They're just taking the piss now. After the RedZone update Sky put up a graphic showing RedZone as an option on the red button, which it isn't.

And now they are interviewing some old rocker. Just great.

On TiVo it says 'RedZone' starts at 9.15pm tonight

At the start of the game tonight, after Oakland's early TD, on C4 did they miss out quite a long passage of play (leading to the Miami FG)? I had the tv on C4 while recording the Sky Sports on Tivo, and it seemed to be a very long discussion between Colin, Vernon and their guests... and then the score was suddenly 7-3?

I think they included the interview with Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) in this section... I had to rewind Tivo to see the missing action... was I just not paying attention, or were they doing off pitch interviews while the action was going on?

Another 'away' win at Wembley today looming, taking it to 3-6 now... interesting to see though that the attendances at Wembley have been higher than the Superbowl in every season since they started the International Series (except for the 2011 Superbowl in Arlington with 103k!)... especially when the matches at Wembley are not usually the best of the NFL that week. Sad to see the Raiders in such decline...

Having asked some questions; it's because Sky have non-exclusivity to the London NFL games. I don't actually understand why Ch4 would be upset with Redzone and how it would affect the exclusive clause as Sky are also showing the same game.
But it is clear that Channel 4 is to blame though.

More digging:
For the 1pm and 4:25pm ET time slots the NFL sell two sets of rights in the UK for each game; Sky have secondary rights (which they use for Redzone) but they DONT have them during the London games as Ch4 are the secondary rights holders.

So in theory then Sky could show a second game instead of the Redzone then?

In theory yes.
Next season the new rights start and the five year deal specifically say that Sky will show Redzone. The second match started because the NFL wanted Sky to always show the teams visiting London during the first season of the International Series.

There are only 3 late games this week..
Fox: Phi @ SF; Atl @ Min (both 9:25)
CBS: Jax @ SD (9:15)
Means only having half of Redzone tonight will be a lot of Scott Hansen in the studio!

(This Miami @ Oakland game would have been a 9:15 kick off if it wasn't played in London.)

Quick question: Do Sky Sports and Channel 4 use the game feed graphics provided by whichever US network is broadcasting the game or do they have their own graphic packages? If so could you post some screen captures?

Don't go back to the stadium to talk more about this dogshit game! Put ****ing RedZone on you mother****ers!


Both used the CBS feed.

all the UK broadcasters of NFL use the native graphics and comms. Which means you get lots of promos for The Big Bang Theory and 60 Minutes from CBS; The Simpsons from Fox etc

It's only Eurosport during their NCAA football coverage that have their own commentator. Mike Carlson gets tht gig in English language.

Oh FFS, now they have put the red button option up but just to display a message saying RZ will be available at 9:15! Taking the piss.

its,on!!!

Finally, some proper football at last!

Yes I know where to get them too, in decent quality, but not everyone knows how to do this which is why TV coverage is still important.

What I dont get is why sky have to forfeit there second game for channel 4 couldnt they just have 3 games when the NFL is in london
e.g
1. SKY WEMBLEY GAME
2. SKY REDZONE
3. CH4 WEMBLEY

Because the NFL sell the rights and this is how they choose to sell them.

Channel 4 probably don't allow it as if Sky had Red Zone coverage then they could lose a fair amount of ratings on the day.

The NFL, Sky and Channel 4 seem to have collectively painted themselves into a corner with the Wembley TV coverage. The NFL wants as wide an audience as possible, hence showing in on Channel 4. Channel 4 doesn't want another NFL game, or the Red Zone, shown on Sky at the same time, because fans with Sky who know anything about the sport will for the most part watch another, better game, or the Red Zone, on Sky. And Sky presumably have to be loyal to the NFL and the Wembley "experience", so they end up showing a game which is already on FTA, and have to put up with presumably much lower ratings. I'm not sure though that annoying the loyal NFL fans with Sky is really the best strategy. Are they really converting that many UK fans with a series of not very good London games, especially with the laughable change of channels to More 4 halfway through?

I wonder if the solution is having the London game earlier in the day, like what they're doing for the Falcons-Lions. The problem with that is it further infuriates the US-based fans of the two teams playing, who have the game on Sunday morning. Probably a non-starter for teams who play in the Mountain and PST time zones.

Yes it would make it difficult to bring over Western teams but the majority of teams are in the Eastern and Central zones. The NFL definitely want this early game experiment to work because it makes the International game much more valuable to them. At the moment the games are not really noticed in America outside the local markets but when it's an early game it will be an extra nationally televised game. Imagine if the NFL could sell a package of 17 nationally televised breakfast games, that's a big new revenue source if they can get this game to work. Of course it depends on the audience being there and people preferring to watch a live game rather than the pregame shows.

Commentary Lineups for Week 5.

Vikings @ Packers CBS - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson
Bears @ Panthers - Fox Thom Brennaman, David Diehl, Laura Okmin.
Jets @ Chargers - CBS - Greg Gumbel, Trent Green, Evan Washburn
Bengals @ Patriots NBC - Al Michaels, Chris Collingsworth, Michelle Tafoya.
Seahawks @ Redskins ESPN - Mike Tirico, Jon Grudden, Lisa Salters

Much better on Sky Sports 2 tonight (Chicago @ Carolina), focusing on the game and apart from one occasion, only interrupting for Redzone during natural breaks.

Over the first 5 weeks Sky have split the coverage across 17 teams. For the Sunday early and late games (The only games where Sky can choose the match), Miami, San Francisco and Denver have featured twice whilst Atlanta, Cincinnati, Oakland, Green Bay, Detroit, San Francisco, Dallas, Kansas, New England, Seattle, Carolina, Chicago, San Diego and New York Jets have all featured in one match.

Across all of the channels providing game coverage in the UK, 26 teams will have been shown by the conclusion of Week 5.. The number of appearances per team will be;

3 Green Bay, New England, Denver, Seattle and San Francisco.
2 Atlanta, Miami, New York Giants, Washington, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Dallas, Chicago, San Diego, New York Jets, Indianapolis, Kansas.
1 New Orleans, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Arizona, Philadelphia, Minnesota.

No appearances yet for Jacksonville, Buffalo, Tennessee, Cleveland, St Louis or Houston. (Houston and St Louis are scheduled for appearances in Week 6 in TNF and MNF respectively).

Dallas at Seattle the second live game on next Sunday on Sky

Go Cowboys !!!

Did Sky move away from the Charger game to the 49ers game last night, after it become clear Jets @ Charges was a blowout?

Not sure, I was on Red Zone from the moment the schedule was announced. I get that Sky are trying to show as many different teams as possible, but last night they picked what was obviously the least attractive of the three available match-ups. I'm not sure they were doing Jets fans any favours either. It would be great if they had the ability to make a decision early on if it looks like they have picked a lemon and switch games, they could always go back if the first game gets exciting again.