The Premiership (TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Premiership was a television programme which showed highlights from the FA Premier League
. ITV Sport
's flagship football show from 2001 to 2004, the show began after the ITV
network won a multi-million pound deal to show Premiership highlights, and was presented by Des Lynam
, with Ally McCoist
and Andy Townsend
frequently serving as pundits.
, the BBC
's long-running football programme, was in its eighth year of terrestrial Premier League coverage and about to start a record ninth in 2000. Bidding for a further three seasons to the Premier League panel, the BBC went in as favourites to retain the exclusive highlights package. In a late twist, the contract was surprisingly awarded to ITV
who outbid their rivals by £60 million and secured the rights from the start of the 2001-02 season at a reported cost of £185 million pounds. This meant that the channel was splashing out roughly £1.3m per show.
As the 2000-01 season drew to a close, ITV secured a three-year deal with the soft drink giants Coca-Cola
to help sponsor their new programme. At a fee of £50 million, it was the biggest sports sponsorship deal ever seen on British television and was enough to overcome competition from rivals Pepsi
and Budweiser
. For their first season, Coca-Cola's sponsorship stings focused on footballers, such as Ashley Cole
, Rio Ferdinand
and Emile Heskey
, and how the sport affected their families and friends. As well as that, a remixed version of U2's Grammy Award-winning track, "Beautiful Day
" was selected as the show's signature tune.
To reflect the supplementary changes on the network, ITV extended their lunchtime football show, On The Ball
to an hour and introduced The Goal Rush
, which was billed as the fastest and most comprehensive results service in the country. In order to cut back on the department's resources, ITV decided to send four of their commentators (typically, Clive Tyldesley
, Jon Champion
, Peter Drury
and Guy Mowbray
) to the high profiled matches of the weekend. Gabriel Clarke, Ned Boulting and other freelancing reporters would provide thorough match reports for the lesser games, judgment from both sets of fans (Vox populi
) and interviews from the players and managers.
ITV decided to air the show at 7pm, the earliest time permitted by the broadcasting contracts. Their original plan, however, had been a programme beginning at 6pm, little more than an hour after matches finished, but occupying less space in prime time. When Sky
refused to allow the contracts to be changed, ITV proceeded with the prime-time 7pm slot. They also (as originally planned) scheduled a late-night edition of the show, usually starting at 11pm, which included extended highlights, match commentary and further post match interviews.
Fans were promised technological advances such as player tracking to aid analysis of the match. On Monday nights, The Premiership Parliament, eventually titled The Premiership on Monday was presented by Ally McCoist
and Gabby Logan
and featured 20 fans - one representative from each club in a debate.
and Arsenal
at the Riverside Stadium
with commentary provided by Peter Drury and Arsenal convincingly winning 4-0. Liverpool
's clash with West Ham United was the other featured game, broadcast towards the end of the programme.
The Premiership was watched by a peak figure of 5 million viewers, in comparison to The Weakest Link
which drew an average of 7 million when shown on the BBC at the same time. Despite ITV declaring that it was a positive start to the season, media and football critics – most notably the Daily Mirror - were outspoken about the programme's lack of essential highlights and excessive amount of talk and punditry from Ally McCoist
and Andy Townsend
. Out of the 70 minutes on air, the first show included only 28 minutes of action, compared to the average of 58 minutes on Match of the Day
the previous season. Many neutral football fans bemoaned the idea that what should have been the featured game (Bolton Wanderers' 5-0 drubbing of Leicester City at Filbert Street
) only got the briefest of autodubs by Gabriel Clarke and analysis from the studio which lasted for about two minutes. The overuse of football technology to support the decisions was also controversial in spite of praise by top league managers such as Arsène Wenger
and Sir Alex Ferguson
. Townsend's Tactics Truck was mocked by journalists and loyal supporters as "excruciatingly painful and totally inept".
A week later saw ITV suffer their worst Saturday night ratings for five years when an average of 3.1 million viewers watched The Premiership. After two months, figures had not greatly improved: only 4.6 million viewers tuned in, and the 7pm slot was a clear failure.
The decision was made in early October 2001 to shift The Premiership from its original slot to a permanent later time of 10:30pm, from 17 November, with repeats shown early on Sunday mornings.
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
. ITV Sport
ITV Sport
ITV Sport is a sport producer and brand name owned by ITV plc. It was formed from the amalgamation of Granada Sport, Carlton's sports department and ISN, the sports division of London News Network. The company produces Champions League and FA Cup Football, along with coverage of England's national...
's flagship football show from 2001 to 2004, the show began after the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network won a multi-million pound deal to show Premiership highlights, and was presented by Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, with Ally McCoist
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch "Ally" McCoist, MBE ; 24 September 1962) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Rangers in Scotland....
and Andy Townsend
Andy Townsend
Andrew "Andy" David Townsend is a former professional footballer, who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television and radio pundit....
frequently serving as pundits.
Television Rights
Match of the DayMatch of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's long-running football programme, was in its eighth year of terrestrial Premier League coverage and about to start a record ninth in 2000. Bidding for a further three seasons to the Premier League panel, the BBC went in as favourites to retain the exclusive highlights package. In a late twist, the contract was surprisingly awarded to ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
who outbid their rivals by £60 million and secured the rights from the start of the 2001-02 season at a reported cost of £185 million pounds. This meant that the channel was splashing out roughly £1.3m per show.
