TalkSport Is “Misleading Listeners”, Says BBC

BBC Radio 5 Live is “considering its position” with regard to rival sports station TalkSport’s recent claims that it will be broadcasting live coverage of Euro 2000. A spokesperson for Radio 5 said that it owns the rights to the competition and that Talksport’s coverage of the tournament will be limited to off screen broadcasts.

Talksport circulated a press release about new sponsorship deals last week in which it stated that its new sponsor Nationwide would be sponsoring the “sport station’s live football coverage of Euro 2000” (see TalkSport Signs Up Sponsors).

By ‘live coverage’ in this instance, TalkSport means commentary provided by a presenter watching the games on a television, coupled with news bulletins from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of which The Wireless Group, TalkSport’s parent company, is a member. A spokesperson for TalkSport described the station’s coverage by saying: “We will be providing flagship live broadcasts of the event.”

When the BBC, which has exclusive national rights to the competition, read the story on Newsline, it subsequently began an investigation into the claims of its rival.

“They are possibly misleading their listeners when they say live coverage of an event. To the vast majority of people a live coverage of an event means the commentator is a witness”, said Mike Hales, sport publicity commissioner.

The BBC says that is now “considering its position” in regard to the claim.

BBC Radio: 020 7580 4468 TalkSport: 020 959 7800