Before every major men’s tournament, ITV and BBC bigwigs meet in a poorly-lit room to draft the matches they want to broadcast.
First pick alternates from tournament to tournament, with ITV prioritising England’s semi-final this year. The audience for the 2-1 win over the Netherlands peaked at 20.3 million, comfortably the most-watched show on British TV in 2024.
That is, of course, until Sunday. As always, the final will be aired on both ITV and BBC, and Auntie will inevitably gain at least three-quarters of the eyeballs. For the Euro 2020 final, 81 per cent of the 30.9m viewers went to the Beeb.
But in 2024, that just shouldn’t be the case. Over the past month, the BBC’s punditry on England games and the wider tournament has been overwhelmingly disappointing. ITV’s has been far from perfect, but has blown Gary Lineker and his podcasting pals out of the water.
BBC
To start with the obvious – Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards should never share a screen. Every punditry panel is allowed 1 (one) comic relief slot.
On England duty, the third pundit has been either Cesc Fabregas or Frank Lampard, who have often had to fight to get a word in edgeways, but excelled when they have.
And the BBC’s punditry did improve away from England games – Wayne Rooney’s exit was a tragedy for all involved as he was a natural pundit.
After an understandably anxious start where his military posture hogged the limelight, Joe Hart showed he certainly has a future in TV, while Thomas Frank was as insightful as you’d expect an active Premier League boss to be. Holding it together has been an all-star host of hosts – Lineker, Gabby Logan, Alex Scott and Mark Chapman.
But the defining feature of the BBC’s England coverage was its whiplash-inducing flailing from over-egged criticism against Denmark to borderline gaslighting against Switzerland. Pick a side, any side, and flog it for all its worth. Don’t believe your eyes, Phil Foden looks just like Messi out there. Bored? You must not be smart enough to get it. This is arthouse football.
Their commentary has been largely on brand – efficient and effective – but they assembled the Avengers of miserable co-commentary. Alan Shearer doesn’t carry off rage as easily as Roy Keane. Jermaine Jenas is such an inoffensive co-comm it’s hard to say anything about him at all.
This fuses into something rather discordant and uncomfortable, with Fabregas and Rooney the only standout performers. If 81 per cent of the viewership tunes into the BBC on Sunday evening, expect them to be disappointed.
ITV
In the Slovakia and Netherlands victories, ITV have been gifted two of the most memorable England games ever, which certainly helped the overall product.
Their coverage was helped by having a smaller group of higher-quality voices to call upon, but they also unleashed a rare broadcasting innovation in Christina Unkel.
Like Fabregas with punditry on the BBC, Unkel is so competent she exposes the entire existing industry of refereeing analysis as a sham. If Evangelos Marinakis had hired her over Mark Clattenburg, he may have made progress in his war on officials.
On the panel, Keane is mellowing but you still catch him occasionally berating a lack of “proper men”. Gary Neville is probably the second-best regular British pundit behind Jamie Carragher, while Ian Wright is easy viewing with his natural counterpoise between sincerity and infectious joy.
Ange Postecoglou was understated and impactful, a necessary tonic to break up the “Overlap” stronghold and remind his peers this isn’t a podcast. In the hosting chair, Mark Pougatch doesn’t have any of the split identity issues between hosting and punditry Lineker does, while Laura Woods remains the consummate professional.
Their commentary was largely excellent, even if they sent Clive Tyldesley home too early. Sam Matterface continues to prune his Partridgean edges and Seb Hutchinson is blessed with one of the best voices in the gantry.
And next to them, Andros Townsend and Ally McCoist were the two finest co-commentators at the tournament.
All-in-all, this produced a far more enjoyable and informative broadcasting experience which should be first-choice across the nation on Sunday.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/8SyLaj0
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