Originally Posted by ftakeith:
“EFL should get a terrestrial live TV partner alongside the major Pay TV partner
BBCtv years ago had 10 live championship games each season along with live semi final games of the league cup semi final and the live final.
EFL should bring back that deal.
They could also expand by 10 live games in league one and also 10 live games from league two
live terrestrial coverage would compliment the EFL highlights and more promotion for the major pay tv partner”
Originally Posted by Li4m:
“The 10 games the BBC showed were first picks as well. It was a superb deal and a shame it was short-lived. I'm not sure adding 20 additional games from across Leagues 1 and 2 would be particularly viable though.”
Originally Posted by hagley_rob:
“At first, the BBC deal looked good, but as time went, their coverage was pretty shambolic. they seemed to have lost interest when they stopped showing live matches while keeping the late Saturday highlight show until the contract expired. Also the play-off coverage was non-existent. I think the same applies to Channel 5.”
Agreed; that BBC deal between August 2009-May 2012 with 10 live Championship games and League Cup Semi-Finals and Final live was good, but sadly, that was one of the first victims of the Licence Fee freeze which the Tories imposed on the Beeb, following their return to power - in conjunction with the Lib Dems - in 2010.
The highlights deal from August 2012-May 2015 was announced in May 2012 with budgets cut further still to the coverage. By then, the Football League Show had already changed to a pre-recorded show from a live one, for which it was for the first two seasons of the preceding deal.