BBC’s old-world quality and easy charm wins the clash of TV titans
It was the clash of the season. Last night the BBC and Sky went head-to-head as the FA Cup semi-finals and the Premier League’s big showdown were played at the same time. MARTIN KELNER reveals who won the armchair vote.
IT’S rare a chance arises to compare the rose-tinted past with the brave new world, as it did yesterday evening when Sky’s high-octane Premier League coverage went head-to-head with Arsenal v Reading in the FA Cup semi-final on the BBC.
As we know, the Premier League has the money and prestige, but what the FA Cup has is history, and boy does the BBC love history.
Lest you were in any doubt, its coverage of the semi-final kicked off with footage of Laurence Olivier doing the St Crispin’s Day speech from the film of Henry V. The excuse was that Reading’s nickname is the Royals, but the second-tier team are also known as the Biscuitmen.
The BBC even gave us a moment of history at halftime with a breakdown – something that used to be a regular feature of TV outside broadcasts – when a feature on Crystal Palace’s shock semi-final victory over Liverpool 25 years ago came to a shuddering halt halfway through.
In such instances, the BBC is lucky to retain the services of Gary Lineker, the best presenter of live football on TV. Sky have never really replaced the disgraced Richard Keys, who had the benefit of longevity in the post. The BBC needs to fight hard to keep Lineker.
Not that Sky’s presenters are less than competent − David Jones did the job yesterday − but it’s never a good sign when you need Google to check who it is.
The price of live Premier League football is now way beyond the reach of the BBC, which may be the clincher in Lineker’s future. While the BBC’s match had the lion’s share of the goalmouth action, it was difficult to resist turning over to Sky on occasion.
Having invested its billions in the Premier League, Sky doesn’t skimp on the peripheries.
The sound always seems a little crisper, and in punditry, where Sky offers us the Rolls Royce of analysts, Gary Neville, the BBC counters with the mid-range Danny Murphy. In the commentary box, Sky fields the eternally accurate Martin Tyler, while the BBC never seems sure who its best commentator is.
However, while the BBC may miss out on the Premier League’s pricey thrills, they took the biscuit last night.