The Sport Thread

[Jon]

It did seem to be the most generic major live football production I’ve ever seen. Generic titles and graphics with very little Channel 4 branding, which you’d expect the broadcaster would want to put their own stamp on during the wraparound coverage. I guess the Channel 4 deal with UEFA might have been less flexible than the ITV one, but it all felt like it was an off shelf production both in terms of on screen presentation and talent. All perfectly competent though.

[Brekkie]

Good to see for Wales at least the BBC highlights same night highlights have been retained, which does the job better for the fans than a few minutes the next time England play - but as you say the England highlights show itself needs more content to pad out the hour. Guessing they're not even allowed to show highlights of the other game in the group, as Italy v Germany would have appealed to most watching. If it's just one match then a half hour slot would be sufficient for highlights, but guessing they have to do the full hour under the terms of the contract.


Still no word on whether ITV are just taking the Sky coverage today. Good to see BBC Wales still doing their own highlights later too.

[Rdd]

It did seem to be the most generic major live football production I’ve ever seen. Generic titles and graphics with very little Channel 4 branding, which you’d expect the broadcaster would want to put their own stamp on during the wraparound coverage. I guess the Channel 4 deal with UEFA might have been less flexible than the ITV one, but it all felt like it was an off shelf production both in terms of on screen presentation and talent. All perfectly competent though.

In fairness that’s exactly what UEFA want, and what they’ve been doing with their club football tournaments for nearly 30 years now, totally generic graphics, titles, music etc. Consistent branding that’s the same no matter who the broadcaster is. The Champions League on BT Sport looks exactly the same as the Champions League on RTE. Doing it for international football outside of major tournaments is of more recent vintage, and ITV had been allowed do their own thing to an extent what with the Bitter Sweet Symphony titles (even then they were made add the European Qualifiers logo to them eventually) , but given the Nations League titles have been used I guess you’ll probably finally get to see the England version of the European Qualifiers titles too in due course.

[Jon]

But that’s just one element of the problem, if you watch BT Sport or in the past ITV’s Champions League coverage, the line up still has enough about it to feels distinctive to those broadcasters. Whereas this due to the talent used felt very much like it was a UEFA production for Channel 4.

But, as I said earlier it probably doesn’t matter too much. If people want to watch the football, people are going to watch it anyway. But it could do more to feel distinctive to Channel 4, even though in reality it’s still going to be made up with a mix of talent from other broadcasters these days.

[Tom]

Thanks for the response for my question about Steve Bower, I don't know where I got him commentating live on ITV from. Besides, I thought Channel 4 did a good job yesterday on the England match, but it was very basic in my opinion.

[RR]

Thanks for the response for my question about Steve Bower, I don't know where I got him commentating live on ITV from. Besides, I thought Channel 4 did a good job yesterday on the England match, but it was very basic in my opinion.

He has done ITV4 in the past, over a decade ago.

[Brekkie]

[BcastCornwall]

So

Mighty odd #WALUKR on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event, ITV, S4C, Sky Go, NOW, ITV Hub, S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer. (Apologies if others missed).

[Jon]

Sky Sports Football with ITV logo underneath on the coverage.

[Tom]

And, on the ITV broadcast, in the top right hand corner, both the Sky Football and ITV DOG are being displayed on screen.

[BcastCornwall]

Sky Sports Football with ITV logo underneath on the coverage.

[Jon]

So

Mighty odd #WALUKR on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event, ITV, S4C, Sky Go, NOW, ITV Hub, S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer. (Apologies if others missed).

Although, I’d argue Go, Now, Hub, Clic and iPlayer are effectively platforms rather than channels in their own right. But it’s certainly still in a lot of places.

[Brekkie]

Presumably on STV and STV Player too.

[TWO ident]

Presumably on STV and STV Player too.

Indeed it is, with two very chunky logos.

[AxG]

Presumably on STV and STV Player too.

Indeed it is, with two very chunky logos.

But simulcasting Sky Sports Premier League, with no 'Live' graphic like ITV, which Sky do have.
Edit: Sky Sports Premier League aren't even showing the game.