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The Latest talkSPORT News
From the talkSPORT1089.co.uk News Centre

This website endeavours to bring its readers the very latest news regarding the UK's national commercial sports radio station. In bringing you news on talkSPORT, we will be using a number of sources including the Media Guardian, Media Week, Radio Times and UK Radio.

talkSPORT News Archive: October 2004 I November & December 2004 I January & February 2005 I March & April 2005 I May 2005 I June & July 2005 I August & September 2005

Affinity Music & talkSPORT To Launch Weekly Programme
Added: Monday 28th November

Bartle Bogle Hegarty has struck a deal with talkSPORT in which the station will broadcast a weekly programme based on the agency's Players Top 20 brand, according to Campaign.

The hour-long weekly music-based show will use the Players Top 20 brand, launched last year by BBH's Music Marketing Division, Affinity Music. talkSPORT are yet to release details of when and where the programme will be scheduled on the station with the information expect to be release in due course.

The programme will be largely advertiser funded, and is searching for a headline sponsor and a celebrity to present the show. It will feature celebrity guests from various sports, who will present and discuss their favourite musical tracks and songs from their favourite artists.

The Players Top 20 project saw the release of a series of CD's officially endorsed by individual football clubs, containing tracks chosen by their players. Releases so far include collections chosen by the Chelsea squad and the Scottish Premier League clubs Rangers and Celtic.The Players Top 20 Managing Director, Simon Binns, said: "We spoke to a number of stations and felt talkSPORT was the ideal partner."

Adam Bullock, talkSPORT's Sponsorship and Promotion Director, said: "Our listeners are passionate about music as well as sport. They are much more likely to go to gigs or buy music online than the average commercial radio listener. As such we are an ideal station for the Players Top 20 show."

Affinity Music is also in discussion with a number of independent production companies with a view to putting the project on television. The deal echoes a similar arrangement between Orange and the production company Endemol, which jointly produce the ITV series Orange Playlist.

Meanwhile Scott Taunton, Managing Director of UTV Radio, has been appointed as an Executive Director to the Board of Ulster Television. Taunton, aged 34, was previously the Business Development Director at UTV responsible for radio and new media. Originally from Australia and has been working in the UK for a decade.

talkSPORT Offer Rodney Marsh Contact Extension
Added: Monday 21st November

Rodney Marsh has been offered a three-year extension by talkSPORT after a successful stint on The Game alongside Paul Breen-Turner, according to The People.

Marsh initially joined talkSPORT earlier this year following his sacking from Sky Sports in January after making an on-air “joke” regarding the Boxing Day Asian Tsunami Disaster on You’re on Sky Sports alongside Rob McCaffrey. He became a pundit on The Final Whistle with Graham Beecroft and stood-in for Alan Brazil on The Sports Breakfast with Paul Breen-Turner and Graham Beecroft.

However, at the beginning of the new football season, in August Marsh was appointed as the new co-host on talkSPORT’s Drivetime programme The Game with Paul Breen-Turner airing every weekday between 4:00pm-7:00pm. He was another big signing for talkSPORT alongside Alvin Martin and Andy Townsend.

In The People on Sunday 20th November, it was reported that Marsh has now been offered a three-year extension to his talkSPORT contract following his “successful stint” on The Game. It is not yet known as to whether the contract extension has yet been accepted but with Marsh appearing on Sky News on Friday 18th November, could a return to Sky Sports be on the cards in the near future in his Soccer Saturday role?

Meanwhile, GCap Media is planning to switch off the analogue signal for its radio stations still broadcast on the AM frequency, such as Capital Gold, to encourage more listeners to switch to digital. The move could come as early as the spring of 2007.

2006 FIFA World Cup Draw Live on talkSPORT
Added: Thursday 17th November

talkSPORT will broadcast extensive coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Draw live from Leipzig in Germany on Friday 9th December.

The Game with Paul Breen-Turner and Rodney Marsh will be broadcast live from Leipzig between 4:00pm-7:00pm ahead of the draw which involves England, who secured qualification for the World Cup Finals earlier this year with a win against Austria at Old Trafford. Holland beat the Czech Republic in their group meaning that England would have qualified for the World Cup even if they had finished second behind Poland.

Adrian Durham hosts Evening Kick-Off: 2006 FIFA World Cup Draw Special live from Leipzig between 7:00pm-10:00pm with full coverage of the draw as it happens, plus talkSPORT reporters Mike Bovill and Andy Clarke will be able to provide the latest news and information from inside the ceremonial building in Leipzig.

talkSPORT is the official radio station of the 2006 FIFA World Cup with full coverage of every game during the tournament, including commentary of every England and other group games and knockout matches.

