SO JUST WHO PASSES THE SCREEN TEST?
WITH fans locked out of stadiums and no date set for their full return due to the coronavirus pandemic, supporters are more dependent than ever on TV coverage to see their team in action. As clubs seek new ways to boost revenue in the absence of gate receipts, all top-flight sides introduced virtual season tickets for their home games — capped at the number of season tickets on sale each season and for home fans only. Alternatively, some games are put out to pay-per-view at varying prices per club. Here, BLAIR CONDIE looks at how each club and channel have performed.
ABERDEEN
There’s plenty of coverage on Red TV, from matches to memorial tributes to chairman updates. You name it, the Dons have probably got it covered. Aberdeen ploughed money into the service over the summer, upgrading it to contain more graphics, analysis and chat, predominantly from matchday presenter Rob MacLean. Rating: 5/5
CELTIC
After BT Sport missed out on live matches this season, Celtic flexed their financial muscle and agreed a deal with Sunset+Vine — the company behind BT’s successful production — to produce content for the club’s platform. In doing so, they struck deals with Chris Sutton, Gordon Strachan and Michael Stewart to present matchday coverage, with Rory Hamilton joining regular commentator Tom Boyd as part of the broadcast team. 5/5
DUNDEE UTD
On their return to the top flight, United launched a brand new in-house channel, DUTV, upgrading their service to provide more exclusive content for fans. However, with complaints of match feeds crashing and delays in logging in, the investment doesn’t seem to be paying off entirely.
HAMILTON
Accies have 30 minutes of build-up, halftime and post-match analysis from their in-house commentary team in which head of communications Marcus Nash leads the way. With one of the smallest budgets in the top flight, Accies have not brought in a ‘big name’ but regularly feature guests, usually first-team players, . 4/5
HIBERNIAN
Another club who have invested in their in-house coverage ahead of this season, Hibs wasted no time bringing in former Sky Sports host David Tanner and Easter Road hero Tam McManus to front their coverage alongside commentator Cliff Pike. Despite some minor teething problems, the coverage worked well. 5/5
KILMARNOCK
Gavin Wallace and John Boyd set the scene in the pre-match studio before handing over to Andy Bargh and Alan Cochrane for commentary. Most of the content focuses on the match with build-up and analysis, with interviews thrown in. Initially, there were major issues, with many fans missing out on goals when streams were lost midmatch. 2/5
LIVINGSTON
Livvy launched their brand new LFC Live service in the summer and it’s easy to navigate. Fans get press conference coverage and pre- and post-match analysis. There are no fireworks in the coverage but it does everything fans would want from their subscription. 3/5
MOTHERWELL
The Steelmen have not had their troubles to seek, with complaints of a delay in streaming and notifications being seen elsewhere before a goal is scored. 2/5
RANGERS
Rangers brought in Clive Tyldesley to share commentary duties with Tom Miller and Ibrox youth coach Kevin Thomson. Conducting half-time analysis with presenter Emma Dodds, Rangers legends Walter Smith, Graeme Souness, Neil McCann and Alex Rae have all taken part. Rangers have mainly had praise for their streaming platform. 4/5
ROSS COUNTY
Fronted by Rory Hamilton, Stephen Craigan and Jamie Lyall, County invested to bring recognisable names to their coverage. Shown live from a new internal studio within the Global Energy Stadium, the club have worked hard to give fans a good service.
The Staggies have tried to maintain a balance to their coverage, for example bringing in John Hartson to cover the Celtic match. 4/5
ST JOHNSTONE
Saints’ website is easy to navigate and the videos are readily available. But, like so many others, it is quite basic in terms of content. And with St Johnstone fan Stuart Cosgrove among the commentators, it is fairly biased. But there have been few major widespread issues. 3/5
ST MIRREN
Lifelong Saints fan and radio presenter Ali De Foy signed up to lead coverage and she is joined by Daniel Bowers and former Saints player David van Zanten, who make up the commentary team. The club also upgraded their previous Buddievision service to the new-look St Mirren TV and, as with most other clubs, some audio and streaming problems have been found. 3/5
BBC
The usual 45-minute results show every Saturday teatime has been followed by an hour-long highlights package at 7.30pm, where Steven
Thompson and Michael Stewart are among those joining Jonathan Sutherland for in-depth analysis. The BBC Scotland channel has also been showing live Championship fixtures. 4/5
SKY SPORTS
Many feared the worst when Sky beat BT Sport for weekend coverage of all the big matches after numerous blunders in the past, ranging from wrong badges to team names being incorrect or personnel names being wrong on-screen. The season is almost into a fourth month, and the broadcaster is still making errors. Only a few weeks ago, they showed a player from Motherwell and Rangers in a graphic as the clubs went head to head. Featured for the Steelmen? David Turnbull... who was by then a Celtic player. Then on Sunday, Sky showed one of the biggest games of the season so far — Aberdeen v Celtic. Their preview focused entirely on Celtic and the number of goals they have scored against the Dons in recent meetings, with Pittodrie chairman Dave Cormack Tweeting after the match his fury at the coverage, even pointing out they had spelled his club’s name wrong. Some fans may have felt that Scottish football was an inconvenience to Sky given the number of errors in coverage previously and this feeling was not helped just weeks into the season, when the broadcaster didn’t take up the option to show St Mirren v Celtic — a game they had on the schedule before Boli Bolingoli’s trip to Spain. The broadcaster instead focused on the first round of the Carabao Cup. Silly errors aside, Sky have done a good job in presenting Scottish football to the public. If they could cut the mistakes out, while also giving our game its due credit, they would really be on to a winner. 3/5
PREMIER SPORTS
They have had some teething difficulties with sound and production problems, plus issues with pixellation. On the plus side they have the bones of a good product with a regular presenting team of Darrell Currie, Kevin Thomson and Stephen Craigan. And their live coverage of selected Betfred Cup matches has been professional.