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Good Old Days...


Cuprabob
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Graham Bell?

Ski Sunday is much more modern now and is quite a good watch if there's nothing much on. 

Grandstand. Wo that takes me back (Des is as far back as I go) at my mans every Saturday, she was a big sports fan. As MrMe says, it was always bloody horse racing or snooker. The very odd time a football match came on I couldn't believe my luck. Thinking back it must have been FA Cup games. 

Is it normal to pine for the old days or am I just hitting my midlife crisis time? I find myself getting nostalgic for lots of things these days. 

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46 minutes ago, billy2shots said:

Graham Bell?

Ski Sunday is much more modern now and is quite a good watch if there's nothing much on. 

Grandstand. Wo that takes me back (Des is as far back as I go) at my mans every Saturday, she was a big sports fan. As MrMe says, it was always bloody horse racing or snooker. The very odd time a football match came on I couldn't believe my luck. Thinking back it must have been FA Cup games. 

Is it normal to pine for the old days or am I just hitting my midlife crisis time? I find myself getting nostalgic for lots of things these days. 

They used to show all manner of sports and that was the appeal of it (other than bloody horse racing which I hated and still do).

I wish something like it was back on TV today so you're not alone.  I remember Frank Bough presenting Grandstand long before Des Lynam.  The least said about Frank now, the better!
I hadn't realised skiiing was on again but I don't watch much live TV at all (other than Sky News or BBC News on occasion).  I'll hunt that down.

You're correct that it was only ever FA Cup matches (and the odd League Cup match) on TV.  Divison One (the old division one) matches were never shown because, believe it or not....people weren't interested.  I read a brilliant book, perhaps 15-20 years ago, that I'll try and find (I can't remember the name of it).  It examined how league football had no appeal compared to the FA Cup.  The cup was still the staple drama and romance whereas league matches were seen as boring!  I remember the FA Cup being the tournament to watch.  It was THE tournament.

Athletics used to be the other big thing.  That gets so much lesser coverage nowadays compared to the 70's and 80's.  Now it is the Olympics and maybe a few hours of the world championships.  Back then it was regional meets, Europeans, you name it.  There's no wonder that sport has suffered.

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With athletics, the BBC still show quite a bit of it.  At many levels both indoor and outdoor.  Admittedly, much of it is in the build up to the GB Team selections for Olympics and World Championships.

Even with the Paralympics on C4, the BBC were showing the latest Diamond League meeting in (a Euro capital somewhere) and they had a few of the Olympians partaking.

The BBC are also big on the meetings in Manchester & Newcastle city centres with the pop up tracks and other facilities.

 

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1 hour ago, cruiser647 said:

With athletics, the BBC still show quite a bit of it.  At many levels both indoor and outdoor.  Admittedly, much of it is in the build up to the GB Team selections for Olympics and World Championships.

Even with the Paralympics on C4, the BBC were showing the latest Diamond League meeting in (a Euro capital somewhere) and they had a few of the Olympians partaking.

The BBC are also big on the meetings in Manchester & Newcastle city centres with the pop up tracks and other facilities.

 

The pop-up meets are few and far between in the scheme of things though.

The London Marathon and Great North Run and the only major City events in the UK that get televised.  The issue with the other meets, and you're right that they do show them, is that it tends to be highlights that are televised at a crap time or you play catch up on iPlayer when you already know the results.

It is cheap to show by comparison to other sports too.

Channel 4 have a lot to be applauded for when you think about what they've done over the years.  Their TDF coverage has been a revelation for a race nobody else was bothered about in the UK (TV wise) until they took it.  Then the Paralympics.  They were also the leaders with Serie A.  I used to love watching Gazza and Platt playing in Italy when they started their coverage.

 

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Oh I'm thinking back a good 4 years before Zidane!

This was on a Sunday, Football Italia, always around 4pm.  T

The programme you're talking about was Gazetta.  That was named after Gascoigne!  It would feature James Richardson (they dropped Gazza after just a few shows when he became too unreliable) sat outside the cafes you mention talking about the week in Italian football.

Gascoigne had spent his 3 years and been gone from Lazio for over a year by the time Zidane first played for Juve.