The teams that have qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup are as follows and will be involved in the draw in Leipzig on Friday 9th December:

Europe: Germany (Host), Ukraine, Holland, Poland, England, Croatia, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia & Montenegro, France, Spain, Switzerland & Czech Republic. Asia: Japan, Iran, Korean Republic & Saudi Arabia. Africa: Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana & Tunisia. North & Central America: USA, Mexico, Costa Rica & Trinidad & Tobago. South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador & Paraguay. Oceania: Australia.

The full schedule for Friday 9th December on talkSPORT is as follows:

1:00am Mike Mendoza 6:00am The Sports Breakfast with Alan Brazil & Graham Beecroft 10:00am Ian Collins 1:00pm Sportswatch with Andrew McKenna 1:10pm Hawksbee & Jacobs 4:00pm The Game with Paul Breen-Turner & Rodney Marsh Live from Leipzig 7:00pm Evening Kick-Off: 2006 FIFA World Cup Draw Special with Adrian Durham Live from Leipzig 11:00pm-1:00am Mike Dickin.

TV Football Rights Deal Could Aid talkSPORT in Rights War
Added: Thursday 17th November

The Premier League’s settlement with the European Commission over TV rights for live Premiership matches could aid talkSPORT when bidding for radio rights against the BBC.

The deal reached between the Premier League and the European Commission will end Sky Sports monopoly on live coverage of Premiership football matches. The League has agreed to sell live coverage rights in six packages with no single bidder allowed to buy all six.

On 8th August 2003, the Premier League were awarded all four current live rights packages to Sky Sports in a three year deal. The European Commission, despite making clear its displeasure at the arrangement, accepted that deal but shortly thereafter insisted that changes would have to be made for the 2006 rights round. On 17th December 2003, the League agreed to structure its rights tendering process such that at least two broadcasters will screen live Premiership matches. It has taken the League and the EC until this week to reach the six package agreement.

In a statement, the European Commission outlined how the procedure will work: "Live TV rights will be sold in six balanced packages with no one bidder being allowed to buy all six packages. Packages will be sold to the highest standalone bidder for each package, and bids other than simple standalone bids will be disregarded. The auction will be monitored by a trustee, selected by the commission, who will report to the commission as to whether the commitments entered into by the FA Premier League have been followed."

Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's Chief Executive, called the negotiations "long and often complicated" but described the arrangement as "a workable compromise."

talkSPORT could benefit from the agreement between the Premier League and the EC after the station made their own complaint to OFCOM and the EC over the BBC’s deal over the sale of radio broadcast rights for the Premiership and FA Cup. However, last month OFCOM dropped an investigation into the BBC’s exclusive deal with the FA for rights to live FA Cup matches.

talkSPORT had argued the agreement between the BBC and the FA about the sale of national radio broadcast rights to FA Cup matches was contrary to article 81 of the EC Treaty and also breached the Competition Act. The BBC was accused of "hoarding" games and locking talkSPORT out of competition by paying over the odds for exclusivity.

The media regulator said: "OFCOM has considered whether demand for further FA Cup matches exists from other national broadcasters and further evidence obtained in September 2005 indicated only limited interest in the currently unsold rights and that a low value is placed on these games.”

It also noted that the European Commission was also looking into "very similar" issues as part of its investigation into how the FA Premier League sells broadcasting rights. OFCOM said: "For these reasons, OFCOM does not propose to allocate further resources to a detailed examination of this complaint at present and has therefore closed the case."

At the time, a spokesman for talkSPORT' said the company "accepts what OFCOM has to say" but plans to keep pursuing the issue with the European Commission. "This isn't the end of the matter. The company is still looking to broadcast FA Cup matches, it's something it still believes in and is pushing very hard for," the spokesman said. He added that the issue was being considered by the European Commission as part of its inquiry into the way live television rights to football were allocated to broadcasters.

Following the announcement made by the EC regarding their deal with the Premier League over the sale of TV broadcast rights, a source close to talkSPORT commented: “In a nutshell it's complicated, and involves both the EC and OFCOM but hope that this will be the stepping stone for a loosening of radio rights as well.”

Edinburgh's Talk 107 Launches on Valentines Day 2006
Added: Thursday 17th November

Scotland’s first talk radio station Talk 107 will go on-air on Tuesday 14th February 2006, it was announced by UTV Radio last night.

The station, Talk107, will be run by UTV Radio, which inherited the new Edinburgh licence when it bought Kelvin MacKenzie's Wireless Group, which owned talkSPORT, in May for £98.2 million.

