# TV Studio World Cup Coverage



## Lex Foutish (13 Jun 2010)

Have any of you done any channel hopping for matches, like I have?

RTE's panels and analysis is as it always is......the best.

I watched the England/USA game on ITV and their studio panel were sickeningly bland to listen to!  They said absolutely nothing.

I'm just watching BBC highlights here now. Their panel is Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer and Lee Dixon. Their analysis is brutally honest. Hansen totally shooting from the lip. They all said that England were way off a World Cup winning standard. 

Can't see myself watching too many more games on ITV! 


(And Rob Green came out and did a tv interview with the BBC about his blunder. I thought he spoke very well. Hopefully he'll recover from it quickly and move forward)


----------



## ringledman (13 Jun 2010)

Lex Foutish said:


> Have any of you done any channel hopping for matches, like I have?
> 
> RTE's panels and analysis is as it always is......the best.
> 
> ...


 
ITV have always been a joke. BBC always have had the best coverage from the UK. ITV's pundits are rubbish.

As an England fan, quarters would be a good result with the team we have. Some great individual club players. Poor as a team.

On another point - The slow motion cameras and general camera shots are amazing this year. Its a heck of an improvement on 2006.


----------



## mathepac (13 Jun 2010)

Markjbloggs said:


> I have never understood this Irish obsession with post-match panels....


Based on the quality of the fare being dished up to-date on the field, the post-match / half-time breaks and discussions may qualify as the most exciting parts of the broadcasts and from an advertisers point of view the only bits that count.


----------



## emaol (13 Jun 2010)

Have to admit, bit bored of the RTE panel now. Unremittingly glum the lot of them. Can we get vuvuzelas to blow in the background whilst they are talking?


----------



## Ruam (14 Jun 2010)

emaol said:


> Have to admit, bit bored of the RTE panel now. Unremittingly glum the lot of them. Can we get vuvuzelas to blow in the background whilst they are talking?



Have to agree, Dunphy ad Giles take themselves way too seriously.


----------



## Staples (14 Jun 2010)

Lex Foutish said:


> (Hopefully he'll recover from it quickly and move forward)


 
Would he not be better to stay near his line?


----------



## burger1979 (14 Jun 2010)

I was watching the half time analysis on ITV during the england match and i thought patrick viera was choosing his words rather carefully in what he was saying. thought though that the rest of the panel was rubbish.


----------



## Latrade (14 Jun 2010)

ITV is unwatchable for any football...any sport really. I was hoping Adrian Chiles might make it more watchable, but he's struggling with the poor quality of pundits they have in the studio. 

The BBC aren't far behind, but they're open about their policy of pundits talking for the casual fan rather than the more knowledgeable fan. 

RTE can be a bit bleak at times with very little positives being dished out. But at least they're consistent in not giving anyone credit, plus there's is a bit closer to the kind of conversation you'd have among fellow fans.


----------



## RMCF (14 Jun 2010)

ITV have always had a lot of pundits who were generally average footballers. 

BBC have good ex-footballers, but they just happen to find all the bland ones.

RTE is always good for a bit of craic.

But I have found myself not listening to halftime analysis any more. I watch the games, so don't need so-called experts to tell me what I have just been watching.


----------



## Caveat (14 Jun 2010)

I don't think too many people could actively dislike Gary Linnekar - he has that factor. He's not exactly charismatic or entertaining though. Or even that opinionated really.

Alan Hansen rarely disappoints  - straight talking and wise. Gives the impression that he thinks he's sometimes sharing the room with a bunch of schoolboys though - which of course, he often is.


----------



## RMCF (14 Jun 2010)

Why the channels have gone with the likes of Desailly, Edgar Davids, Adebayor, Vieira etc I'll never know. They are bland, bland, bland. Add in that fat idiot James Cordon and ITV win hands down for the most irritating coverage.


----------



## Caveat (14 Jun 2010)

RMCF said:


> Edgar Davids


 
The missus saw a glimpse of someone and remarked to me later "Jaysus, Ruud Gulllit has improved with age hasn't he?" 