It started in 1992 when Gascoigne signed for Lazio and Channel 4 realised there was a huge opportunity to capture millions of viewers.  They paid a pitiful amount (less than £2m) and the first ever match, in which Gascoigne didn't even play, reached over 3 million viewers.

A little known fact is that they didn't drop the show because of viewing figures but because crowd trouble was a massive issue in Italy.  They lost a good few games to it through abandonment.

This makes me smile...

 

Edited by NewNiceMrMe
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GOAL LAZIO!!!!!!!!!

James Richardson was the presenter and now I have BT Sport I get to enjoy watching him on there with their European Football show. He really knows his stuff and is quick witted too, often poking fun at the other guests. Doesn't look like he has aged a day either which is staggering because we are going back over 20 years thinking of Seria A of ch4. 

Eurosport is the home of Athletics now and you can't go a day without Athletics from somewhere being shown. 

The BBC is funny because they do often take a punt on smaller less watched sports but the sport often outgrows the channel and they aren't prepared to pay for the rights when competitors step in. It annoys the hell out of me that the Beeb would rather make a thousand period dramas than show some decent live sport now and again. 

Football Euro and World Cups and Olympics have to be given to free to air channels, if that rule wasn't in place then there is no way they would commit the funding to it. 

Six months ago I heard a worrying story that there was going to be a shake up in the rules meaning the free to air channels (BBC and itv) would still get the rights to those main events but they would be allowed to sell the rights to subscribed channels making a tidy profit on the way. Details were thin on the ground but suggestions that sky would buy the rights (off the BBC and itv) to show the live tournaments as a whole with free to air able to show highlights and live England games.

im not a fan of that idea at all  

 

Edit. Written while MrMe was replying. 

Edited by billy2shots
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You're right, the whole process of free-to-air sporting coverage is changing.

The BBC and ITV have got the World Cup for 2018 and 2022 but that is only because Sky backed out and BT Sport weren't in the deals.  You can be sure the latter two channels will be bidding after 2022.

The BBC has got the winter and summer Olympics until 2024. 

The European Championships are a bit different as the BBC only have the rights until 2020 and the bidding process for 2024 starts soon. 

They also have the FA Cup until 2021.

I won't be surprised if they lose them all to be honest.  The Ashes has gone, F1 has gone, the Rugby World Cup is going to be up for grabs very soon too.

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It comes down to ratios at the end of the day and the current ratio of different content is way out of whack. 

There has to be a broad spread of programs to appeal to everyone and I think we all expect that. However if you add up how many DIY shows there are each week compared to live sport and do the same with nature programs and dramas then it's quite clear there is a massive issue and sport fans are being dealt a bad hand. 

The arguments will obviously be cost of programe and that 10 DiY shows are still cheaper than 1 sporting event. I don't subscribe to that and it should still be balanced out across the week. Start showing sport at a lower level rather than just trying and failing to get the blue chip events. 

Daytime and late night viewing figures aren't massive so why not take a punt on showing a mature or low level sport at these times. 

At the very least pick a sport and say 'this is ours' and do everything they can to own it. Don't show golf throughout the year and then go weak at the knees when bidding for the Ryder Cup and some of the majors. Or Tennis do the same with that. 

Football is way out of the beebs league now but cricket , rugby , athletics and the two sports I've just mentioned should have been up for grabs. 

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Nature programmes at present are almost all repeats.  I know because I watch them all the time and there has been nothing new in 2016.  Science is also very low at present.

DIY is one I'd agree with you on but the BBC argue that is because of what the public says it wants.  They may well do, by and large.  The problem is catering for such a wide audience.

Tennis on BBC is Wimbledon only anyway and if that goes then it really is the ultimate snub to British-born sport (way ahead of football because it could be argued that originated in China anyway).

Even domestic cricket is out of their budget though, as is rugby now.

They have to pick at the bones of what they can do and I for one don't think Nature, Science and History should be cut down - I'd go for them being increased.  There is something else to factor in - education.  Sporting coverage doesn't offer much educational value compared to the rest and I don't think it should be covered at their expense.

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Just looking through the guide and the BBC are showing

Today -Super league highlights and NFL highlights.

wednesday -Nothing

Thursday - Sport lol a 15 MINUTE programe showing ALL the latest sport from around the globe. 15 minutes!!

