2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

I think the kick off time of the middle fixture forced ITV's hand.

1pm on Sunday afternoon (and with forecast of decent weather) isn't great for massive numbers of eyeballs watching adverts.
BBC would be happy with a 7pm (first game) and ITV with what could be a pivitol game with Belgium next Thursday at 7.

Suspect the BBC have written off any hope of showing England in the 2nd Round.
BBC bagging two group games, means next round will be the one ITV will walk over hot coals for in the 2nd phase of the competition.

ITV have arguably got the most "difficult" game from England's perspective, but I assume this means ITV have first pick for Last 16?

Yes, ITV have first pick of the last 16, BBC quarters, ITV semis and of course both share the final.

How does the BBC/ITV split work? Do they just draw lots? Until this tournament, I'd always assumed the BBC let ITV have more England matches in the first round just to guarantee them the advertising.

Is there still the situation where an England game at the later stages might be simulcast? I distinctly remember England's Last 16 and Quarter Final games in 2002 going out on both.

No. If England get to the last 16 it will be on ITV. If England get to Quarter Finals it will be on BBC. If England get to Semi-Finals it will be on ITV. If England get to the final it will be on both BBC / ITV.

Used to work a bit like that - the two two sit down and argue it out, meaning negotiations took ages. The BBC would tend to gamble on England reaching the knock out stages and ITV would want the guaranteed advertising revenue of the England group games. Before the 90s it would often be the case that each would have an England (or home nation) game exclusively and then simulcast the rest. Other games would be split. In 1998 the BBC gambled on England making the Quarter Finals, so ITV ended up with the ratings blockbuster against Argentina in the second round. (For Euro 2000 they couldn't agree how to split the England games, so they showed one each exclusively, simulcast the game against Germany and would have done the same with any knockout games.) For 2002 the BBC - as Steve Williams said recently here or in the 'other place - were desperate (having lost the Premier League highlights rights) to prove they were still a big player in football and - allegedly - threatened to just show everything. In the end ITV got England v Sweden on a Sunday morning and the BBC the two weekday games (including the Argentina game) with the second round and knock out games being simulcast.


For the past few tournaments they've grown up and agreed an alternating pick order. Pretty sure it was the BBC who got first pick this time and went for first choice of the Quarter Finals. We don't know how the rest played out but presumably ITV chose first pick of the second round games over having two England group games - presumably England v Belgium was their first pick, and the BBC chose a second England group game over first pick of the Semi Finals.

Final will be on both whether England are playing or not.

Whoever is in the final it will be on both BBC & ITV

I'm guessing either the BBC weren't confident of England getting out of the group so went against form and picked two group games, or alternatively ITV were confident and gambled away from their usual two group games.

ITV were never going to get both England primetime matches in the group and they wouldn't have wanted the Sunday 1pm kick-off as its not as commercially attractive. England are however guaranteed a primetime kick-off in the round of 16 (if they make it). It seems (barring a catastrophe - and this is England) that ITV are on for 2 England primetime games minimum.

Of course if England beat Panama and Belgium beat Tunisia, England and Belgium will already have qualified come ITV's group game next week.

That had come to mind for me, and that's the most likely outcome. There is still something to play for - in fact, a lot to play for - as England will want to avoid the tougher route in the knockout stages. But I don't know how much that would register for the casual viewer.

Ideally, the first game and a knockout game would have been preferable. But given the mentality in England had switched pre-tournament from "England expects" to "England expects nothing", I can't blame ITV for thinking the third game may have been a safer option. If England are playing badly, then it becomes a nail-biter and must-watch. If England are doing well, the country will be engaged and they're guaranteed two games (given the second round game is also included).

I also wonder if that 20 million figure would have translated to the same had it been on ITV. Not because of the quality of any of the BBC coverage, but simply for the placement on the TV remote control and the amount of publicity the BBC's various outlets would have been giving the game in the build-up to kick-off.

Going by the previous comments in this thread, it does seem the BBC has the upper hand in negotiations. If games are simulcast then the BBC will demolish ITV by default, and they'll both know that.