Why 3pm blackout is a relic that has run its course
Broadcasters will not be able to rely on established shows like Soccer Saturday in age of the digital native, writes Alan Tyers
What would become of Merse and Tommo if the public could watch football on a Saturday?
The curious case of the Saturday 3pm football blackout hove back into view last week as Eleven Sports, an online broadcaster, agreed to stop showing matches at that time. Eleven, owned by Leeds United grande formaggio Andrea Radrizzani, had been streaming games from La Liga and Serie A during the traditional 2.45pm and 5.15pm period of purdah. But no more.
In a statement, the company said “intense pressure from stakeholders within the football establishment” had caused it to drop these from the schedule.
It added the blackout is one of the “biggest generators of piracy in the UK” and muttered darkly that “it is irresponsible to leave the market in the hands of criminals”.
If it all sounds a fuss over a few thousand hardcore football addicts having to be dragged around B&Q rather than slumping in front of Parma v Udinese, consider the wider implications of this challenge to a ruling introduced in the days when many fans barely had a television, let alone portable devices on which to watch sport.
The argument has been that ending the blackout will stop people going to the Saturday matches, a point that has been made forcefully of late by some at smaller clubs, for instance Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt.
The 1960s 3pm blackout has been one of English and Scottish football’s most surprisingly enduring relics, much like the men who populate the programme that Sky transmits during that time, Soccer Saturday.
Jeff and the boys, seemingly indestructible despite the march of time, political correctness and the nanny state’s insistence on asking everyone how many units of alcohol they are consuming weekly, would presumably be casualties if Premier League matches were to be screened at 3pm. What would become of Merse and Tommo, Charlie Nic and Le Tiss if the Great British Public were to be allowed to watch the football on a Saturday, rather than watching them watch the football?
One instinctively feels Soccer Saturday ought to be granted listed-building status: it is still a better entertainment experience than attempting illegally to stream some Russian rip-off of Huddersfield v Bournemouth. And also, we need to keep an eye on Merse.
If the Soccer Saturday cast are starting to show signs of wear and tear, the format still appeals to their employer. Sky this season launched “The Football Social”, in which young men who appear to have come from the central casting offcuts of betting adverts talk about the matches and relay what is happening.
Some of the lads, who have names like Smithy and Banters and Acca, have bazillions of social-media followers: it’s a Soccer Saturday for modern types.
Where Jeff and the boys might think “digital native” is the punchline to one of Rodney’s off-colour golf-club jokes about a missionary, or Instagram is like that time Frankie Mac got the strippers round in double-quick time, their handlers at Sky know a new generation has to be brought into the telly tent somehow.
One of the advantages of all this technology is that there are multiple avenues via which broadcasters can try these things out without having to clear the schedules, ie with low risk, and perhaps there is a future after all for the nowestablished post-modern format of watching people watch TV.
Whether that really deals lower-league football a kick in the teeth or not remains to be seen – but surely the outdated blackout cannot last.