Friday- Sport lol. Same programe again showing 15 huge minutes of ALL the latest sport from around the world. It's almost worth staying up until1.45am to see how they squeeze all that sport into so little time. 

Saturda - 00.30 - 02.00 Ryder cup highlights. Repeated at 9.30

football focus/talking

super league highlights

final score/talking

22.25 match of the day highlights 

23.45 half an hour of nfl highlights 

sunday - Ryder cup highlights 00.30-2am

match of the day repeat

gilf highlights repeat 

motd2. / talking

yay!!!!! We have ourselves some LIVE NFL

super league highlights 

golf higlights 2300-1am

 

So 1 yes 1 live sporting event being shown this week (went back to Monday to check) and that is an NFL game and only because it's 1 of 2 games at Wembley this year. Normally that would not be shown. 

millions of sporting event happening around the world and they can show 1 event live. 

Staggering. 

Edited by billy2shots
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But that is all they can afford.  That is the reality of the attraction of sport and what others will pay for it.

Look at it this way (I've done a bit of digging online), the BBC has £2.4 billion to spending on TV shows (that excludes the radio spend etc.).

BBC One uses almost 60% of that.   Spend on childrens TV is in huge decline and even BBC 2 only gets £500 million budget now.

Now put that into context....

Sky Sports pay over £1 billion per year just for their allotment of Premier League matches!

That is before accounting for the new deal that is even bigger.

Even the 3 days to cover The Open was going to cost it £75 million if it wanted it. :roflmao: 

That would have been 5% of its entire TV show budget for just 3 days of programming.  They just can't compete on sport unless the license payer is prepared to pay a hell of a lot more. 



 

Edited by NewNiceMrMe
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That's why I suggested they show more sport but not the blue chip events.

They think by saying 'we were in for the Premier League rights but couldn't compete' that they can show another 10 series of 60 minute makeover. No, buy sport!!!! 
Lower level sport would still attract as many viewers as some of their crappy programs and would inspire youngsters to be fit and active (a real problem at the moment with computer and phone technology). 

Chuck some money at non league football or amateur boxing. Swimming needs a boost and as said athletics could be shown. Moto GP springs to mind. How did they lose that?

Sure the fat cat presenters may take a pay hit but I guarantee there are thousands of would be suitors for their jobs. 

 

Edited by billy2shots
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Boxing doesn't appeal to enough people.  Amateur boxing certainly doesn't. 

Non-league football is the same unfortunately.  The audiences just aren't there.  One thing I will say for the BBC is that they know their audience and what they want.  You and I might tune in, but the big audiences won't.  Kids certainly won't. 

You will not get children watching more normal TV, sport or no-sport. 

They have YouTube now and time isn't going to go backwards.  TV viewing as we used to know it has gone.  More than 50% of U17's now absorb most moving media online via YouTube or similar channels.  Nothing is going to change that now.  It is forecast to reach 80% by 2020 and I personally think it'll beat that expectation and get there sooner (that is why they've reduced the spend on childrens shows).

The BBC couldn't even match £25m for its most popular show - Great British Bake Off.  They bid £5m below that for a programme that lasts forever and has massive ratings, but they couldn't match Channel 4. 

The period dramas work for them so I can see why they spend big (and many are excellent).

The Fall is another that costs a lot but is worth it in viewing figures.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by NewNiceMrMe
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23 minutes ago, billy2shots said:

Moto GP springs to mind. How did they lose that?

 

There's an easy answer to that - others offers much more.

BT Sport offered x3 more money to Moto GP.  

They simply cannot compete and they are publicly accountable.

MotoGP got less than 1 million viewers.

The BBC cannot justify trebling what it pays out of the public purse for a sport watched by less than 1 million people.  To put that into context, The Sky at Night even manages to get half a million viewers.

 

Edited by NewNiceMrMe
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I should think the myriad of house makeover shows have certainly boosted the economy as Mr & Mrs Smith do their best to keep up with Mr & Mrs Jones who's house is now a palace after spending a few £K

 

Homes Under The Hammer must have boosted the prices of old wrecks etc to. 

They would have highlighted local suppliers and different materials and good, quality crafts people.

 

So overall, the BBC is doing stuff for the economy, in the right way.

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