NowTV have confirmed that users of the Entertainment Pass will be allowed access to the Sky1 match, and that Sports Pass viewers wont have access to that match, very much as expected, but nice to see it confirmed.
I wonder how long it'll be until all the final day games are made available. Surely the next step in extracting another billion quid out of Sky and BT will be making all the games available where they're not the Saturday fixture list - so essentially midweek, bank holidays and the final day of the season as the icing on the cake.
I wonder how long it'll be until all the final day games are made available. Surely the next step in extracting another billion quid out of Sky and BT will be making all the games available where they're not the Saturday fixture list - so essentially midweek, bank holidays and the final day of the season as the icing on the cake.
I don't think Sky or BT want that, you wouldn't get any increased audience, you'd just get the same audience split ten ways. They want exclusive games shown in their own unique timeslots. And eight of the matches on Sunday are pretty much totally meaningless.
Not necessarily meaningless to fans of those clubs though - Gerrards final Liverpool game is an obvious example this weekend.
They don't get any increased audience by paying significantly more for the rights either though, yet they still do it. For exactly the arguments you make Sky haven't really benefited from having all the Champions League games (except ITV's) and European qualfying fixtures either in terms of attracting an audience to those extra matches, but the fact they do have them all has just emphasises their position as broadcaster of the competition.
It is just ridiculous though that UK viewers only get a choice of three games on the final day of the season while NBC is broadcasting all ten in the US, including Crystal Palace v Swansea on the E! network of all places.
It is just ridiculous though that UK viewers only get a choice of three games on the final day of the season while NBC is broadcasting all ten in the US, including Crystal Palace v Swansea on the E! network of all places.
One obvious difference is that UK viewers can actually go to the games.
Strangely, and after heavy promotion of the reverse all week, Sky seem to have switched the Sky Sports 1 live game to Newcastle vs West Ham, with Hull vs Man Utd now on SS3 from 2.55pm.
Perhaps they have belatedly opted to anchor coverage from St James' Park? Unlikely though it is, Newcastle going down would be the biggest story, with their fanbase always teetering on the brink of total meltdown - maybe they're now hopeful this is the narrative that plays out...
Is it still the case only Sky Sports 1/2 are available via BT, so they've put what was initially perceived to be the more attractive game on Sky Sports 3?
It is just ridiculous though that UK viewers only get a choice of three games on the final day of the season while NBC is broadcasting all ten in the US, including Crystal Palace v Swansea on the E! network of all places.
One obvious difference is that UK viewers can actually go to the games.
But that argument doesn't really balance as on mainland Europe many of the leagues show on their games on their "native" channels and people still go to the games - for example Sky Germany showing all Bundesliga games and Sky Italy show all the Serie A games whilst Fox Sports show all the Eredivisie games
Cricket on 5 is back for its tenth season (can you believe it?!) - the same graphics as they've had since 2013, but a new title sequence this year. Gone are the nice stings filmed on the village green, and they are back to a montage-style introduction (although without voiceover this year, at least for now), but beginning and ending with some new-style graphics in the current Channel 5 style. Not sure I prefer it to last year, but I'm sure it will grow on me. Else, it's the same as it ever was, with Mark Nicholas anchoring, commentary from Vaughan and Boycott with Simon Hughes chipping in with his 'analyst' pieces.
And in other Channel 5 news, Sunset and Vine have been awarded the Football League highlights production contract. They're a busy company now, given that they (amongst other things) produce all of BT's football and rugby coverage, alongside some (if not all) of the magazine shows, plus Channel 5's cricket coverage and various other things. To think that some thought that the company might be in deep trouble when C4 lost the live cricket a decade ago - the company is clearly still going very strong indeed, which is excellent news, as I have always liked their aesthetic and think that they do a great job.
Talking of companies in trouble is Highflyer Productions, who produced C4 Racing until they got exclusive rights, still going? Must say C4's coverage hasn't been anywhere near as watchable since.
Is England vs Barbarians rugby union shown anywhere other than Sky, I thought usually BBC had highlights of non-6-Nations home games but I can't see it anywhere...
Also the Rugby World Cup, is this available anywhere other than ITV?
But that argument doesn't really balance as on mainland Europe many of the leagues show on their games on their "native" channels and people still go to the games - for example Sky Germany showing all Bundesliga games and Sky Italy show all the Serie A games whilst Fox Sports show all the Eredivisie games
Well, they have different cultures in these countries. In many places in mainland Europe there are virtually no away fans. And in addition, of course, the reason we don't see all the games live throughout the rest of the season is because they're played on Saturday at 3pm and they don't want to overshadow lower league games, and in the rest of the Europe the lower leagues are of microscopic importance. People watch football in different ways throughout Europe and in the UK we have various traditions they don't have elsewhere, and vice versa.
Is it still the case only Sky Sports 1/2 are available via BT, so they've put what was initially perceived to be the more attractive game on Sky Sports 3?
I'm pretty sure all Sky Sports channels are now available on all platforms and I'm not even sure if you can actually buy them individually these days. In any case you could make an argument for either game being the "main" game. Newcastle have their destiny in their own hands - if they win, they stay up - so you could say that's the most obvious to put on the main channel but the difference in channel reach or prestige is minimal. They'll show the relevant goals on both channels anyway.