Channel 5 will not be showing Serie A next season
Freddy_Lives
Posts: 1,731 Forum Member
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Apologies if this is old news but I've just been informed that Channel 5 have dropped their Serie A coverage for next season.
Anyone got any ideas as to who might pick it up? Eurosport? Back on Setanta again?
Anyone got any ideas as to who might pick it up? Eurosport? Back on Setanta again?
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I can't see Sky picking it up. Serie A might be a bigger draw for a UK broadcaster if someone like Lampard signs for Inter!
It may end up back on Setanta, but viewing figures have really dipped over the last few years, which is why Ch4, Bravo, Setanta and now FIVE have all ditched it.
With John Barnes talking rubbish every week even the most ardent of calcio fans quickly got fed up.
I doubt it though.
Five's approach was doomed to failure - partly because channel 4 had set the bar so high all thos years ago with James Richardson and Peter Brackley., Five trying to be gimmicky with a (good looking) woman who can barely speak English, paired with a scruffily-dressed male presenter (Mark?) Chapman, and relying on a very mediocre commentator like Tony Jones alongside a proven-walking-TV-disaster Jon Barnes meant Calcio was never gonna "thrive on five".
ciao italia
Yes, it has nothing to do with the fact that the ratings were abject and that the viewer didn't give a toss about Serie A did it???
Serie A is a niche league. Blaming the production is the easy answer. Even if it was back on Four with James Richardson it would struggle - remember Four dropped it, Eurosport dropped it, Bravo dropped it. It is simply struggling in a very competitive market.
The clamour for football productions to stick a format which everyone does is short sighted and very British. If broadcasters don't try different things then we're all doomed. Some work some don't.
Remember the set on Bravo? It was an appalling bar which looked cheap and nasty.....selective memory abounds when it comes to Teflon James Richardson and the productions he has been involved in.
I'd love to see Setanta set up a dedicated football channel, actually for a while they did, if memory serves, and Italian coverage could certaintly be a cornerstone of that channel. Realitiscally though it seems like wishful thinking. It just seems odd that if Setanta could choose they would go with Porto-Naval over AC Milan-Jvuentus, for instance!
Maybe another channel will go for it? If no-one wants it then perhaps it will go cheap to someone? There is English language commentary already provided so perhaps a UK based broadcaster could tap into that. Failing that...I'd do it!
Also on the subject of commentary, John Barnes has improved considerably over the years. Also Tony Jones does a good job - he's stuck in a studio miles away from the action, so cut him some slack, he's doing his best with limited resources. Besides being anywhere within about 100 yards of Laura Esposito would put me off any task in hand!
I'm a huge fan of Argentine football, and I remember being appalled by Bravo's coverage the season they had it. Russell Osman was the 'expert' summariser, when it was clear that he had never seen any of the players before in his life, mis-pronounced the names, and would criticise a player for being 'a poor striker' or not a very good wide player without knowing they were playing out of position, etc.
The main commentator decided to take a 'comedy' approach, obsessing about an apparent resemblance between one player and Animal Magic presenter Terry Nutkins. :rolleyes: He used this so-called joke week after week that it became hugely irritating.
Bravo did instigate a message board, but that was a waste of time as it became full of people of both nationalities going on about the Falklands/Malvinas... :rolleyes:
Those of us who wanted to discuss football had to p*ss off to another secret board where they couldn't find us.
Mind you, Channel Four became even worse. One guy voicing highlights of a Velez Sarsfield v Colon Santa Fe match actually got the teams mixed up as he started, and when a Velez player got sent off, said 'Colon were quickly down to ten men', before describing a Colon chance as a Velez chance. Then, in the middle of this five minute package, he realised what he had done, and switched the teams back to their correct identification as Velez scored the only goal, but was obviously too lazy to re-record the whole thing from the beginning so it might sound as if he knew what he was talking about! :rolleyes:
I don't think UK TV will ever cover foreign league football well, because unless it is presented by people with a real, deep-rooted feel for the clubs and the players - like James Richardson - then it just stinks of artificiality and a self-satisfied 'hey, aren't we cool presenting a programme about foreign football'.
