General Sport

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

siefc — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:25:42 GMT

well money certainly talks! It seems ITV were so desperate for money and can obviously see into the future and presumed the game would go to penalties that they decided to get some ads on to make some more money! Shame on you ITV, I had to double check my sky system hadn't turned itself over! I quickly changed to sky sports news but that was on a break too! but I'm sure if the red s***e hade scored the picture would've been back asap. It's about time ITV gave football back to the kings at BBC towers where they do it properly and you don't have to listen to that big girls blouse andy townsend.

ps I'm glad the beeb have got F1 too!!

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

chivvy21 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:53:47 GMT

Agree with all the rest. Can't believe there incompetence. Also, what is the point in them bragging about their *highlights* program that follows the live match when they tell you all of the interesting results during the game... At least on other channels they tell you to look away now if you do not want to know the results. If thats the case you might as well not bother with a highlights program and just have some guy read all the results after the game anyway...

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

swampy98 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:26:12 GMT

if itv cant realise that an advert with 2 min to go isnt good then they shouldnt be broadcasting they completly ruined the match and spoilt my sons first game well done to the give the game back to the bbc at least i might have see the goal

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

phizz — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:15:26 GMT

couldn't agree more. When will the people who give out these contracts realise that it is only the bbc and sky sports that can televise football properly. ITV just haven't got the expertise or the 'experts' to do football justice!

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

resigned — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:16:03 GMT

And why have so many posts been removed from here? Was the weight of criticism becoming too embarrassing?

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

super-mikey — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:04:38 GMT

Nice to see that ITV have pulled some of the postings on here.... It's all been said.

What if we had "pay per view" on ITV..... No doubt lots of refunds after last nights farce.... Actually, no refunds.... Who would pay to watch ITV sport

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

bobthe builder — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:01:25 GMT

Reading other postings on the web from all parts of the country it is clear that some ITV regions just managed to get back to the action in time to see the goal - whereas all I got to see was the celebrations - so clearly this has to have been human intervention and NOT technology going wrong - and some operators in some parts of the country were better than others at repairing the damage done by the initial donkey

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

the plumbers mate — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:00:16 GMT

Even after watching slow motion replays from five different angles, Andy Townsend cannot interpret the game correctly!

I used to think Setanta's was dreadful, but ITV take it to a whole new level!

And they want a cut of my license fee ....

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

the plumbers mate — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:54:27 GMT

ITV nearly bankrupted football with its digital service five or six years ago, yet to my surprise they were allowed once again to participate. At best they should be restricted to showing highlights.

The match had already been scheduled to start much later than normal games do so as not to disrupt Coronation Street. ITV has other channels available which could have been used to show the match at a normal time.

It just shows that their interests lie in the revenue from the advertisers, not the actual content.

Please leave football broadcasting to the only channel capable of doing it justice, having superior commentators, pundits, broadcast quality, broadcast resolution and keep the adverts to the non-important times.

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

bobthe builder — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:13:52 GMT

screwed_it_up:
Like nearly everyone here only signed up to tell a useless TV channel quite how bad it is.

I can just imagine the ITV Web-master going into his boss'es office today and drooling over a record number of new forum members in one day

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

serk — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:36:57 GMT

oh my GOD!!!!!!! never experienced a more horrific event in my life....they missed the goal after 118mins of football....and then they treated it as a minor incidence...I WILL NEVER WATCH ITV AGAIN!!!!

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

fedge — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:53:35 GMT

Do all postees think everyone who doesn't get a career in sports media on BBC, Sky, Setanta, Channel 5, Cbeebies, Nickelodeon and any independant cable TV company ends up at ITV?

I am going to get my 9 year old daughter an interview, as she likes watching stuff on TV but is rubbish at sport.

I was going to put my 8 year old son forward for an interview but he is good at sport, fastest in the school, top scorer in his under-8 football team, and is probably over qualified. Nevertheless I will suggest he would be good as an adviser to Andy Townsend.

