So we have the big Man C v Arsenal match

And BBC think we are not interested
No MOTD tonight

I imagine it is more to do with Sports Personality rather than Liverpool derby

Contractually, the BBC can show MOTD2 on Sunday OR Monday. So if they want to show highlights of the Merseyside derby, the have to forego same-day highlights of today's games.

I don't know why you think SPOTY is relevant. They've shown MOTD2 on the same day plenty of times in the past. The Merseyside derby is a big game so it's understandable why they've exercised their Monday night option.

Exactly.

The Merseyside derby is precisely why they are holding out until Monday. SPOTY has nothing to do with it.

Would you really expect a Match of the Day three nights running?

They've also got the apprentice final.
They've decided on tomorrow so they can cover both games. Correct decision.. Probably

I think you are spot on there.

I assumed that all the staff who work on MOTD would all be at the awards ?or even working there

I would guess the same.

It was actually Burnley who requested it, they didn't want to have to make two trips to London in 3 days so they asked the PL to move it.

Fixed.

Have to say it's quite convenient

I wish I'd been able to post this earlier than five days later so it didn't sound like I'd been stewing on it for so long, but... that's what I said, isn't it? I made reference to the last time Christmas was on a Sunday in 2011 - when they had the midweek before Christmas - and then moved on to mention the time before that in 2005 when we had the midweek after Christmas.


I don't think it's at all dangerous, as I mentioned before it happened in 2009 when Spurs requested their match against Wigan be moved to the Sunday because it came straight after an international break and they wanted their players to have more rest. If both teams are happy to agree, it can happen. But it's happened twice in about a decade. It's not likely to happen much more frequently either because these days there's very little flexibility in the fixture list and as we know from this thread, it's often more about when you can't play it than when you can. This is one of the few weekends of the season they can do it, because nobody has a midweek match.

Anyway, surely it's no different to Football League teams moving their matches to Friday nights if they think they can get bigger attendances - as I see a number have done on 30th December to avoid having a New Year's Eve match. It's also notable that attendances are usually awful on the Saturday before Christmas anyway.


Well, yes, and if the two matches had been the other way round, it would probably have been the same. The other issue as well of course is that with The Apprentice it would mean either a very late start on BBC1 or on BBC2 with a much lower audience, also denting The Apprentice while they were at it. If you can show both on BBC1, why not? Exactly the same thing happened this week last season.

The fact many of the team will probably be working on SPOTY is another, smaller consideration. I remember the first year of MOTD2, in 2004, it was still the era when SPOTY was still at TV Centre, so Chiles presented the show as usual in the now-familiar smart casual attire but Hansen and Lawro were the pundits, and were in suits, clearly having just come from SPOTY. Which looked really weird.

Is there any reason why the Merseyside Derby can't be played in a different matchweek to a Big 6 game, there are enough rounds aren't there?

Why?

That's an interesting point.
They always tell us the fixtures are a lottery.. (Apart from certain exceptions)
However there seemed to be a few years when sky loved a big 4 double header on a Sunday.. They don't happen anymore. I'm sure its coincidence

[quote=sat-ire;84912487]Why? [ Because there is an argument as to why it couldn't have been at 1.30.

My point exactly. You either have double headers or you don't

The fixture lists aren't produced for the benefit of TV!

The TV companies pick from the way the fixtures have fallen, suggesting it should've been in a different week than a top 6 fixture makes no sense.

I think with the increasd games now it means they spread them around. 3-4 years ago it would have been a double header. But now Bournemouth v Southampton gets a look in because they have extra to show.

Let's not forget that the Merseyside derby isn't an automatic pick for Sky. They haven't picked many times.

Do they not? I lose track

We all do

But the other broadcasters have shown it regularly in recent times...

Somebody needs to tell Ronald Koeman.. He thinks its bigger than El Classico

Arsenal v Man City/Liverpool v Spurs came out together in 2013-14 but other than that we haven't had any others come out together. I suspect the PL have sussed out that they can make more money from the secondary rights holder by keeping these games apart.

Going back to Package D and E (We are one short on Package E)

Maybe Watford v Stoke was an E 4 rather than D 4.

Watford can always be shown in D at home to Liverpool late in season

Didn't Hull make two trips to London midweek/weekend? Spurs on the Wed and then WHU on Sat? Dangerous precedent to set in my opinion.

It's certainly a possibility, but I'd suggest unlikely for the following reasons:

1. Watford v Stoke could have been played Friday night. Perhaps Sky are allowed to designate a Package E game as a Monday night game and move it to Sunday 12:00 if necessary (Week 13 was followed by EFL Cup quarter finals). But that would kind of defeat the point of having Friday night games.

2. Having more Package E games than weeks isn't that much of a problem given that Sky have Fridays and Mondays. I'm expecting a weekend with a Friday and a Monday game.

3. It's hard to see where Sky would now get a Watford game in Package D. I reckon Sky are maxed out of Chelsea in Package D, so that rules out Week 28. Tottenham v Watford in Week 32 could be a possibility, but it would have to be a fourth pick and BT may take it with a third pick. I'd have thought Watford v Liverpool in Week 35 would be leaving it a bit late. It would be a first pick, but I'm not sure Sky would want to be committing to games this far out.