Talk107 will broadcast from new studios in an industrial park at South Gyle, Edinburgh. The group is converting a 5,000-plus square foot building and will move in next month. Employing 40 staff, the 24-hour station says it will make announcements shortly about its presenter line-up. Dundee radio journalist Gwen Laurie has already been appointed as Talk 107 News Editor.

Station managers say an advertising campaign is being planned, although they insist 14 February is purely incidental and there will be no Valentine theme. Peter Gillespie, Managing Director of Talk107, said: "It's a happy coincidence that week just happens to be the best practical week for us."

Kelvin MacKenzie, then Chief Executive of The Wireless Group, beat 11 other applicants last December to win the Edinburgh FM franchise. UTV Radio says it is confident of its business model for Talk107 despite what are regarded as the traditionally high costs of talk radio.

Meanwhile, Monday 14th November heralded the beginning of a new era in local broadcasting as UTV Radio's new radio station for Belfast and the surrounding area, U105, went live at 6:00am, appropriately with "Wavelength" by Irish star Van Morrison.

Sky Sports News’ Matt Lorenzo to Join talkSPORT for Christmas
Added: Tuesday 15th November

Matt Lorenzo from Sky Sports News will be joining talkSPORT for the Christmas period on Evening Kick-Off & The Final Whistle alongside Ray Houghton & Jason Cundy.

Lorenzo begin his broadcasting career with Sky in 1989 with Sky News as their sports presenter following his journalistic grounding having worked in print journalism, radio and TV after completing his A-Levels.

Whilst at Sky, he presented Sky Soccer Weekend on Sky Sports and hosted Saturday Night, a two-hour live entertainment show on Sky One before leaving for ITV in 1992. After moving to ITV Sport, Lorenzo was a presenter at the launch of their Champions League coverage and hosted the 1994 World Cup as well as working on GMTV every weekday between 6:00am-9:25am hosting the sports news.

In 1999 he returned to Sky and is now a presenter on the 24 hour sports news and information service Sky Sports News. His most memorable moment since joining Sky was in 1989 when he was interviewing an Irish priest live during the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival. He only found out during his first answer that the interviewee was blind drunk and could not even manage to pronounce his own name!

A big football fan, Lorenzo once put two goals past Italy goalkeeper Galli, whilst he was on holiday in a small Italian village called Roggio. He is a follower of most sports but his passions are football as he supports West Ham, and Formula 1. He also plays golf twice a week.

Matt Lorenzo will be on Evening Kick-Off alongside Ray Houghton on Tuesday 27th December and Thursday 29th December and with Jason Cundy on Friday 30th December and on The Final Whistle on Wednesday 28th December between 10:00pm-1:00am. Full details of talkSPORT’s 2005 Christmas Schedule will be released on this website from Saturday 19th November when we will reveal the information from Monday 19th December until New Years Day.

Please Note: talkSPORT’s Christmas schedules are subject to change at any time but the information we provide will be correct at the time we receive and publish. Any information will be correct forthwith should it become incorrect.

talkSPORT's Brazil in Trouble over Sven Promotion for Racing Club
Added: Monday 14th November

Sven Goran-Eriksson is unwittingly being used to promote the Alan Brazil Racing Club, according the Charles Sale’s Sports Agenda in the Daily Mail.

In Friday 11th November’s edition of the newspaper it reported that the England coach, who has cut down his personal appearances outside football in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup, is being used by talkSPORT’s Sports Breakfast presenter Alan Brazil to promote his racing club which he formed in 2003.

An Eriksson Christmas Lunch at the Cafe Royal on 15th December is being publicised by well-known corporate hospitality operators the National Sporting Club. It offers clients the chance, for Pounds 99-ahead plus VAT, to hear the England coach talk openly about his team's chances in Germany just six days after the group draw is made in Leipzig, which can be heard live on talkSPORT.

However, Eriksson and his business advisers were unaware that at the same champagne function, talkSPORT’s Sports Breakfast presenter Brazil has been given a platform to advertise his racing club, which has 1,000 members and seven horses, in a question-and-answer panel with trainer and talkSPORT colleague Micky Quinn and racing broadcaster Luke Harvey.

Eriksson's Agent Athol Still said: “Sven does very little commercial work and he's not receiving a fee for speaking at the National Sporting Club. We knew nothing about the racing club involvement and we thought all the profits were going to charity. If there's any commercial gain from an event being sold on Sven's name, I expect a sizeable donation to a charity of Sven's choice, at least.”

Brazil said: “As far as I'm concerned, it's going to be a jolly occasion with a lot of racing and football talk. In return for speaking, I get the opportunity to hand out leaflets and talk about my club.”

