This is in contrast to the ITV who with their commentators I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. The best I can hope for is that when ESPN lose their rights they might make a go for Champion, Burley and even Ian Darke on loan (I think the last of these is certainly a very long shot!)
Well Darke's contract with ESPN is up after Euro 2016. I don't know Burley's situation but he lives in the US full-time now. Champion was probably a one-off because other than preseason friendlies this summer he's not down to do anything else.
This is the last FIFA tournament ESPN have until at least 2023 (Women's World Cup) so all of them should be fair game.
On that matter.....who would posters think would do the best job in that situation from other broadcasters and who do you think would struggle? I think Steve Wilson would be the best. He is the best on MOTD at analysing as well as commentating.
Steve Wilson's first ever live match on the BBC saw him commentate for 120 minutes and penalties on his own, he did the whole of the African Nations Cup Final in 2002 like that. I don't know if there was ever planned to be a co-commentator (I remember the Radio Times billed "commentary by Steve Wilson and Simon Brotherton", who had been commentating throughout the tournament) but in any case it was just Wilson. In at the deep end, a bit.
That season the Beeb did another match without a co-commentator, Barry Davies did the whole of Iran vs Ireland. That definitely was planned like that because it was so hard to get one person into Iran, let alone two. And there wasn't a commentary box so Barry did it all from the side of the pitch.
The worst nightmare would be for the commentator to be taken ill just as the match starts (as happened to Andrew Cotter on a rugby international a couple of years ago and co-comm Jonathan Davies had to commentate until they got a spare radio bod to take over).
The BBC, as we have seen in the past, would probably take the Five Live commentary.
ITV has a backup commentator - so you'd either have Arlo White or Ali Mann.
The BBC, as we have seen in the past, would probably take the Five Live commentary.
ITV has a backup commentator - so you'd either have Arlo White or Ali Mann.
So even in these circumstances BBC would be providing onsite commentary whereas ITV's would be offtube.
So even in these circumstances BBC would be providing onsite commentary whereas ITV's would be offtube.
Indeed - you're too right to criticise ITV over this hypothetical action in this hypothetical scenario where we've not much idea what would happen if it happened.
In seriousness, I'd imagine most of the main commentators would be decent 'flying solo' if their co-commentator was ill as most will probably at some point have had to do some commentary solo when rising the ranks (or even doing MOTD).
Steve Wilson really deserves a final rotation plan with Mowbray. His goal calls are exceptional and his chit chatter doesn't sound too cynical unlike most British commentators. I think only Tyler is the one that doesn't also sound sneery. It's really a feature I only see with British commentators. Others across the Atlantic and on the continent are far more positive and don't ''drone'' when a particularly slow part of the game is going on.
Sad to hear this. Ray's a great analyst and co-commentator and will be a big loss from RTE's coverage. I hope he recovers well and we'll hear him back in broadcasting early in the new club football season.
The worst nightmare would be for the commentator to be taken ill just as the match starts (as happened to Andrew Cotter on a rugby international a couple of years ago and co-comm Jonathan Davies had to commentate until they got a spare radio bod to take over).
The thought of Clarke Carlisle commentating.....
Just to give chapter and verse on what happened there - the match in question was the Italy v Wales Six Nations match from last year, which was on BBC One. Andrew Cotter fell ill before kick-off and had to leave the commentary box a few minutes into the match. Co-commentator Jonathan Davies flew solo for something like 10 minutes before pundit (and occasional co-commentator) Shane Williams joined him for the rest of the first half.
With it being a Wales match in the Six Nations, S4C were also providing live coverage of the match, and at half-time it was decided that S4C's lead commentator Huw Llywelyn Davies would switch channels and join Jonathan Davies for second half commentary. Obviously there was then a gap in the S4C commentary box, but as Huw's co-commentator Gwyn Jones had prior experience of working in the lead commentator role, he switched roles and S4C studio pundit Dafydd Jones replaced him as co-commentator.
