BBC Radio Leicester

Premiership Rugby
Worcester v Leicester Tigers - Charles Dagnall presenting from Sixways, with commentary from Bleddyn Jones and Steve Johnson (19:45)

ABC Local Radio (Australia) - Grandstand

Cricket: Australia v Sri Lanka, Three Test Match Series

Commentators: Jim Maxwell, Drew Morphett and Roshan Abeysinghe
Summarisers: Kerry O'Keeffe (whole series), Geoff Lawson (first and third tests only), Brett Geeves (first test only), Damien Fleming, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain (all three second test only) and Russel Arnold (third test only)
Reporters: Peter Newlinds (first test: Bellerive Oval, Hobart), Dan Lonergan (second test: Melbourne Cricket Ground) and Shannon Byrne (third test: Sydney Cricket Ground)

Peter Walsh has been Grandstand's studio host. During the third test, their commentary has included tennis updates from Quentin Hull at the Brisbane International and Peter Newlinds at the Hobart International.

Finally, I wanted to share my thoughts on Christopher Martin-Jenkins a week on from his sad passing. I really enjoyed listening to his understated commentary style on Test Match Special down the years and I also feel he was one of the finest print journalists cricket had to offer. He was a pleasure to hear and read and will be much missed.

BBC Bristol / Somerset

Richard Hoskin (studio host)

London Wasps V Bath (Aviva Premiership RU) - Andrew Sheridan and Tom Bradshaw (95.5FM / 104.6FM / 1548MW / DAB / Online)

Sunday 6th January - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live NFL with Greg Brady (in Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

American Football: NFL Wild Card Playoffs
Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens - Gerry Sandusky, Qadry Ismail and Stan White (commentary on the final four minutes of the game provided by WBAL 1090 AM - "The Ravens Gameday Radio Network")
Seattle Seahawks @ Washington Redskins - Larry Michael, Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff, with Rick Walker on the sidelines (9.30pm GMT commentary provided by ESPN 980 - "The Redskins Radio Network")...
...with the final two minutes of the later game coming from - Steve Raible and Warren Moon, with Jen Mueller on the sidelines (commentary provided 710 AM ESPN Seattle - "The Seahawks Radio Network")

To describe how 5LSE's broadcast worked, they came on-air at their usual start time of 9pm but after Greg had opened the programme, they threw straight to commentary from Baltimore for the closing stages of the earlier Sunday Wild Card match. That ended in plenty of time to allow them to carry full commentary on the later match, the bulk of which they took from the Redskins feed before switching to the visiting Seahawks feed at the two minute warning.

Greg confirmed that they'll be doing full commentary on both games of a double header of Divisional Playoffs next Sunday, with him doing commentary from the later Houston Texans @ New England Patriots game in Foxboro.

He also mentioned that Darren Fletcher will be doing on-site commentary on the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl alongside Rocky Boiman.

Monday 7th January - ESPN Radio

Marc Kestecher presented College Gameday from pitchside at SunLife Stadium alongside Trevor Matich

College Football: Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game
Alabama Crimson Tide v Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Mike Tirico and Todd Blackledge (commentary), with Holly Rowe and Joe Schad on the sidelines

Last night, Kevin Calabro and Dr. Jack Ramsey commentated on the Los Angeles Lakers @ San Antonio Spurs game in the NBA for ESPN Radio, with Marc Kestecher presenting from the studio. I'm not going to post the details of ESPN Radio's NBA coverage all the time (there should be a game a week now that college football season is over) as the team they use usually will be the same, with it looking like Calabro has succeeded the late Jim Durham.

