Grandstand - 10 years on

Seems Gabby Logan is after a new job at the BBC.

If you think we should really push this - like it or retweet it. #Grandstand #GrandstandRevival https://t.co/WI9P9oOa2L

— Gabby Logan (@GabbyLogan) January 29, 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2017/jan/29/grandstand-david-coleman-slower-peaceful-age-bbc?CMP=share_btn_tw


Although in hindsight it was probably right to cull it before the brand was diluted anymore I still don't like the way they handled it, especially in the end when it came to an end with virtually no notice months ahead of the previously announced date. I still think too there could be some value in the brand being used occassionally, most notably for Olympic Grandstand. TOTP is revived every Christmas, and the Match of the Day brand was kept alive and arguably strengthened during the years ITV had The Premiership, so just using it sparingly for certain events shouldn't be out of the question.

What I'd really like to see though is the brand used for a couple of Olympic sport focused series a year, focusing on events which we're actually good at but don't get much coverage (even on pay TV). IMO replacing Ski Sunday with Winter Grandstand would be a no-brainer - it can incorporate Ski Sunday but on the whole Britain is having much more success (well, until a couple of weeks ago) away from alpine skiing so a more rounded programme offering everything from Skeleton to Curling, with a bit of freestyle skiing and snowboard thrown in, would be a great offering.

Similarly a short summer run bringing together the Olympic sports which don't usually get coverage wouldn't be a bad idea too - and with red button coverage seemingly being more limited than a few years ago the arguments that were made for axing Grandstand a decade ago now become the arguments for reinstating it.

Not sure a Saturday afternoon is the ideal time for live sport anymore, however a programme on Sundays could be ideal. The BBC could probably get a number of minority sports for free if they were willing to show them. They already have the rights to BBL and WBBL basketball but don't seem interested in using them in any meaningful way, so it appears that the BBC just aren't interested even when the content is available to them.

Minority sport on a Sunday afternoon, you say?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/schedules/england/2017/02/05

OK, Target Javelin sounds interesting. Is that the IAAFs new way of dealing with drug cheats?

I've said before that there was a missed opportunity to bring it back covering the more niche sports that came to prominence in the 2012 Olympics.

I read the show description on the BBC website and think of Channel 5/Endemol's wonderful 'International King Of Sports'.

Only that was played for laughs, whereas this isn't.

'Elimination Mile' and 'Target Javelin' doesn't sound all that far away from 'The 3 metre Sprint' and 'Shot Putt Relay'

I always thought there could be some worth in retaining the "Grandstand" brand for use on the BBC Sport multiscreen/red button service. The show's opening titles in the teal era gave a nod to this being the way that sporting coverage on the BBC was heading.

In recent years, of course, the Olympics has been the only significant event that has required multiple feeds, so there's virtually no need for such a service most of the time.

They did occasionally brand live weekend red button coverage as Grandstand Interactive but it never really became a regular thing. The trouble I guess with live sport is you can have nothing for weeks, then a weekend with 3-4 events, then back to virtually nothing.