This is a hypothetical situation I know, but had S4C not been covering the match or had they not been willing to co-operate with their BBC colleagues in this way, I suspect they would have called upon a replacement from radio. BBC Radio Wales' coverage team for Wales Six Nations matches consists of Gareth Charles as lead commentator and Nick Webb as pitchside reporter - BBC Two Wales' #1 and #2 lead commentators respectively on their televised coverage of regional rugby. I'm sure that had it been necessary one would have sat in for Cotter (probably the former, in which case the latter would have taken up his role on radio).
I have one recent example of a co-commentator falling ill not long before a game - the co-commentator in question being Clarke Carlisle funnily enough. Clarke became Absolute Radio's regular co-commentator on their Saturday 3pm Premier League commentaries last season, and was advertised to join Jim Proudfoot for commentary on West Bromwich Albion v West Ham United this April. For whatever reason, Clarke was absent (presumably due to an illness of some sort) so Jim flew solo for the full 90 minutes. I didn't hear the game in full but I'm sure Jim, having done solo commentaries on European and international club games regularly for TV, coped pretty well in the circumstances. He certainly sounded fine from the bits of the game I heard, so much so that it took me a few minutes to realise he was doing the commentary on his own!
I tend to agree with BFGArmy's point on this one - I'm sure most lead commentators would cope well enough in these circumstances. Almost every notable commentator, BBC, commercial TV or freelance, has done their fair share of full 90 minute commentaries on their own, be it for live coverage or a highlights package.
So even in these circumstances BBC would be providing onsite commentary whereas ITV's would be offtube.
In this hypothetical example, I think I'd prefer an experienced back-up TV commentator with a good sound mix, even if it's off-tube, over the continous chatter of radio commentator over TV pictures...
The Sky EPG has now updated to confirm Steve Wilson and Martin Keown as commentators tonight.
It also lists Martin O'Neill, Lee Dixon and Fabio Cannavaro as the studio pundits for ITV tomorrow night. Great if O'Neill's still there - I sort of presumed that was it for him when he wasn't used in the semi-finals. Goodness knows why they're still using Cannavaro though. If they replace him with Hoddle or Strachan for the final and keep O'Neill and Dixon then I'll probably go with ITV (at least for the studio bits.)
The Sky EPG has now updated to confirm Steve Wilson and Martin Keown as commentators tonight.
It also lists Martin O'Neill, Lee Dixon and Fabio Cannavaro as the studio pundits for ITV tomorrow night. Great if O'Neill's still there - I sort of presumed that was it for him when he wasn't used in the semi-finals. Goodness knows why they're still using Cannavaro though. If they replace him with Hoddle or Strachan for the final and keep O'Neill and Dixon then I'll probably go with ITV (at least for the studio bits.)
O'Neill has been really good for itv... i hope ITV dont get Cannavaro for the euro's
The Sky EPG has now updated to confirm Steve Wilson and Martin Keown as commentators tonight.
It also lists Martin O'Neill, Lee Dixon and Fabio Cannavaro as the studio pundits for ITV tomorrow night. Great if O'Neill's still there - I sort of presumed that was it for him when he wasn't used in the semi-finals. Goodness knows why they're still using Cannavaro though. If they replace him with Hoddle or Strachan for the final and keep O'Neill and Dixon then I'll probably go with ITV (at least for the studio bits.)
I have to say if the panels are what I expect they'll be for the final I'll probably watch ITV for the build-up and post-match stuff but BBC for the match itself.
Also most people may have guessed it already on here but Guy Mowbray is doing the other semi-final for BBC (which'll obviously be highlights only) - he posted on Twitter that he's in Sao Paulo.
O'Neill has been really good for itv... i hope ITV dont get Cannavaro for the euro's
Haven't seen much of ITV coverage but what has been wrong with Cannavaro?
On the bits i've seen, he seemed reluctant to join in the conversation much as he was a bit hesitant with his English, but he appeared to be able to speak it well enough. He did seem a little camera shy though.