Aviron Bayonnais V Newport-Gwent Dragons (Amlin Challenge Cup RU)

BBC Radio Wales - Rick O'Shea (studio host) Phil Steele and Adrian Hadley (All frequencies / Online)
BBC Radio Cymru - Dot Davies (studio host) Gareth Charles and Emyr Lewis (commentary)

Leinster V Scarlets (Heineken Cup RU)(1800GMT KO) - Cennydd Davies and MikeRuddock (All frequencies / Online)


Leinster V Scarlets (Heineken Cup RU)(1800GMT KO) - Gareth Rhys Owen and Gareth Davies (commentary)

BBC Radio Leicester

Presented by Charles Dagnall from the Liberty Stadium

Heineken Cup - Pool 2
Ospreys v Leicester Tigers - Bleddyn Jones and Steve Johnson (15:00 commentary)

BBL Cup Final
Leicester Riders v Newcastle Eagles - John Sinclair and Nigel Lloyd (updates on FM & DAB; online commentary)

BBC Radio Wales - Ross Harries (host from ground) Gareth Charles and Tom Shanklin (All frequencies / Online)
BBC Radio Cymru - Dot Davies (host from ground) Huw Llewellyn Davies and Brynmor Williams

Bleddyn was also heard on Radio Cymru pre-match


Also on 5LSX when it starts at 3.30pm

Biggar's not having a good time with his kicking!

Newport-Gwent Dragons V London Wasps (Amlin Challenge Cup RU)

BBC Radio Wales - Gareth Rhys Owen (host from ground) Rick O'Shea and Adrian Hadley (SE FM / Online)
BBC Radio Cymru - Gareth Charles (also host) and Emyr Lewis (commentary)

Sunday 13th January - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live NFL with Darren Fletcher in London for the ealier game; then Greg Brady from Gillette Stadium, Foxoborough for the later one

American Football: NFL Divisional Playoffs
Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons - Dave Sims and James Lofton, with Tony Boselli on the sidelines (6pm GMT commentary provided by Dial Global Sports)
Houston Texans @ New England Patriots - Greg Brady and Matt Chatham (9.30pm GMT commentary)

Interesting to hear 5LSE taking the Dial Global Sports (formerly Westwood One) national radio commentary on the earlier part of their Sunday double header from the Divisional Round rather than one from US local radio as they had been doing throughout the regular season and during the Wild Card Round. Neither game overlapped so they were able to cover both of them in full.

They'll be bit of a different set-up for BBC Radio this weekend, both the AFC and NFC Championship Games will be covered on Sunday but the later AFC match will be broadcast on Radio 5 Live from 11.30pm with them having an on-site commentary team of Darren Fletcher, Greg Brady and Matt Chatham plus producer Simon Crosse. The early NFC game will be on 5LSE from 8pm, the BBC won't be doing their own commentary so if they opt for Dial Global again we'll hear the Sims, Lofton and Boselli trio for the second week running. On Sunday 3rd February, Super Bowl XLVII will be live on Radio 5 Live with Fletcher and Rocky Boiman at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Thursday 17th January - BBC Radio 5 Live

Darren Fletcher presented 5 Live Sport from the O2 Arena, London

Basketball: NBA London Live
New York Knicks @ Detroit Pistons - Chris Mitchell, Fab Flournoy and Flinder Boyd (8pm commentary), with Darren Fletcher contributing during breaks in play and Ade Adedoyin conducting courtside interviews

Snooker: The Masters
Alexandra Palace, London - Philip Studd

Will Perry (a 5 Live and Final Score football reporter once of talkSPORT and BBC Radio Manchester) presented the studio-based first hour of 5 Live Sport before they crossed to commentary. I've not heard him presenting before.

From Charles Sale in the Daily Mail:

Will it definently be shared or could talksport get exclusive rights

The question is whether it will be shared like the FA Cup (where both stations have full rights) or if they will split the matches between them. I suspect that it's the former and the BBC will be happy with that. Either way I'm pleased that talkSPORT will also be covering it as their 2011 coverage (with Brian Moore & David Campese) was very good.

I think it's unlikely that talkSPORT would have been interested in the overseas Ashes rights, with minimal advertising revenue during the live coverage between midnight-6am, so I'm not sure why this contract would have been expensive for BBC Radio.

Thanks for posting the link 4-4-2. It has to be said that it is a frustratingly sketchy titbit from Charles Sale (perhaps the details of the deal are a bit sketchy at the moment?). He doesn't even explicitly state that Radio 5 Live will be sharing the 2015 Rugby World Cup rights with talkSPORT, although you would have to assume that they will be as I can't imagine any other station having the inclination or being in a position to offer coverage.

