Mike Ingham commentating as well.

Dion Dublin's reference at the final whistle to someone lying on the pitch as if having 'been shot' should hopefully end his involvement as a summariser.

I've heard that phrase many a time on tv and radio for the divers and the like.

couldn't agree more. I can see where the poster may have been coming from slightly though, in the context of last Thursday's shootings at the Bat man premier it could be argued that references to someone looking as if they'd been shot was insensitive, but still think its a perfectly acceptable phrase to use myself.

re the talksport/5live FA cup and England games deal.
glad that TS have FA cup rights now-- hopefully sometimes they'll have an alternative to 5live-- though if they are indeed able to choose any game, they'll be a lot of head to heads. the England situation is interesting though. I'm probably out of step with most posters on here-- but can't really see any value for TS in holding friendly rights only. these games are usually free to air on tv so the audience I'd guess will be pretty small-- particularly for games which often amount to glorified kick-abouts. still, I guess it may bring some more advertising as sponsors will want to be associated with England games.

I read on the Guardian website that all these matches that talksport have signed up to today will also be available to talksport international which is the new foreign component to talksport so I imagine thats why they also went for the England friendlies and it can complement their new foreign Premier League rights

The FA Cup and Community Shield can be broadcast worldwide by talkSPORT - but not England international friendlies.

It's all about kudos, sponsorship opportunities and having another set of rights which they can put into their now rather large portfolio.

Their football broadcast rights include:

Premier League (64-games per season)
FA Cup (including the Community Shield)
England friendly internationals
Champions League
League Cup Final
Football League Play-Off Finals (Championship, League One and League Two)

This is in addition to a new role with the Aviva Premiership where they're now an official broadcaster of the competition. It also appears there will be some live commentaries in rugby this coming season too as Mike Bovill responded to a question on Twitter about live games with: "have got some planned, yes".

top work as usual 4-4-2 and thanks for the clarification on England friendly rights.

I'm very pleased with the new FA radio deal: it's planned out in a way that is very close to what I was hoping for.

While I had no desire to see BBC Radio 5 Live lose any of the rights they held in the previous deal, I was keeping my fingers crossed that talkSPORT would win a substantial share of the rights (as opposed to something like tokenistic second pick Saturday 3pm FA Cup games, which I believe they were offered last time out) and this is exactly what has happened.

I'm particularly glad both broadcasters will be sharing FA Cup rights, meaning that 5 Live can continue their extensive coverage of the competition (including local radio commentaries on Sports Extra) from the first round onwards and talkSPORT can come in and do all of the top commentaries from the Third Round onwards. It will be interesting to see if talkSPORT choose to do commentaries at 3pm on Third, Fourth and Fifth Round Saturdays - I suspect they may do on the latter weekend but for Round 3 or 4 they might be better served sticking with Around the Grounds or having various commentary teams at numerous games in a similar way to what Radio 5 Live do on those days.

The only disappointment is that 5 Live have retained exclusivity over England's home qualifiers, but I suppose you can't have everything. I have similar thoughts about this aspect of the deal to some of the ones Swansea Steve has stated about the England friendlies; I'm thinking that perhaps UTV Media thought going for these games wasn't worth the asking price given that these matches are currently available to watch on ITV and look set to continue on free-to-air television for the next six seasons, meaning they'll be far less of a demand for radio coverage of these games as opposed to FA Cup games that will be on pay television. Given the current climate I doubt the BBC would have actively sought exclusivity over them if it wasn't necessary, so that explanation might be your answer.

Out of interest, do talkSPORT now hold national radio exclusivity over England's home friendly internationals?


Switch the order that you've listed talkSPORT and 5 Live around in that first sentence (and add in that I can watch the home friendlies on free-to-air TV) and that sums up my thoughts about the new deal precisely. The main thing to say about this deal is that it's great for listener choice; whatever your preferred station is or whether you like to mix and match between the two.

Thanks for digesting this Diff, I've not had chance to look at it fully and you've summed up everything I wish to know
I think it's a good all round deal to be honest

I don't think so as none of the articles suggest that - even talkSPORT's own press release. While that is slightly wrong as it says it's the first time they have FA Cup and England internationals (outside of Euro's or World Cup's), they would've said if they had exclusive England friendlies.

Does the contract include Italy v England in Switzerland or is that an 'away' game rather than 'home'?

All England friendlies count as home games because the FA demand the media rights in exchange for organising the friendly. Half the point of them is to make money.

I'm disappointed with The Guardian's coverage of this story, leading with the Beeb losing their exclusive deal, as if it's a disaster, when of course they're going to cover exactly the same matches they had in the last deal and for those who only listen to Five Live they won't notice any difference.

I think it depends on whether they come to a gentleman's agreement with talkSPORT by dividing up the FA Cup to ensure they are not both covering the same matches. I could see this happening in the earlier rounds, if not the semis.

OT for this thread but Mike Bovill has tweeted that talkSPORT will also be broadcasting Aviva Premiership Rugby next season.

i hope your right-- but expect the stand-out games to be covered by both. can you really see one of the stations agreeing to wave their right to broacast commentary on say man u v man city in the 3rd round (taking a fixture from last seasons third round). also, expect both semi finals to be on both stations. TS have waited a long time for the rights and so will want to broadcast as many big games as possible.

BBC Radio Scotland - Saturday 28th July 2012

Sportsound presented by Richard Gordon live from Pacific Quay with Jim Traynor.

Open All Mics
Hibernian v. Huddersfield - Stephen Craigan
St Johnstone v. Bristol City - Chris McLaughlin and Murdo MacLeod
Hamilton v. Airdrie United - Jane Lewis
Falkirk v. Stirling Albion - Martin Dowden
Morton v. Albion Rovers - Derek Ferguson

BBC Radio Leicester

Charles Dagnall with BBC Radio Leicester Sport live from Grace Road.

Pre-Season Friendly
Shrewsbury v Leicester City - John Sinclair, Jason Bourne and Alan Young (commentary)

County Championship: Day Two
Leicestershire v Yorkshire - Charles Dagnall

Senior Open: Third Round
Turnberry - Nick Dye

BBC Radio Derby

Rob Watts with Summer Saturday.

Pre-Season Friendly
Burton Albion v Derby County - Charles Collins and Roger Davies (commentary)

The Scotland v England cricket I referred to above has already been called off, leaving Sports Extra free. BBC media centre confirms that the Community Shield will be live on Sports Extra on 12th August. 5 Live's new season will be start with Swindon v Brighton (14th)in the League Cup and then England the following night.

Cardiff v Huddersfield, which starts the Championship on the 17th, is on Sports Extra.

BBC Radio Scotland - Sunday 29th July 2012

Sportsound presented by Richard Gordon live from Glebe Park with Michael Grant

Ramsden's Challenge Cup
Brechin City v. The Rangers - Rob MacLean, Stephen Craigan, Craig Patterson and Chris McLaughlin pitchside

5 Live Olympics Extra

GB v UAE - Mike Ingham, Dion Dublin + John Murray

5live olympics extra also had reports, and spells of commentary (including the third Brazil goal)of the Brazil v Belarus game this afternoon from O-T provided by Ian Dennis. no reporter covering the Spain game this evening.
Last edited by swansea steve : 29-07-2012 at 21:06

Italy v England in Switzerland will be live on both BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT on Wednesday 15th August.

I will do my best to update everyone on BBC's Radio Devon's Coverage, BBC Oxford, and JackFM Oxfordshire football coverage throughout the season

That is excellent news, Rich. The SW has been a neglected area here.