Haven't seen much of ITV coverage but what has been wrong with Cannavaro?
On the bits i've seen, he seemed reluctant to join in the conversation much as he was a bit hesitant with his English, but he appeared to be able to speak it well enough. He did seem a little camera shy though.
He obviously knows a lot (from a successful career) but isn't able to express himself well and concisely really in English - so it does feel like when they go to him for his views discussions can screech to a halt as he can take a while to make his point (and the points normally aren't great enough to justify how long he takes them to make them). The fact English isn't his first language shows.
That's not to criticise him - he seems a good bloke and has been happy to get into the spirit of the ITV coverage (and even put up with Adrian Chiles patronising him throughout). But he hasn't been particularly great as a pundit for ITV but I'm sure he'd be brilliant and make some fantastic points on Italian TV though where there wouldn't be the language barrier.
He obviously knows a lot (from a successful career) but isn't able to express himself well and concisely really in English - so it does feel like when they go to him for his views discussions can screech to a halt as he can take a while to make his point (and the points normally aren't great enough to justify how long he takes them to make them). The fact English isn't his first language shows.
That's not to criticise him - he seems a good bloke and has been happy to get into the spirit of the ITV coverage (and even put up with Adrian Chiles patronising him throughout). But he hasn't been particularly great as a pundit for ITV but I'm sure he'd be brilliant and make some fantastic points on Italian TV though where there wouldn't be the language barrier.
But surely Italian TV would want him if he was a good pundit with him being a World Cup Winning Captain. That would really be a strong selling point, it seems that Italian TV knew that he wasn't the best and therefore decided not to have him. ITV took the chance and it hasnt paid off that well, although he is better than a lot of other pundits at this World Cup e.g. Wright and Shearer
But surely Italian TV would want him if he was a good pundit with him being a World Cup Winning Captain. That would really be a strong selling point, it seems that Italian TV knew that he wasn't the best and therefore decided not to have him. ITV took the chance and it hasnt paid off that well, although he is better than a lot of other pundits at this World Cup e.g. Wright and Shearer
Well it doesn't always work like that - otherwise surely you could say French TV stations would want Henry, Dutch stations would want Gullit and Seedorf, German stations would want Klinsmann in the past... But I agree that Cannavaro's language is too limited for him to offer too much. Too often he slows the conversation down and at times doesn't seem to understand the question asked. Not really his fault - as I said before I'm not convinced ITV really screen-tested him and I think his presence is more due to his profile than anything else. I'd be surprised if we saw him again in future tournaments.
I have one recent example of a co-commentator falling ill not long before a game - the co-commentator in question being Clarke Carlisle funnily enough. Clarke became Absolute Radio's regular co-commentator on their Saturday 3pm Premier League commentaries last season, and was advertised to join Jim Proudfoot for commentary on West Bromwich Albion v West Ham United this April. For whatever reason, Clarke was absent (presumably due to an illness of some sort) so Jim flew solo for the full 90 minutes.
This is a bit like what happens on Five Live on Cup nights when they go from their commentary game to take commentary from another, whether it's because the commentary game was crap or a match has gone into extra time. In those cases the commentators have flown solo but the presenter tends to chip in every few minutes with news and results, just to give them a break. Course, Five Live had that horrible moment a few years back when Nigel Adderley fell ill during a match and they had to abandon the commentary (though when Peter Jones died during the Boat Race in 1990, Dan Topolski continued on his own).
There's another example of a commentator falling ill during a game on the brilliant ITV Regional Highlights website, as Martin Tyler on ITV in 1987 had to abandon commentary towards the end of a Man City match. Fortunately it was only being shown as highlights, and nothing happened while he was away, so viewers were none the wiser.
Presumably had something happened while he was away he'd have done an off-tube bit for that. WHAT WITH IT BEING ITV, EH, GAZZA?
