
You go away for a weekend, and look what happens? Dermot Reeve has quit Channel 4, where he was a commentator for 5 years, due to his announcement that he’s addicted to cocaine. No great loss, really - he’s a jumped-up twit - and no great suprise, either. His repetoire consisted of “Faaantastic shot” and “WOW.” Not the most intelligent of cricket commentators.
Reeve also suggested there was widespread use of “illegal substances” within cricket when he played. “If every cricketer I knew at the time I played was banned from playing, you would not have seen very good teams out there,” he said.
Make your own judgements from that, I guess.
7 Comments »Cricket on TV and Radio
By Will 3 years ago, mid-May, 2 Comments »
There’re a few cricket-related things on TV (UK) and Radio in the next week which you might want to make a note of:
Batting for Hemmingway, by Mike Atherton, Thursday 19th, 11.30-1200, BBC Radio 4
Trivia Test Match, a re-run from 1992 about the rules of cricket, Friday 12.30, BBC7
Guyana: Trouble in Paradise
: about Guyana, and the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Sunday, 01.45am, BBC4 (TV)
The Cricket Show: - it’s the only Cricket show on UK TV, so it’s worth watching, but - God - is it painful viewing or what? Channel 4, Sunday morning at 7.55 (not sure if that’s morning or evening - probably morning, knowing C4)
2 Comments »Cricket television coverage
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of February, 2 Comments »
It seems live cricket has died on terrestrial TV in Britain, or at least it has a “death date” starting 2006, as I mentioned back in November. Ofcom has agreed BSkyB a 4 year deal, isolating the British public from watching Cricket on the box. At least The Ashes will still be on C4 this year. On a similar note, what is happening about Australia’s coverage of the Ashes?
For those who want/need it, I’ll be providing DVD highlights of the Ashes after each Test (just need a blank DVD or 3 and for you to pay the postage). More on that later in the year.
2 Comments »Fans deprived of cricket by new ruling
By Will 4 years ago, at the end of December, No Comments; be the first!
Cricket-Online: Fans deprived of cricket by new ruling
[via Cricket-Online]
“Essentially the ruling is that a days play ends at a dictated time, not when the overs have been bowled. Any overs that have not been bowled or lost to bad light will not be made up at either end of the day.”
I must admit this is news to me. I’ve been vaguely aware that play has been ending earlier than usual (especially in Britain due to Channel 4, the broadcaster, who are worried about their schedules) but I hadn’t realised it had started to affect so many matches. Can anyone else confirm they’ve seen it become a problem?
No Comments »Channel 4, Sky and Channel 5
By Will 4 years ago, mid-December, No Comments; be the first!
As was widely reported here in the UK yesterday, Channel 4 have lost the rights to show live cricket in Britain. (not that interesting for non-UK readers…sorry) This has quite massive potential implications on cricket in England and Wales. I don’t know what to think - any comments, feel free to post them. I’d be particularly interested to hear what other countries’ TV rights are (India & Australia in particular - I also remember reading recently that NZ rarely get cricket coverage on TV…true or false?)
Channel 4 bought the rights from the BBC, who lost interest (and couldn’t pay enough) - back then (1998?), opinion was divided as to whether Channel 4 could match the quality of the BBC’s coverage. Channel 4, like the BBC, are “free to air” on terrestrial TV - but unlike the BBC, are a commercial TV station and there was concern that adverts would impede the viewer’s enjoyment of watching live cricket.
All in all, Channel 4 provided excellent coverage with reasonably good commentators (Mark Nicholas, Richie Benaud, Mike Atherton, Boycott, Simon Hughes, Ian Smith, Slater and more) and summarisers. They implemented a number of technological enhancements which have now been used or bought by other stations around the world. They were the first to use Hawk-eye, for example - although none of this technology used was necessarily produced by Channel 4, they had the foresight to use technology to improve the customer’s viewing pleasure.
Most of all - viewers didn’t need to pay extra to watch the cricket. Sky, as most people know, charge exorbitant fees for their services which will dramatically reduce the numbers of armchair cricket fans. Isn’t that how a whole generation were introduced to cricket? By seeing it on TV? I know I was. (Paul Reiffel bowling to England in 1993). Some people are claiming the enourmous fee the ECB have received from Sky (£200m+) will be injected into grass-roots, and will be of massive benefit for the future of English cricket. But, wasn’t it Nasser Hussain who once said that Cricket is entertainment? That the most important people in the game are the spectators and fans?
I’m not anti-Sky - I find their fees very expensive, but they offer undeniable benefits. Digital-quality Television which is unsurpassed in quality (pictorial quality!); they have the majority of radio stations available in digital for no extra cost; regardless of whether you’re a TV-addict or not, there is generally something available to watch that most people would find interesting. I only bought Sky a few years ago and purely to watch the winter tours and rugby, but I must admit to having enjoyed the films and other channels available to me.
It is, as Marcus Trescothick said today, inevitable that Sky would win eventually. The true ramifications won’t be known for a while. Long live TMS, I guess.
No Comments »Channel 4 lose TV rights in Britain
By Will 4 years ago, mid-December, No Comments; be the first!
Not good. More on the ramifications of this a little later…
No Comments »Sky TV poised to get more England matches
By Will 4 years ago, mid-November, 1 Comment »
Ack, this is worrying news
More of England’s home Test and one-day matches are likely to be available to subscribers to satellite broadcaster BSkyB if a joint bid for TV rights is accepted by the England & Wales Cricket Board.
[via Cricinfo]
It’s just a matter of time, I suppose, before Sky owns all cricket on TV - requiring anyone who wants to watch cricket to subscribe to Sky Sports. Very, very worrying. This will surely frustrate the ECB too who are desperate to promote Sky to a wider audience (but who are so poor that they’ll accept the highest-bidder). Channel 4, the current FTA cricket broadcaster, says:
A report in the Guardian last week indicated that Channel 4 were keen to retain some coverage, but with cricket still attracting what are seen as relatively small audiences, they are believed to be receptive to idea of diluting their commitment.
When Channel 4 bought the rights for all home Test Matches (in 1999??), they said they were commited in promoting the game of cricket - and they’ve done a good job. They have some brilliant, intelligent and funny commentators - far superior to Sky’s [with the exception of Holding and Gower] - and I’m amazed they’ve crumbled so soon.
Just a matter of time now…
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