English Premier League
BBC Sport is the home of the longest-running football program in England that has been airing since 1968.[1][2]
BBC SPORT broadcasts up to five football games per week on a Saturday and Sunday with coverage of all competitions being available in HD, both live and recorded, via online streaming services, or by subscription. In addition to traditional television rights, it broadcast several matches, including the final and other semi-final stages of major sports such as football, basketball, horse racing and rugby on Friday and Monday nights, a number of its most popular shows have become staples of sporting viewing in the UK over the years.[3][4][5]
BBC SPORT broadcasts regularly features more popular sporting events as selected acts from the past.[6][7][8]
Since 2012, its Saturday Premier League highlights show aired at 8pm on Saturdays and 7pm on Sundays, giving viewers an extended weekend on-screen time for some sport.[9] On October 16, 2017, the BBC SPORT schedule was renewed by Sportsmanly, replacing Sport Extra which had aired the majority of each season.[10] The new Saturday programmed began broadcasting immediately after the end of the 2018/19 Championship match at Old Trafford.[11]
In 2019, the channel became the exclusive broadcaster of Manchester City FC and Arsenal FC's Champions League group stage matches.[12][13] This was an increase in coverage as Manchester City were eliminated from the competition by Tottenham Hotspur FC in August. A preview of the 2020/21 season showed them finishing second in Group D and qualifying for the knockout rounds in first place, while Everton and Crystal Palace would qualify for Europa League round-of-32 and quarter-finals respectively, if they won their play-offs.[14][15][16] Their rivals Manchester United, who won 2–1, held on to top spot and guaranteed progression to the FA Cup fourth round, and ended the campaign with an aggregate shoreline of 1,074 points.[17][18]
In January 2020, BBCSPORT announced plans to extend its programming agreement with ITV to cover the 2020-21 English Premier League season.[19][20][21] Its existing contracts are due to run until 2023. As part of this, the channel will carry three additional live matches to be played during Thursday's 90 minute slot,[22] one of which will feature Chelsea Women's club team against Aston Villa Women's Club, the other two involving Liverpool Men's club against Newcastle United Women's Club.[23][24] At least four of these fixtures will also air on Fridays as part of Sports Extra. An estimated 28 hours of game highlights are scheduled to air throughout the month of February 2021.[25][26] These include Sky Sport NFL and highlights of Sheffield Wednesday v Reading (Live on BT Sport), Tottenham vs Fulham (Live on RT Sport) and West Ham vs Burley (Live on Matchbook Sport).[27][28][29] A pre-season feature highlighting the best clips from previous weeks' action will also be shown ahead of a dedicated weekly podcast released over Christmas.
All of its programmed are available in either full length "long-form" formats where only 12 football match highlights are shown and a recap provided by hosts, or short-form specials and replays of particular events, documentaries, sports news and analysis. During times of high audience demand the channel can provide more content in longer, shorter form formats to accommodate any demand. Specials such as 'The Daily Grind', featuring former captains and managers of clubs playing in top European leagues in 2010 and 2016, and football fans across the world, are hosted by former Sunderland striker Mike Keane. Other regular guests of show regular appearances include Harry Maguire, Ian Rush and Jamie Carragher.
The main channel consists of seven channels: Sport Extra, whose sister channel, Sport Weekly, broadcasts non-football match highlights; iPlayer TV which carries video clips of live and pre-recorded football matches, and special guest guests discussing current issues via phone and social media. However, ESPN's sports division produces separate highlights of many domestic and international fixtures.[30] Most episodes are produced and broadcasted on either Channel 4 or 5, though there are select episodes also made available in India and China on Hulu and Netflix, as well as on YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Zee TV and others.