Comments
Well Darke's contract with ESPN is up after Euro 2016. I don't know Burley's situation but he lives in the US full-time now. Champion was probably a one-off because other than preseason friendlies this summer he's not down to do anything else.
This is the last FIFA tournament ESPN have until at least 2023 (Women's World Cup) so all of them should be fair game.
But what if he takes ill?
https://soundcloud.com/jsonline/commentary
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/world-cup/dunphy-ray-is-okay-but-the-world-cup-is-tough-work-30414518.html
its trevor steven as RTE's co-commentator
Steve Wilson's first ever live match on the BBC saw him commentate for 120 minutes and penalties on his own, he did the whole of the African Nations Cup Final in 2002 like that. I don't know if there was ever planned to be a co-commentator (I remember the Radio Times billed "commentary by Steve Wilson and Simon Brotherton", who had been commentating throughout the tournament) but in any case it was just Wilson. In at the deep end, a bit.
That season the Beeb did another match without a co-commentator, Barry Davies did the whole of Iran vs Ireland. That definitely was planned like that because it was so hard to get one person into Iran, let alone two. And there wasn't a commentary box so Barry did it all from the side of the pitch.
The BBC, as we have seen in the past, would probably take the Five Live commentary.
ITV has a backup commentator - so you'd either have Arlo White or Ali Mann.
So even in these circumstances BBC would be providing onsite commentary whereas ITV's would be offtube.
Steve Wilson and Martin Keown are there and tweeting about it, so I think we can be certain it's them.
Poor, even by your embarrassingly low posting standards.
Indeed - you're too right to criticise ITV over this hypothetical action in this hypothetical scenario where we've not much idea what would happen if it happened.
In seriousness, I'd imagine most of the main commentators would be decent 'flying solo' if their co-commentator was ill as most will probably at some point have had to do some commentary solo when rising the ranks (or even doing MOTD).
Sorry - where are ITV Radio on the radio dial?
Or what if it was a game when five live where offtube? ;-)
Pathetic.
Sad to hear this. Ray's a great analyst and co-commentator and will be a big loss from RTE's coverage. I hope he recovers well and we'll hear him back in broadcasting early in the new club football season.
Just to give chapter and verse on what happened there - the match in question was the Italy v Wales Six Nations match from last year, which was on BBC One. Andrew Cotter fell ill before kick-off and had to leave the commentary box a few minutes into the match. Co-commentator Jonathan Davies flew solo for something like 10 minutes before pundit (and occasional co-commentator) Shane Williams joined him for the rest of the first half.
With it being a Wales match in the Six Nations, S4C were also providing live coverage of the match, and at half-time it was decided that S4C's lead commentator Huw Llywelyn Davies would switch channels and join Jonathan Davies for second half commentary. Obviously there was then a gap in the S4C commentary box, but as Huw's co-commentator Gwyn Jones had prior experience of working in the lead commentator role, he switched roles and S4C studio pundit Dafydd Jones replaced him as co-commentator.
This is a hypothetical situation I know, but had S4C not been covering the match or had they not been willing to co-operate with their BBC colleagues in this way, I suspect they would have called upon a replacement from radio. BBC Radio Wales' coverage team for Wales Six Nations matches consists of Gareth Charles as lead commentator and Nick Webb as pitchside reporter - BBC Two Wales' #1 and #2 lead commentators respectively on their televised coverage of regional rugby. I'm sure that had it been necessary one would have sat in for Cotter (probably the former, in which case the latter would have taken up his role on radio).
I have one recent example of a co-commentator falling ill not long before a game - the co-commentator in question being Clarke Carlisle funnily enough. Clarke became Absolute Radio's regular co-commentator on their Saturday 3pm Premier League commentaries last season, and was advertised to join Jim Proudfoot for commentary on West Bromwich Albion v West Ham United this April. For whatever reason, Clarke was absent (presumably due to an illness of some sort) so Jim flew solo for the full 90 minutes. I didn't hear the game in full but I'm sure Jim, having done solo commentaries on European and international club games regularly for TV, coped pretty well in the circumstances. He certainly sounded fine from the bits of the game I heard, so much so that it took me a few minutes to realise he was doing the commentary on his own!
