ITV should be hanging their heads in shame tonight. Their coverage of the football today has been diabolical. Hundreds of thousands of their HD viewers saw an advert instead of seeing the England goal. Clive Tyldesley's commentary was the most cliche ridden I have heard in years, and Adrian Chiles' presentation was appalling. His job is to be the programme presenter, not to curry favour with fans. And why was Patrick Viera a pundit? What relevance did he have to the game? And then came the icing on the cake - James Corden dying on his arse in the programme after the main event. Oh how we ached for Baddiel and Skinner.
It makes you realise how well Sky Sports do football. They knock spots off both the BBC and ITV coverage.
40 comments:
I couldn't agree more, Iain. The commentator was awful - cliche-ridden, hyping Heskey and just making ridiculous statements/"analysis" the whole timd. There was a few of us watching from home, and it drove us crazy. It really detracted from the game. After the howler, england played well but he made out as thought we froze, died etc.... urggghhhhh
I'm glad that we don't have to put up with ITV1 over here in Northern Ireland. We can watch it on UTV (the independent ITV contractor here) or we can watch RTE's coverage from the Republic instead.
RTE don't have Adrian Chiles on their coverage, so I think my mind is made up on where I'll be watching.
Did anyone else see James Corden dying on his arse tonight? Much the same thing as he accused Patrick Stewart of doing the other night when the Star Trek legend had a go at the fat sod.
ITV = Fail.
Sell the broadcasters on the back of this match. The Noise, it was like pulling teeth - NO atmosphere, NO relief and generated by people who are not interested in the game. Its like going to a 6 year old's party on steroids. I have always watched every neutral game in previous World Cups - usually (but not this time) the greatest show on earth. This time that would be like having to attend other people's 6 year old's parties on steroids.
Shame on FIFA for not stopping the plastic trumpets when they firts appeared last year. Who the hell would pay to go to RSA to attend any of these games? Corporate entertainment? It would be like sponsoring your client's to get unnecessary root canal work.
Who the hell would go to the RSA for any reason if they think that blowing plastic Chinese trumpets is somehow an ancient African tradition.
I'm just watching the James Corden repeat on ITV4.
He must be the unfunniest man on TV. How does he get these gigs?
I saw Simon Cowell at the start of the programme. He looked bored. I fear for whoever persuaded him to go on the programme.
Iain, a mate I worked with from Ghana came over to Ireland to work with us on a research project in 2005. He had done his PhD in the LSE and was a massive football fan and a handy enough player. He watched the analysis for the 2006 World Cup here without any idea who Johnny Giles was and was simply blown away with the quality of the half time and full time discussion. He never went near the BBC or ITV again.
If you can manage to fake an Irish IP you should try watching some of the analysis on RTe. It's unbiased and it's excellent. The view from Giles and Dunphy prior to tonight was that England had a side with talented players who had benefited from Italian organisation. After tonight they were bereft of reasons as to how England were so poor. It's not lack of ability, but that tonight England team were hesitant and more nervous even after scoring than RSA were in their first half.
What in the name of all that is holy are those stupid trumpets for?
Only at very few moments could you actually hear the crowd. I was proud that those were the moments of "Rule Britannia."
As a football-hater I could not care less. Please desist from this type of rubbish. This is not a sports forum: is it Iain?
Enjoy, or not, your footie nut please don't bore the majority. We've not only this but the upcoming Wimblebore fortnight to endure. Enough already.
Yes I like sport - not footie or tennis obviously - but don't go on about it here.
Watching football on ITV is like having your teeth pulled - you've no choice but to do it and you're left with discomfort and the sense something is missing for a while afterwards.
The producers are more concerned with the format than the coverage of the game. Until they stop that tinkering the coverage will remain poor.
yes, it was awful....build up to the game was seemingly random cutaways from the studio where the panel displayed zero enthusiasm, personality or wit. As for the commentary, what I was hearing bore no resemblance to what I was seeing.
Except for the bit where he said 'That was a terrible blunder from Green'.
Perhaps I'm jumping the gun but I've got a feeling that SA was a bad choice as host for the world cup.
A fan on Breakfast TV was saying that the transport is a shambles - he spent four hours waiting for transport to get back after the match.
As for those ghastly vuvuzelas - they are ruining matches for many fans. I don't accept the "it's part of their culture" argument - the wretched things have only been around for 7-8 years - it's not as if they are part of traditional history.
I don't accept the "when in Rome " line either. SA is the host nation. As a host, you should not do anything that your visitors find offensive. Many fans, not only in England but on the German fan message boards, are complaining vehemently about the noise.
LOL, I thought it was just me who missed the goal. I was sat there thinking "did I just press something"
Adrian Chiles only lasted 60 seconds before he was muted, just terrible.
What annoys me most of all is the obsession with replaying incidents while live play is in progress.
Sky are equally guilty of this in their coverage of premiership rugby union.
Apart from the loss of the goal, the rest of the match was apparently shown in Standard Definition on ITV HD i.e. same as ITV1.
Well, I guess the headline draws attention from what a bad day it was for Robert Green who, in turn, absorbed a lot of flack that otherwise would, and should, have been directed at the hopeless Rooney.
It did occur to me that, perhaps, ITV have a disgruntled person/s within their organisation who arranged that 'slip up'. Obviously they wouldn't have known they would prevent a goal being seen, but it would still have infuriated the audience.
As for
1.Chiles. He is a man who on the strength of one show and a rather indifferent BBC2 Match of the Day programme has been blown up into something which he is not. That is not his fault but that of those idiots that believe in the ridiculous 'personality' cult. He is more a turn off than a turn on. (As for myself I have never watched the Oneshow after his disgraceful and cowardly action towards Carol Thatcher!!!.