The network is co-founded by Richard Montague, Phil Mayne and Michael Bernstein who were joined in 2014 by executive producer Nick Grim Shaw. Three more directors to join as executives within just six months later, with Dave Stewart taking over as chief executive.[31][32]
Origins [ edit ]
BBC Sport launched on March 2006 as a 24-hour radio channel, offering viewers in the UK an alternative means to listen to the latest matches of professional sports. Inspired by rival Channel 4, the channel focused initially on the coverage of lower-division soccer. When asked why no other cricket was mentioned in the launch, Montague said he wanted to highlight "the underdogs", but had no knowledge of what sport came next.[33] After failing to gain traction, the format was suspended temporarily in 2009.[34][35]
During the 2011–12 seasons, Sky Sports signed a multi-year contract with Sky Sports News to produce half-hourly magazine-style articles, video and music videos and reports on British sporting fixtures and events. Since 2013, it had carried out more than 80 productions with a focus on specific sports. For instance, the daily edition covers football news, features interviews among players and coaches, takes viewers behind the scenes and gives insight into various aspects of grassroots football. With each issue, a team of contributors work with staff journalists including reporters, photographers, videographers, cinematographers and writers to make sure stories are presented accurately.
In August 2015, the network introduced a website using Live Stats technology. The site lists every match and provides information about scores, injury updates and latest statistics. It contains podcasts, features profiles of all players, coaches and referees from all over the globe, as well as statistics related to individual clubs and leagues.
In September 2018, Sky announced a partnership with US-based publisher O'Reilly Media.[36] All Sky Sports publications would be distributed through O'Reilly's digital platform O'Reilly Digital Platform. Under the terms of the deal, O'Reilly will host all broadcasts except those on terrestrial radios.[37][38] On April 1, 2019, Sky Sports became the first-ever provider to reach 100 million people via cable TV and mobile.
Sky Sports and Main Event will air highlights of more than 50 football matches every day.[39] It will present around 25% of the annual total of worldwide live spectator attendance of around 63 million[40] across all continents. Among the highlights to be featured, include the 2020 UEFA Nations League Final between Croatia and Portugal, the 2020 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers between Brazil and France, the 2022 FIFA U-21 World Cup in Japan, the finals of the 2020 Premiership Challenge Cup and the return leg of the 2021 Continental Challenge Cup which concluded last July 29, 2021. The channel will also bring viewers unique access to live performances.[41][42] For example, on June 1, 2019, it covered the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
In 2020, its content included the following:
The documentary series Masters - Inside the Game: How Soccer Transformed My Life was screened at the Venice Film Festival, followed by another documentary called Pushing Ahead and then a feature film about Cristiano Ronaldo.
The documentary Seasons - The Story Behind My Game, which includes interviews with many professional and amateur players of different teams, followed by a screening of Peter Beardsley's acclaimed book The Real Game.[43][44]
The docuseries MasterChef – Eat Well & Move Your Body was screened at the Edinburgh International Festival.[45][46]
The series Battle Royale: Battleground Season 3 saw ten episodes screened across ten countries in nine languages.[47]
In December, BBC sports presenter Greg Clarke launched a pilot series of celebrity guests as celebrities to sit on the panel of judges alongside legends of sports.
Radio stations in the UK broadcast broadcasts for all Sky Sports titles, including the daily and long-form editions of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times and Sports Illustrated. In the UK, these are frequently referred to as "the Sky Sports Radio".[48][49][50][51][52]
On November 5, Sky Sports announced that it would continue broadcasting its flagship Saturday afternoon sport package with the introduction of "Sunday SIX". It added additional live coverage of the same sport at 10am. Only Sky subscribers could enjoy the extra content. The package remains free, however, viewers must pay £5.99 per week for the service.[53]
In early 2021, it launched a global event broadcasting scheme called Sky Events Central, providing access to watch live sporting and entertainment events, TV drama and comedy, which have been delayed or cancelled, from across the continent. It launched on March 2, 2021, and since then has seen significant expansion along with further flexibility.
Sky Sport+
Sky Sport Plus will be available on the Sky Sports app next year as a standalone streaming service and from the start of 2021 with a range of on-demand, ad-free, catch-up and premium channels, among other things.[54][55]
On November 29, Sky Sports rolled out a new channel, consisting of several specialist sports programmed, dubbed "MasterChef". Following on from this announcement, other MasterChef series have officially gone live, with James Magnussen joining John To rode, Craig Revel Horwood and Ken McLean as leading commentators for the new series.[56][57]
Also launching on the official.