I tend to agree with BFGArmy's point on this one - I'm sure most lead commentators would cope well enough in these circumstances. Almost every notable commentator, BBC, commercial TV or freelance, has done their fair share of full 90 minute commentaries on their own, be it for live coverage or a highlights package.
In this hypothetical example, I think I'd prefer an experienced back-up TV commentator with a good sound mix, even if it's off-tube, over the continous chatter of radio commentator over TV pictures...
It also lists Martin O'Neill, Lee Dixon and Fabio Cannavaro as the studio pundits for ITV tomorrow night. Great if O'Neill's still there - I sort of presumed that was it for him when he wasn't used in the semi-finals. Goodness knows why they're still using Cannavaro though. If they replace him with Hoddle or Strachan for the final and keep O'Neill and Dixon then I'll probably go with ITV (at least for the studio bits.)
O'Neill has been really good for itv... i hope ITV dont get Cannavaro for the euro's
I have to say if the panels are what I expect they'll be for the final I'll probably watch ITV for the build-up and post-match stuff but BBC for the match itself.
Also most people may have guessed it already on here but Guy Mowbray is doing the other semi-final for BBC (which'll obviously be highlights only) - he posted on Twitter that he's in Sao Paulo.
Yes, shame on ITV for not having a radio station.
Jesus wept.
Haven't seen much of ITV coverage but what has been wrong with Cannavaro?
On the bits i've seen, he seemed reluctant to join in the conversation much as he was a bit hesitant with his English, but he appeared to be able to speak it well enough. He did seem a little camera shy though.
He obviously knows a lot (from a successful career) but isn't able to express himself well and concisely really in English - so it does feel like when they go to him for his views discussions can screech to a halt as he can take a while to make his point (and the points normally aren't great enough to justify how long he takes them to make them). The fact English isn't his first language shows.
That's not to criticise him - he seems a good bloke and has been happy to get into the spirit of the ITV coverage (and even put up with Adrian Chiles patronising him throughout). But he hasn't been particularly great as a pundit for ITV but I'm sure he'd be brilliant and make some fantastic points on Italian TV though where there wouldn't be the language barrier.
But surely Italian TV would want him if he was a good pundit with him being a World Cup Winning Captain. That would really be a strong selling point, it seems that Italian TV knew that he wasn't the best and therefore decided not to have him. ITV took the chance and it hasnt paid off that well, although he is better than a lot of other pundits at this World Cup e.g. Wright and Shearer
Well it doesn't always work like that - otherwise surely you could say French TV stations would want Henry, Dutch stations would want Gullit and Seedorf, German stations would want Klinsmann in the past... But I agree that Cannavaro's language is too limited for him to offer too much. Too often he slows the conversation down and at times doesn't seem to understand the question asked. Not really his fault - as I said before I'm not convinced ITV really screen-tested him and I think his presence is more due to his profile than anything else. I'd be surprised if we saw him again in future tournaments.
This is a bit like what happens on Five Live on Cup nights when they go from their commentary game to take commentary from another, whether it's because the commentary game was crap or a match has gone into extra time. In those cases the commentators have flown solo but the presenter tends to chip in every few minutes with news and results, just to give them a break. Course, Five Live had that horrible moment a few years back when Nigel Adderley fell ill during a match and they had to abandon the commentary (though when Peter Jones died during the Boat Race in 1990, Dan Topolski continued on his own).
There's another example of a commentator falling ill during a game on the brilliant ITV Regional Highlights website, as Martin Tyler on ITV in 1987 had to abandon commentary towards the end of a Man City match. Fortunately it was only being shown as highlights, and nothing happened while he was away, so viewers were none the wiser.
Presumably had something happened while he was away he'd have done an off-tube bit for that. WHAT WITH IT BEING ITV, EH, GAZZA?