Eriksson's lack of interest in adding any extra monies to his already gargantuan FA salary is shown by the fact that he has distanced himself from his previous commercial agents, IMG. He has stayed on the books of Swedish friend Lars Sternmarker, who has left his post running IMG's Stockholm office to set up his own consultancy running a golf tournament.

UTV Radio Stations Return to RAB
Added: Tuesday 8th November

talkSPORT and the other UTV Radio stations have become members of the Radio Advertising Bureau again, four years after Kelvin MacKenzie pulled them out.

UTV Radio was formed following the purchase of The Wireless Group by Belfast-based media group Ulster TV in May for £98.2m. Under former Chief Executive Kelvin MacKenzie, The Wireless Group stations withdrew from the RAB and other industry bodies in 2001.

Scott Taunton, Chief Executive at talkSPORT and UTV Radio, said membership of the RAB had come at a crucial time for UTV Radio’s expansion: "This is important for the RAB and for us. We were the only radio group not in the RAB. Now the RAB can send out a unified message to the industry. This was not a straightforward decision, because it costs us a considerable amount of money."

He added that The Wireless Group’s exist from the RAB in 2001 was a commercial decision by MacKenzie, Taunton said: “Kelvin was convinced talkSPORT didn't receive any benefit from the RAB because speech radio is very different from music radio. Now speech radio is included alongside music radio and local radio." Taunton also suggested UTV Radio would join the Commercial Radio Companies Association and UTV Radio is due to launch speech station Talk 107 in Edinburgh in February.

Douglas McArthur, Chief Executive at the RAB, said: "Now with effectively 100% industry support, RAB can provide customers with a fuller picture of the opportunities available in commercial radio."

Meanwhile, Scottish Media Group's Virgin Radio is planning to expand its digital offering and is preparing the way with a £2m investment in new studios at its head office.  The expansion includes new studios and production suites in the basement of the Virgin building on Golden Square, which the station has occupied since 1993. A company spokesman confirmed that Virgin Radio is looking to launch more digital stations following the launch of Virgin Radio Classic Rock, Virgin Radio Xtreme and Virgin Radio Groove, as "there are clearly gaps in our offering", he said.

Football First International Special: Argentina v England
Added: Friday 4th November

talkSPORT will broadcast unofficial commentary of England's International Friendly against Argentina at the Stade de Geneve in Switzerland on Saturday 12th November.

Following England's successful World Cup Qualifying campaign which saw them finish top of their group ahead of nearest rivals Poland, Sven Goran-Eriksson's men take on their old enemies Argentina at the Stade de Genve in Switzerland with kick-off at 4:45pm on talkSPORT.

According to a source close to talkSPORT, the station was "locked out" from trying to gain the broadcast rights to the match. Despite this, talkSPORT will broadcast unofficial coverage of Argentina v England courtesy of their studio monitors and artificially generated match atmosphere.

Football First hosted by Adrian Durham will be on-air from 12:00pm alongside Gary Stevens and Jason Cundy to preview the day's World Cup Qualifying Play-Off matches involving Norway v Czech Republic, Switzerland v Turkey and Spain v Slovakia and International Friendly matches involving Argentina v England and Scotland v USA as well as the action in League 1 and League 2.

From 4:30pm, Chris Cooper and Alvin Martin will be talkSPORT's commentary team with unofficial coverage from the Stade de Genve in Switzerland for Argentina v England. The Final Whistle with Patrick Kinghorn & Micky Quinn will be on-air following the end of the match at around 6:30pm through until 9:00pm.
The schedule for Saturday 12th November on talkSPORT is as follows:

1:00am Charlie Wolf 6:00am Fisherman's Blues with Keith Arthur 8:00am The Sports Breakfast with Andy Townsend & Mike Parry 12:00pm Football First with Adrian Durham 4:30pm Football First International Special: Argentina v England 6:30pm The Final Whistle with Patrick Kinghorn & Micky Quinn 9:00pm The Unexplained with Duncan Barkes 11:00pm-2:00am Mike Dickin.

talkSPORT will provide coverage of the World Cup Qualifying Play-Off Second Leg matches on Wednesday 16th November during The Game with Paul Breen-Turner & Rodney Marsh and Evening Kick-Off with Adrian Durham with updates from Czech Republic v Norway, Turkey v Switzerland and Slovakia v Spain. The draw for the 2006 World Cup will be made on Friday 9th December.

Meanwhile, Martin Kelner will be filling-in for Paul Hawksbee alongside Andy Jacobs on Friday 18th November and Monday 21st November between 1:00pm-4:00pm on talkSPORT.