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

pazzocarne — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:38:59 GMT

dave_mcdave I couldn't agree more, this was appauling and it's not the first time they have had to apologise for their dam right shoddy coverage. An earlier round in the competition and the entire match was ruined because they didn't have adequate cover for the cameraman from the rain, the lense was covered with water and kept steamming up. ITV must be stripped of the rights, no one likes their coverage, supported by the fact that if a live match is also aired at the same time as BBC, BBC always trounch them in the ratings.

ITV's pundit team is devoid of anyone with anything enlightening to say or something that actually resemebles the truth. I could of kicked the TV when Townsend kept banging on about how he couldn't understand Rafa's rant about Fergie, does this guy actually follow football at all??? Clive Tilsley had a shocker, this game will be talked about for weeks, months, years, eh no, it was an unforgetable match that was cramed full of fouls and no spark of excitement. If this is what ITV has to offer I'd rather get more excitement and truth by listening to the ***radio. Sack the pundit team and do us all a favour and relinquish the rights because its clear you haven't got a clue what you are doing, this isn't just down to the error with missing the goal, it simply brings to boil a number of issues that evidently annoy a great number of people.

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

fedge — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:38:29 GMT

To all postees,

Copy of e-mail just sent to viewerservices@itv.com

Congratulations ITV!

In a time of a depressed nation, with job cuts, recession, runaway crime etc etc, one can console oneself by meeting friends in a pub to watch the much awaited coverage of a FA clash between local city rivals.

ITV sport coverage once again managed to conspire to produce a monumental c**k up resulting in the pub erupting in the last couple of minutes of a cup tie. Not only ruining the atmosphere but missing the only goal in the game . If I wasn't so cynical, I would almost say it was written to a script, but no, it is once again down to professional incompetence whilst ITV pretend to be a company capable of transmitting quality sports coverage.

In a previous tie, albeit in the early rounds at a rainswept non-league ground, the cameramen seemed incapable of cleaning a lens to produce crystal clear images of the game. Before then I gave ITV the benefit of the doubt although I am sure adequate equipment cover or even a cloth would have solved this complex technological problem.

But no, they have decided to continue in the same vein and have produced sub-standard coverage throughout the competition. In comparison with other companies covering sport, your pundits are inferior and now the physical act of screening footage has once again proved to be extremely poor.

I am not sure who should be targetted, as following the F1 final laps/advertising fiasco, it seems to be across the sporting network that ITV seem incapable of getting their priorities right. The purpose of screening sport is to entertain the fans and not to line ITV coffers with cash. I understand that without such contributions, ITV would not exist, but what about the viewers. Unfortunately the majority of the public cannot attend all sporting events, through logistics, cash and availability. We rely on the broadcasting companies to produce high quality footage with quality coverage, professional pundits and first class definition. Instead we are given poor quality production which in any other business would result in a swift P45 for all those concerned.

I trust ITV will produce some sort of press release, starting with an acknowledgement on their website, apologising for their incompetence in tonights transmission. Tonight's pathetic offering of a premium live sports event was ruined with even the Everton fans in the pub bemoaning the night's entertainment.

If I could physically protest with a refusal to pay the licence I would, unfortunately this e-mail is as much as I can do to express my disgust, but to anyone who is reading this e-mail in 'ITV Land', please understand that your sports coverage is sub-standard to both the BBC (excellent) and Sky (OK), Setanta is currently ahead of yourselves and even Channel 5's offerings do not show the failings that ITV are currently excelling in.

No doubt we will get, the technical fault excuse again, but let's face it, ITV have some of the premium events on their patch and if you did a straw poll in the street outside the ITV headquarters tomorrow, the results would be pretty damning regarding all sports coverage.

Please can you at least acknowledge this e-mail (not an automated reply) and indicate that ITV is concerned on a personal level so that I, as one viewe,r would at least have a bit of comfort that someone at ITV does actually care about the viewers rather than count the advertising revenue and distribute to shareholders accordingly.

I would urge you all to inundate ITV with similar vein e-mails.

Re: FA CUP Everton v Liverpool

bob m — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:10:19 GMT

Entirely agree. Was Shaun Ryder told to say that it was a 'technical problem' when everyone knows it was some idiot who pressed a button by mistake? 2 hours of football & they miss the goal, ruining it for millions of viewers. How amateurish. Give football back where it belongs - no one does sport like the BBC.