The forthcoming season can be described as talkSPORT’s biggest as they aim to provide strong competition to their counterparts at BBC Radio Five Live. It is the first time that a national commercial radio station is broadcasting live commentary from a top-flight fixture after talkSPORT broke the BBC’s for the first time since 1927 giving them rights to thirty-two live matches on a Saturday afternoon.
It is not expected that the competition for listeners between the BBC and talkSPORT will be as exciting as the battle between Sky Sports and Setanta Sports. This week, Setanta declared an almighty war on Sky with a combative marketing campaign highlighting their cheaper prices in addition to the signing of Des Lynam as part of their team of presenters alongside Angus Scott and James Richardson.
talkSPORT, who are to BBC Radio Five Live what Setanta are to Sky, have promised to deliver a slightly different style of commentary and presentation that has been both praised and criticised since its inception in 2000. The station has been known for its passionate and unique form of football coverage but it is what Matt Smith, talkSPORT Programme Controller, believes will make them stand out from the crowd: “It's what we do best, commentate on games with passion and give fans plenty of room for phoning in and venting off.”
Adrian Durham is returning to his former role as anchor of talkSPORT’s Saturday afternoon football coverage in time for the new season alongside Sports Breakfast presenter Alan Brazil. Nigel Pearson and Alvin Martin are to be the regular commentary team each Saturday with the station’s team of reporters continuing to provide updates and reports from around the grounds in the Premiership, Championship and Football League.
Pearson could easily be described as a man who is passionate and expects this to be conveyed within his Premiership commentaries. He told this website: “You cannot beat the atmosphere of a live Premiership game and both Alvin and myself are relishing the prospect of relaying that through to the listeners. You have to strike a balance in commentary, in my opinion, and paint a picture for the listener without boring them. It's an exciting time, both for the station and on a personal level, and we cannot wait for the season to start.”
Speaking about his role as presenter of Football First for the 2006-2007 season alongside Alvin Martin, Gary Stevens, Jason Cundy and the team of reporters, Pearson added: "On a personal note, I thoroughly enjoyed hosting Football First for a season and would not have swapped it for the world, but as I said earlier, you cannot beat the atmosphere of a live match, especially in the Premiership”
With the big clubs regularly appearing on Sky and Setanta throughout the season, it expected that talkSPORT will feature a wide range of teams from the Premiership as the frequency of weeks when two or more of the “top four” have a fixture scheduled for a Saturday at three o’clock is less than perhaps they would have liked. It is also one of criticisms levelled at the station for dropping the popular “around the grounds” format from previous seasons in favour of live commentary when it is unlikely one of the “top four” will feature every week.
Whatever happens, both talkSPORT and BBC Radio Five Live will be offering a choice of matches for the first time on a Saturday afternoon and for those that yearn for the “around the grounds” format, they will be able to hear it regularly on Tuesday and Wednesday Night Football with Jim Proudfoot for Premiership, Football League and Carling Cup fixtures as well as FA Cup Saturday’s from 5th January 2008 for the Third Round.
The line-ups for the forthcoming 2007-2008 season for talkSPORT and BBC Radio Five Live are as follows:
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