BBC And TalkSport Both Claim Victory In Live Commentary Battle
BBC Radio 5 Live and Wireless Group’s TalkSport are continuing to exchange blows over what TalkSport called its ‘live coverage’ of Euro 2000 matches, but what is in fact live commentary from presenters watching TV screens in locations away from the stadium.
The BBC were alerted to the fact that TalkSport was going to describe its commentary as ‘live’ when Newsline ran a story in March regarding TalkSport’s sponsorship deals for the coverage (see TalkSport Signs Up Sponsors). The BBC has exclusive rights to broadcast commentary from Euro 2000 matches and does not allow other broadcasters to do so (see TalkSport Is “Misleading Listeners”, Says BBC).
Following a complaint by the BBC, the high court ordered yesterday that TalkSport should stop labelling its coverage as ‘live’ or ‘official’ and to make it plain how the commentary is produced. Bob Shennan, head of BBC Sport production and controller designate of 5 Live, said: “TalkSport aren’t in the stadium, they don’t have the broadcast rights, they don’t have a proper sound feed and they haven’t paid for it. Their coverage was simply second-hand.”
The commercial broadcaster, which is owned by Kelvin Mackenzie, hit back, claiming that the BBC operated a cartel arrangement. The station pointed to the fact that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had bundled rights to TV and radio broadcasting for the football tournament together “denying radio operators the ability to bid for the radio rights alone.”
Mackenzie said, “The BBC belongs to a cartel of state broadcasters who are opposed to the idea of competition from the commercial sector. The idea that we would be responsible for lowering the value of sports rights is preposterous – considering they were instrumental in making sure that we were unable to bid against them.”
TalkSport has twice been refused membership of the EBU for reasons the station believes are anti-competitive. Following their complaints, the European Commission is currently investigating the EBU with regards to the way the rights were bundled.
Having had its commentary methods revealed, TalkSport will today attempt to turn the situation around by re-marketing the technique as “ground-breaking”. An invitation has been sent to journalists to visit the station’s Amsterdam studio in order to witness preparations for tonight’s commentary on the Spain v Norway game.
Describing the fact that the court did not order his station to stop broadcasting as a “historic victory” Kelvin Mackenzie continued to defend TalkSport today, saying “Broadcasting from TV monitors is not uncommon and I challenge the BBC to say that they have never done it.”
BBC Radio: 020 7580 4468 TalkSport: 020 959 7800