As SouthCity says the big unanswered question is whether shared coverage amounts to games being divided up Premier League style or both stations having access to everything ala the football World Cup. Should it be the former, and presuming the 2013/14 to 2015/16 Premier League radio deal is largely the same as the current one, I could see Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT coming to the agreement that R5L will broadcast RWC games taking place in timeslots when talkSPORT have live Premier League rights and vice versa, where possible, with both stations providing commentary on the final and a semi-final each. Of course the timeslot issue might not have as much of an impact on radio football coverage as it would have had in 1999 when the tournament was held in Wales if, like the 2007 tournament in France, the English organising committee opts to schedule most of the big weekend knockout games as evening kick-offs.

Like SouthCity, I'm glad to see talkSPORT extending their commitment to live rugby union well beyond this summer as their coverage of the sport in recent years has been very good. It's worth noting that this deal has been done in the post-Moz Dee era for the station, which suggests that covering the sport is more than just "his baby" as it were. I also think Sale's reference to The Ashes is a bit of a red herring - the problems TWG era talkSPORT faced upon purchasing rights to the 2001/02 Ashes (which they would later sell on to the BBC) is well documented and besides, since buying the station from TWG, present day owners UTV Radio have shown no interest whatsoever in purchasing exclusive live rights to Test cricket.

Tennis: Australian Open

AO Radio Peter Marcato, Chris Bowers, Richard Evans, Craig Gabriel, John Kehoe, Eleanor Preston, Craig Willis, Matt Cronin, Kate Kearns, Ashley Fisher, Sandra Harwitt

BBC Five Live and Sports Extra Jonathan Overend, Alistair Eykyn, David Law, Jeremy Bates, bethany Mattek-Sands

Benetton Rugby Treviso V Ospreys (Heineken Cup RU)

BBC Radio Wales - Simon Davies (studio host) Gareth Charles and Garin Jenkins (All frequencies / Online)
BBC Radio Cymru - Bethan Clement (studio host) Gareth Rhys Owen and Rhodri Gomer-Davies (commentary)

BBC Radio Leicester

Presented by Charles Dagnall from Welford Road

Heineken Cup - Pool 2
Leicester Tigers v Toulouse - Bleddyn Jones and Steve Johnson (15:00 commentary)

5LSX went with Conor McNamara (host) and James Burridge and Martin Corry as commentators

Can't remember who was at Saracens V Edinburgh - Ed something

Ed Marriage?

Sunday 20th January - BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

5 Live NFL with Tony Husband (in London)

American Football: NFC Championship Game
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons - Dave Sims and James Lofton, with Tony Boselli on the sidelines (8pm GMT commentary provided by Dial Global Sports)


BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live NFL with Darren Fletcher from Gillette Stadium, Foxoborough

American Football: AFC Championship Game
Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots - Darren Fletcher and Greg Brady (11.30pm GMT commentary), joined by Matt Chatham in the second quarter and Alistair Kirkwood during the first and third quarters and at half-time

The NFC Championship Game finished around three hours after it kicked off, which meant not only did it not clash with the AFC Championship Game, but 5LSE decided to stay on-air for a further half hour to preview the later game, with Tony linking up with Darren and Greg from Gillette Stadium before coverage switched to 5 Live. 5 Live's coverage of the AFC Championship Game was interupted by the usual news and sports bulletins at the end of the first quarter (at about 12.20am), at half-time (1am) and early in the fourth quarter (2am).

Dial Global Sports' commentary team on the AFC Championship Game was Kevin Harlan and Dan Fouts, with Mark Malone on the sidelines.

@ Post #97 - That's him.

England V Australia (International Netball Series)

Katherine Merry and Tracey Neville for BBC 5LSX

5 Live Sports Extra - Australian Open Tennis

Mens Semi Final - Djokovic v Ferrer

Presented by John Inverdale. Commentary from Alastair Eykyn (set1), David Law (sets 2+3), Jeremy Bates and Mark Woodforde.

First time I can recall them having a presenter on site but always great to have Inverdale hosting sport on the radio.