I would never watch anything other than Argentine coverage of Argentine games now, on satellite.
I think the only reason it ever got on UK terrestrial screens was the fact that Gazza got transferred to Lazio. People forget just how big Gazza was between about 1990 and 1993, I think he was a far bigger star among people only vaguely interested in football than even David Beckham was. Channel 4 must have thought that by centering their coverage around him, it would be a nailed on winner. But Gazza's career at Lazio flopped, and I don't think people were that interested in a league with virtually no British element after that.
But why is it a niche league? I don't doubt you're right, I'm just interested to know why. La Liga works well for Sky, Setanta have got good mileage out of the Bundesliga and to an extent the Portuguese/Dutch/French top divisions.
It's niche for terrestrial, I'd definitely say, but I don't see why it couldn't thrive on satellite like these other examples.
I remember that, I think the commentator was Ian Darke's son Adam (or possibly Andy Burton?), who I dont think has commentated since - he now appears on Five as a touchline reporter.
Adam Darke does not appear as a touchline reporter on five Keith. It's Dave Beckett.
"Good mileage" - meaning what? Setanta's figures for the Bundesliga and Portuguese / French etc will be very poor. For those channels they are fillers to supplement the EPL etc. It's the difference between Five, a commercial broadcaster who have to get viewers for advertising revenue and Setanta who get subscriptions from EPL / FA Cup / SPL for revenue. Serie A etc won't bring subscribers it is wallpaper.
La Liga is hanging onto the Beckham legacy..it'll drop off over time like Serie A did when Ince etc were finally gone.
And I'm quite willing to forgive James Richardson for the coverage on Bravo (I never saw any of the Eurosport Serie A coverage so can't comment) on the basis of his work on Football Italia on Channel 4 (and his work on the Guardian's football podcast).
They should use John Barnes and his commentaries at media school, for how NOT to do it. He is without doubt the worst “expert” ever to co/commentate on football:eek:
The coverage was first dropped from Channel 4 due to poor viewing figures.
British Eurosport employed James Richardson and copied Channel 4's serious format. After two-and-a-half years it wasn't working, and they didn't bother bidding again for the rights.
Bravo attempted a modern take on Channel 4's approach, again with James Richardson at the helm. Sure, it was a bit cheap, but to be fair British Eurosport had already shown that copying Channel 4 wouldn't work. But sadly Bravo's coverage also failed, and they had to stop televising matches before their contract finished, as repeats of Alias, or whatever, were more attractive to viewers and therefore advertisers.
Running alongside Bravo, Setanta's coverage was much more primitive. However, viewing figures proved no more impressive than leagues like the Eredivisie, Ligue 1 or Portuguese Liga. This was despite the fact that at £500,000 per season, their Serie A contract was costing considerably more.
Having noted the failures of Channel 4, British Eurosport, Bravo and Setanta, Five knew they had to try something different, and went for a more populist (i.e. less serious) slant to their coverage. Unfortunately, this also flopped.
Comparisons with the Spanish Primera Divisinon don't really apply, as this is both more attractive and relevant to English viewers. Well known players regularly transfer between the two countries (e.g. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Carlos Vela, Luis Garcia, Arjen Robben, Thierry Henry etc).
Didn't BSB Sports Channel and Sky Sports show Italian League up to the 1991/92 season with John Inverdale presenting? I think I remember Sampdoria won the league?
Yeah, it was shown over here before Channel 4 took over. I've got a few of the older season review type programmes with Martin Tyler doing commentary!
I'll be delighted if someone picks it up. If not then it I'm not too fussed. I'll go back to watching on the internet like I did last season when C5 weren't showing Milan.