Winning with Winnometers
Five's new test cricket highlight programmes are splendid. They're made by Sunset + Vine Productions, the company that did the Channel 4 cricket coverage and which was responsible for a heap of innovations. At 45 minutes the programmes are 50% longer than the highlights were on Channel 4 and they seem to contain a better play to analysis ratio. Perhaps they're aware that fewer viewers will have been able to watch the live action now it's on Sky.
This year's innovation, the winnometer (or is it win-o-meter?), is a classic. It's like the swingometer in its 1970s' heydays. We're busy building one for use in the comfort of our own home.......
posted by Hughes Views @ 8:35 pm
4 comments
4 Comments:
I haven't actually noticed any difference between the C4 or five highlights coverage. It looks pretty much the same; Same company, same presenters etc.
Shame there isn't any more live coverage anymore on terrestrial TV. The cricket was always perfect for a summers day on the sofa.
Yes it's a shame cricket's gone from free-to-air TV. The House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport was pretty gloomy about it ever coming back. They investigated and reported in January this year:
"the Committee is concerned that live Test cricket may never again be shown free-to-air. If the ECB truly believes that, in the current broadcasting and commercial climate, the future of cricket is best served by selling its rights to the highest bidder (which is always likely to be a pay-TV provider), irrespective of the lack of exposure which that decision will bring, then it is inconceivable that in years to come its conclusion could be any different. Unless a change of attitude by all interested parties is forthcoming, the incomparable Ashes series of 2005 could be the last of its kind."
WEll done to the department of Culture, Media and Sport, if they keep on at the current rate, all we will be left with is the snooker. I would rather watch paint dry if the crucible final was anything to go by...
Earlier in the summary report it says:
"We strongly support the idea that a substantial proportion of Test cricket should be available on free-to-air channels; cricket is too important to the nation for it to be otherwise. But we cannot recommend a return to the days when cricket was starved of the funds it urgently required by preventing the sport's governing body from negotiating with all broadcasters. Re-listing in Group A could have a harmful effect on the long-term future of cricket in England and Wales. None of the witnesses before our inquiry - including the 'Keep Cricket Free' Campaign - seriously maintained that a simple reversal of the decision, even if that were possible, might not have adverse consequences for the future funding of the national game.
The gentleman's agreement between Lord Smith and Lord MacLaurin - to maintain a substantial proportion of live Test cricket on free-to-air television - has sadly proved totally ineffectual. We are disappointed that the ECB clearly breached the terms of the agreement. Equally, it is clear that the Government gave its tacit consent to the breach. The gentleman's agreement, however, was non-binding in any legal sense and we recommend such informal arrangements should not be used by the Department in the future to give effect to its policies. Formal binding undertakings should instead be sought, not least to maintain public confidence, too, in government decision-making."
So that's pretty much that for now I'm afraid. My daughter is very cross; she doesn't even have the compensation of enjoying the radio commentaries as much as I do....
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