FA Cup 4th Round TV picks
Mark.
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If Liverpool and Man Utd go through then I think...
Oldham v Liverpool - ITV
Leeds/Birmingham v Spurs - ESPN
Southend/Brentford v Chelsea - ESPN
Man Utd v Fulham/Blackpool - ITV
Crystal Palace/Stoke v Man City - ESPN
ETA: Potential Brighton v Arsenal pointed out below, which should swap in place of Man Utd. Emphasis on "should"...
Oldham v Liverpool - ITV
Leeds/Birmingham v Spurs - ESPN
Southend/Brentford v Chelsea - ESPN
Man Utd v Fulham/Blackpool - ITV
Crystal Palace/Stoke v Man City - ESPN
ETA: Potential Brighton v Arsenal pointed out below, which should swap in place of Man Utd. Emphasis on "should"...
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I'd say Brighton v Arsenal if Arsenal win the replay. Also a possibility of Palace/Stoke v Man City. However, Man Utd will of course be picked by ITV, despite whoever wins the Fulham/Blackpool replay resulting in an uninteresting tie with a more than likely comfortable home win being shown.
man utd should not get picked, this comming round
Likewise if Arsenal win the replay, it's a good morning pick for ITV or Sunday evening game ESPN.
I think this might end up being a time where ITV would struggle to justify Man Utd (again, assuming they get through), but it's difficult to see them not being picked for guaranteed ratings.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and City games are the 5. It's a very good draw and there's no way Utd should be picked.
5 very big teams in 5 very attractive games.
However, methinks the long run of Man Utd live televised FA Cup matches could well be over, if Arsenal beat Swansea in their replay, they would then have to go to Brighton and that tie would definatly be televised, ahead of Man Utd's possible 4th round tie - that's if they win their replay of course!
that is true but for a upset they might pick villa
It's a real shame that the FA can't restrict the picks so that one club doesn't get picked all the time no matter how poor the draw is. Obviously as ITV/ESPN are paying a premium for the rights they can't do that as to maximise revenue.
Man U will get picked second by ESPN
Chelsea third
I could cope with that, more chance of an upset than in other games, I'm not sure what you would drop though, probably the City game.
ITV
West Ham United or Manchester United vs Fulham or Blackpool
ESPN
Leeds United or Birmingham City v Tottenham Hotspur
ESPN
Brighton & Hove Albion v Swansea City or Arsenal
ITV
Crystal Palace or Stoke City v Manchester City
ESPN
Southend United or Brentford v Chelsea
It's not a reason to be picked as far as I'm concerned. It's the big team at home, a home win (even Fulham fans would have to admit) is pretty likely, and other than being 2 PL teams (which is a poor excuse with so many potentially good TV ties) there's no reason for it to be picked. Well, other than for ITV who'll think "sod the other ties, people want to watch Man Utd, it's a rubbish TV tie but we'll pick them because more people will watch and so we can ask for more money from advertisers".
Plus if Blackpool beat Fulham you lose the "it's all all PL tie" argument that people could use, but as I said, an all PL tie isn't a good reason for it to be picked, especially with it being the bigger team at home.
Leeds or Birmingham v Spurs TV
Palace or Stoke v Man City TV
Southend or Brentford v Chelsea TV
You can remove the first from your list, no chance in hell.