I assume it was this guy then


----------



## Ceist Beag (14 Jun 2010)

I'm just waiting for Souness to turn around and smack Dunphy! At times it looks like Giles and Dunphy are taking turns dismissing Souness just to wind him up further. After the England game Billo had to cut to ads as it was getting a bit heated!


----------



## PyritePete (14 Jun 2010)

in the sports section of the times last saturday/saturday before, there was an article with Gilesie, Eamo and Bill. What they said was about the coverage provided by UK stations... basically the panelists are afraid of speaking out too much or at all, in case it demeans the game and the coverage provided by that channel. So they all agree nearly always with each other. Dreadful stuff, give me the RTE boys anyday.


----------



## ivuernis (15 Jun 2010)

PyritePete said:


> Dreadful stuff, give me the RTE boys anyday.



Absolutely agree. Don't understand why people are saying they are bored with the RTE panelists. They post-match commentary after last night's match comparing the current state of the Italian game (both national and club level) with the rude health of football in Germany was a cut above anything you'll ever get on the BBC, never mind ITV. Then Bill, jokingly, apologised for their "depressing" analysis. That's why I watch it on RTE and not any other channel. 

As an aside, myself and some friends usually go to the pub during the knock-out stages of the Champions League. Not the same pub all the time, but we rotate between a small few. Now all the ways up to the final each and every pub has shown the RTE commentary without fail but when the final comes around (2008 and 2009) they put on Sky Sports which is awful dross! Now I'm not a regular in any of these pubs apart from midweek CL games so not familiar with the bar staff but when I asked why this was and could they change over to RTE I was met with either a shrug of the shoulders or a some excuse along the lines that it the channel couldn't be changed. Anyone else come across this? Suffice as to say I watched this years final at home.


----------



## Sunny (15 Jun 2010)

Dunphy is an idiot who changes his mind about a team/player every hour. Giles is still the best analyst by far.


----------



## Latrade (15 Jun 2010)

ivuernis said:


> without fail but when the final comes around (2008 and 2009) they put on Sky Sports which is awful dross!


 
I know one reason (as told by Bar Manager) was to do with the build up. Sky start the build up several hours before kick off and this draws people in. At that stage you're really trying to target the punters who have a team in the final and so they want to see all the Sky hype bigging up their team, not the RTE slagging of their team. 

The group and other stages is a bit less picky, but the for the fans of the team, the final is a big moment so you want the Sky hype, not the RTE reality. Same for if you win it, you want Sky saying how great you are, the "top top" players. Not Dunphy pointing out you were jammy, rubbish and a something he's stepped in on the way to the studio.

It's a bit like sunday newspapers, their sports coverage is written for the winners because they know the losing team just don't buy the papers or read the sports section if they've lost.


----------



## MrMan (15 Jun 2010)

ivuernis said:


> Absolutely agree. Don't understand why people are saying they are bored with the RTE panelists. They post-match commentary after last night's match comparing the current state of the Italian game (both national and club level) with the rude health of football in Germany was a cut above anything you'll ever get on the BBC, never mind ITV. Then Bill, jokingly, apologised for their "depressing" analysis. WTF?!? That's why I watch it on RTE and not any other channel.
> 
> As an aside, myself and some friends usually go to the pub during the knock-out stages of the Champions League. Not the same pub all the time, but we rotate between a small few. Now all the ways up to the final each and every pub has shown the RTE commentary without fail but when the final comes around (2008 and 2009) they put on Sky Sports which is awful dross! Now I'm not a regular in any of these pubs apart from midweek CL games so not familiar with the bar staff but when I asked why this was and could they change over to RTE I was met with either a shrug of the shoulders or a some excuse along the lines that it the channel couldn't be changed. Anyone else come across this? Suffice as to say I watched this years final at home.



Well if they have it on SkyHD and its on a big screen TV rather than a run of the mill projector then the quality of picture on Sky will be much better.


----------



## zxcvbnm (18 Jun 2010)

i've gotta say - that german dude on the panel is a great addition.


----------



## RMCF (18 Jun 2010)

Working tonight, so really annoyed that I missed the RTE guys analysis of the England performance.


----------