2.Viera. This is tokenism gone mad. Must have a black man, Must be a footballer. Forgetting the many excellent English Black former and present players available.
3. Townsend. Why an Irishman?
Shit result too!
Still, I for one didn't expect any different...shame rally.
Quite agree - didn't watch the Cordon thing as am of the opinion that he's about as funny as those Little Britain guys (only Tom Baker's narration raised a smile) so am quite chuffed that I missed it.
Oh, and don't forget the squillions the BBC have spent on their revolving studio - not like there's a recession going on or owt!
WV: pighic - must be what the BBC thinks of me.
I totally agree the commentary was awful. Cliche ridden and the in match analysis was just plain wrong. Oh and someone please remind Andy Townsend it's not WE - you're Irish ( allegedly).
As for Adrian Chiles, well what a result the BBC had unloading that snug, fatuous git
Having suffered ITV's dire F1 coverage for years, last night's football programme came as no surprise to me. They simply should never be allowed to do sport because they are rubbish at it.
Have you not seen the BBC's coverage::;:
* Gurning crisp eating fool Lineaker.
* Alan Green ; about as charming as a school bully.
* No one is as irrelevant (at the world cup) as a Scot. Particularly a dour one like Hansen!
* And another Scot (Nicky Campbell ) is sent to cover England for Radio 5. Unbelievable!
How many times did Tyldesley say: "[He's] going for glory"?
But I'm afraid, Mr. Dale, we should never rely on West Ham to win us the World Cup... should we...?
Green Agenda:
http://fxbites.blogspot.com/2010/06/green-agenda.html
We've had weeks now of adverts for new TVs, Sky HD boxes, Money off for England goals etc - so how ironic is it that ITV leaves its automated advert playout system to get in the way. Could they find at least one engineer to make sure it went out properly ? Not only did they miss the Gerrard's goal, nearly all the match was in standard definition not HD.
I don't blame Chiles though, he speaks like a fan and is ITV's best anchor since Des did a few years back.
ITV have always been PP at presentation of sports coverage. But having to put up with Chiles has put it on another level (was also astonished to see Viera there). Its not Baddiel & Skinner we need but Saint and Greavsie.
I think we are all missing out on the fact that the England performance was at best non-descript. No mid-field, Rooney bummbling around on his own up front and Lampard still unable to spot where the goal is. I do believe that Gerrard was playing at central defence towards the end of the game. The goalkeeper; had we scored more goals his mistake would hardly have been mentioned. And this coming from a Gooner.
Can anyone explain why Beckham is there?
What Robert Green the goalkeeper did is similar what a fielder standing at the gully drops a catch. The ball hit at the Green was not with thespeed and he fumbling with it is similar to the gully fielder in the cricket dropping an easy catch. Events like that have often lost the match and the series to the fieldng team.
And why was Patrick Viera a pundit? What relevance did he have to the game?
Patrick Vieira won the World Cup, unlike Tyldesley and Chiles.
Chiles's mother is Croatian.He supports Croatia even when they play England.
There's no need to fiddle around with fake IP addresses to watch RTE's outstanding football panel. Just go to the www.rte.ie/sport/world cup and watch Giles,Dunphy and Co do their thing after each big match.
The vacuous BBC and ITV "analysis" ( "Dumb" & "Dumber")is just woeful. However I do recommend the "no commentary" option available on the BBC Red Button: play Fantasy Football Commentator, and make as many laboured "ad libs" as you like without inflicting them on anyone else.
God I keep having to point this out. ITV nor the BBC are providing the TV coverage in the stadiums, that will be the broadcaster chosen by FIFA. All the replays during the game are out of the control of ITV and the BBC.
This World Cup will be spoilt by the silly plastic trumpets.
FIFA should have banned them.
http://peterreynolds.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/itv-cock-up-the-world-cup-immediately/
From the comments I've had on this piece it seems that ITV drops the ball in its own net regularly.
I totally agree very poor coverage compared to Sky. This World Cup seems to be lacking interest and the coverage is ruined by those bloody trumpets.
My enjoyment is marred by the fact that we have a foreign manager. It is not a real England team. FIFA should insist that all managers and back room staff are the same nationality as the teams they manage.
I totally agree very poor coverage compared to Sky. This World Cup seems to be lacking interest and the coverage is ruined by those bloody trumpets.
My enjoyment is marred by the fact that we have a foreign manager. It is not a real England team. FIFA should insist that all managers and back room staff are the same nationality as the teams they manage.
Do people really think that this sort of shite passes for entertainment..I think some need to get out more often!!
@Terry
I've no idea where you live, but unless it's the northern wastelands of Canada claiming to be one of a "majority" that dislikes football means you are very deluded and/or are shunned by normal human contact.
"A bad day" for you, too, as you forgot to mention Green is a West Ham player! Did you notice that both Chiles and the match commentator were horribly patronising during the first match they covered, with "a goal for the whole of Africa"? They should be careful as it could be construed as old-fashioned racism! I think I object most of all to being taken for a halfwit, but perhaps that's how they think of football fans!
And Sky do rugby better and cricket too. Only Channel 4 matched them at cricket.
,,,
What's tokenistic about having World Cup winner Patrick Viera? Nothing
He's won the world cup
He was born in Africa (Senegal)
He's played most of his career in the Premiership, knows the English game and our perspectives
He's highly intelligent and calm.
A superb pundit.
Haven't you already got a football blog that I avoid, Iain?
Peter wrote":
"All the replays during the game are out of the control of ITV and the BBC."
Not true, ITV can opt out any time to show advertisements.
By the way, was the Hyundai ad shown in Hi-Def?
I don't suppose Jonah Brown visited ITV or their contractor before he left office?
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