As the 2000-01 season drew to a close, ITV secured a three-year deal with the soft drink giants Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
to help sponsor their new programme. At a fee of £50 million, it was the biggest sports sponsorship deal ever seen on British television and was enough to overcome competition from rivals Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
and Budweiser
Budweiser
Budweiser is a German adjective describing something or someone from the city of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic.Beer brewing in České Budějovice dates back to the 13th century...
. For their first season, Coca-Cola's sponsorship stings focused on footballers, such as Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
, Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
and Emile Heskey
Emile Heskey
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a striker.Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with hometown club Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995...
, and how the sport affected their families and friends. As well as that, a remixed version of U2's Grammy Award-winning track, "Beautiful Day
Beautiful Day
"Beautiful Day" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was released as the album's lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date...
" was selected as the show's signature tune.
To reflect the supplementary changes on the network, ITV extended their lunchtime football show, On The Ball
On The Ball (ITV television show)
On The Ball is a British ITV Saturday lunchtime television show about football, which ran as part of World of Sport in the 1980s, and as a stand-alone show from 1998 to 2004....
to an hour and introduced The Goal Rush
The Goal Rush
The Goal Rush was a live ITV television programme that aired from 2001 to 2003 produced by Granada Television. The programme was broadcast on Saturdays as a rival show to Final Score on BBC One, and provided live football scores from the Premier League and the Football League...
, which was billed as the fastest and most comprehensive results service in the country. In order to cut back on the department's resources, ITV decided to send four of their commentators (typically, Clive Tyldesley
Clive Tyldesley
Clive Tyldesley is an English sports commentator, who since 1998 has been the main football commentator for ITV. He has commentated on eleven Champions League finals, five FA Cup Finals and numerous World Cup and European Championship matches.-Career:Tyldesley was born in Radcliffe, Bury,...
, Jon Champion
Jon Champion
Jon Champion is ESPN UK's number one football commentator. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC and ITV over the past 20 years. His late father David Champion was the deputy headmaster of the independent school Bootham School, York...
, Peter Drury
Peter Drury
Peter Drury, born 1968, is ITV Sport's number two football commentator, a role he has held since joining the network in 1998.A politics graduate from Hull University, Peter began his career as a journalist with Hayters sports agency before joining BBC Radio Leeds in 1990 as a football and cricket...
and Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray is a football commentator on British television, who supports York City FC, and is currently with the BBC. Whilst working for Eurosport at the 1998 World Cup, he became the youngest ever television commentator on a World Cup Final, aged 26...
) to the high profiled matches of the weekend. Gabriel Clarke, Ned Boulting and other freelancing reporters would provide thorough match reports for the lesser games, judgment from both sets of fans (Vox populi
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
) and interviews from the players and managers.
ITV decided to air the show at 7pm, the earliest time permitted by the broadcasting contracts. Their original plan, however, had been a programme beginning at 6pm, little more than an hour after matches finished, but occupying less space in prime time. When Sky
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
refused to allow the contracts to be changed, ITV proceeded with the prime-time 7pm slot. They also (as originally planned) scheduled a late-night edition of the show, usually starting at 11pm, which included extended highlights, match commentary and further post match interviews.
Fans were promised technological advances such as player tracking to aid analysis of the match. On Monday nights, The Premiership Parliament, eventually titled The Premiership on Monday was presented by Ally McCoist
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch "Ally" McCoist, MBE ; 24 September 1962) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Rangers in Scotland....
and Gabby Logan
Gabby Logan
Gabby Logan is a television presenter and radio presenter, as well as a former Wales international gymnast. She currently hosts programmes for BBC Sport, mainly focusing on football.- Early life :...
and featured 20 fans - one representative from each club in a debate.
Critical reaction
The first show aired at 7pm on 18 August 2001 and was presented by Des Lynam. The main game featured was MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
and Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
at the Riverside Stadium
Riverside Stadium
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough F.C. since it opened in 1995...
with commentary provided by Peter Drury and Arsenal convincingly winning 4-0. Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
's clash with West Ham United was the other featured game, broadcast towards the end of the programme.
The Premiership was watched by a peak figure of 5 million viewers, in comparison to The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
which drew an average of 7 million when shown on the BBC at the same time. Despite ITV declaring that it was a positive start to the season, media and football critics – most notably the Daily Mirror - were outspoken about the programme's lack of essential highlights and excessive amount of talk and punditry from Ally McCoist
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch "Ally" McCoist, MBE ; 24 September 1962) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Rangers in Scotland....
and Andy Townsend
Andy Townsend
Andrew "Andy" David Townsend is a former professional footballer, who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television and radio pundit....
. Out of the 70 minutes on air, the first show included only 28 minutes of action, compared to the average of 58 minutes on Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
the previous season. Many neutral football fans bemoaned the idea that what should have been the featured game (Bolton Wanderers' 5-0 drubbing of Leicester City at Filbert Street
Filbert Street
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City from 1891 to 2002. Although officially titled "The City Business Stadium" in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by its address, like many English football stadia.- Early years :The club,...
) only got the briefest of autodubs by Gabriel Clarke and analysis from the studio which lasted for about two minutes. The overuse of football technology to support the decisions was also controversial in spite of praise by top league managers such as Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger, OBE is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996...
and Sir Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
. Townsend's Tactics Truck was mocked by journalists and loyal supporters as "excruciatingly painful and totally inept".
A week later saw ITV suffer their worst Saturday night ratings for five years when an average of 3.1 million viewers watched The Premiership. After two months, figures had not greatly improved: only 4.6 million viewers tuned in, and the 7pm slot was a clear failure.
The decision was made in early October 2001 to shift The Premiership from its original slot to a permanent later time of 10:30pm, from 17 November, with repeats shown early on Sunday mornings.