Quick question - who is producing S4C's coverage of the RWC? Is it the BBC or HTV, or another independant producer?
SMS (Sport Media Services?) are producing S4C's coverage, although the presentation team is the same as the Clwb Rygbi programme which is produced by the BBC. At the end of their highlights programme (and main live game) you'll see thelogo and name plus copyright details on the usual black background that S4C use. Maybe someone could capture it and post on here.
I know the money men saw the pound signs raining down on them, but couldn't ITV have once (just once), not gone to a 5 minute break at the end of the match. It really destroyed the enormity of the moment- Wilkinson kicks the World Cup for England....followed by Christmas deals at B&Q.
Also the commentator really made a balls up on that final Wilkinson kick- just when he needed to say something eloquent, precise and concise to played back millions of times in the next few years...he failed. The musical montage at the end of the show had to cobble together two bits of his commentary to get "Wilkinson kicks" and "England win the World Cup" together.
Just heard the Radio Five Live commentary of that moment and it will be played over and over again, because it was beautifully done.
Well, ITV have done a superb job of covering a superb tournament, and from a Welsh perspective, they handled the situation far better than the BBC does with the England football team.
ITV have shown that tournaments don't need to be distributed across BBC and ITV, with one channel sufficing. And those that moan about the ads, as soon as the actions over most people like a couple of minutes to catch their breath / go to the toilet / grab a beer etc so I have no quarrels about the ads.
The only thing I haven't liked about the coverage in the lead up to the game (on all channels) is the constant reference to 1966. As Martin Johnson said "Different Generation, Different Sport!"
80% of the audience on a Saturday morning is something difficult to do but for ITV it has paid off and I have to say that their coverage was excellent. But £500,000 a minute doesn't suprise at all. Though they'll never see ratings that high on a Saturday morning again for a very long time.
Though from what I was told it cost £60,000 to advertise on Granada TV for 30 seconds, during Corrie.
Well, it looks as if rugby union has paid off well for ITV........BUT unfortunately for them they are not due to show another major rugby match for another 4 years!!! Seems like a bit of a wait!
What's the money on them putting in a serious bid for the Six Nations next time round, or even a Lions tour?
ITV should also consider the fact that snooker also draws in a large, young, affluent male audience (as well as pensioners). They should consider buying that up as well, seems they haven't shown any at all for 2 years.