Wigan Manager Jewell Urges Marsh Boycott
Added: Thursday 3rd November

Wigan Manager Paul Jewell has urged supporters of the club to boycott everything to do with Rodney Marsh, who is co-host on The Game on talkSPORT.

At the beginning of the season, Marsh said he would allow fans of newly-promoted Wigan to throw rotten fruit at him if the Latics won more than seven Premiership matches this term. However, having thought the worst case scenario would be that he would get a pelting in late spring, Wigan won their 7th Premiership match against Fulham last weekend meaning it would inevitable that Marsh would be getting his punishment.

However, the Wigan boss has hit back at the talkSPORT  pundit commenting that without the club’s success the pundit would be nowhere. Jewell said: "If I was sat on a panel before the season, I'd have looked at Wigan, Sunderland, perhaps West Ham and West Brom, and said three of those four would be relegated.

"But some people dismissed us out of hand and showed a lack of respect. I didn't like that. This team, whatever you think of them, deserve respect for what they do. I would urge people in Wigan that if a certain someone is going to go in the stocks, don't bother to turn up because without publicity, he is a no-mark."

Check out The Game with Paul Breen-Turner & Rodney Marsh every weekday between 4:00pm-7:00pm on talkSPORT with the latest sports news, views and debate.

UTV Radio Appoint New Commercial Director
Added: Thursday 3rd November

Phil Quartly will join UTV Radio in the New Year as Commercial Director with a broad range of responsibilities across talkSPORT and local radio stations.

With more than 20 years experience in media, Phil is currently employed by EMAP and was formerly Managing Director of SIRS, Scottish Radio Holdings London Sales House and is also a board member of the radio advertising group the Radio Advertising Bureau based in London.

Scott Taunton, UTV Radio Chief Executive, said: “I am delighted that Phil is joining us in the New Year. His considerable expertise in UK radio will be a tremendous boost to our radio operations. Phil has a critical part to play in enhancing our audiences and commercial opportunities as well as enhancing relationships with advertisers and the UK Radio industry.”

Quartly said: “I am extremely excited about being given the opportunity to work with the team at UTV Radio. The radio industry in the UK is currently in a period of transition and I have no doubt that UTV Radio will be at the forefront in taking the business to a new level. UTV Radio already has a great offering of stations in the UK and is about to become even stronger with the imminent launch of U105 and Talk 107. I look forward to working with the management and helping to make UTV Radio an even bigger force in the UK market.”

Meanwhile talkSPORT, Virgin Radio, Kiss 100 and BBC World Service are taking part in trials of a new digital radio standard which would end up replacing existing AM services. The radio stations are all involved in the London trials of the transmission standard, called Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM). DRM is a shortwave system and uses existing AM broadcast frequencies to deliver near-FM quality digital sound. If it is rolled out in the future it is likely to complement DAB radio and not compete directly with it, and it would be used to make digital radio available in parts of the country that DAB radio may never reach.

John Ward, Director of Network Operations and Engineering at National Grid Wireless, said: "This trial comes on the 10th anniversary of the switch-on of the first BBC DAB transmitter and demonstrates the commitment of National Grid Wireless to remain at the forefront of broadcast transmission technologies."

talkSPORT To Give Up on Indian Cricket Rights
Added: Monday 31st October

talkSPORT will not be bidding for the radio broadcast rights to England‘s Tour of India next year, according to a source close to the station.

BBC Radio Sport won the rights to England’s Tour of Pakistan, which takes place in November and December, to broadcast their Test Match Special programme on BBC Radio 4 LW and BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra. talkSPORT failed to release whether they had made a bid for the Pakistan rights but according to an insider at the station, it appears that talkSPORT will not even be bidding for the rights to England’s following Tour of India which will be taking place in early 2006.

Commercial and financial reasons are expected to be the key factor in why talkSPORT are failing to bid for the broadcast rights for England’s Tours of Pakistan, India and Australia next year. In 2002, talkSPORT sensationally sold the rights to England’s Tour of Australia to the BBC with the unofficial reason stating that they were unable to gain advertisers for their commentary because of the time of broadcast.

A talkSPORT insider said: “Time-wise we can’t get sponsors and advertisers because of the anti-social hours. For the same reason we’ve already said we didn’t go for the rights for Australia next winter.”

Despite cricket’s popularity and raised profile following England’s Ashes Series victory over Australia in the summer, talkSPORT seem to be failing to capitalise on this success. The talkSPORT insider added: “To be honest I can't see us doing anymore international cricket in the near future. If we don't do it now, when cricket is at it's most popular, three years down the line people will have forgotten we've ever done cricket.”

talkSPORT has said it will cover England's Tour of Pakistan in a similar way to how it covered The Ashes, despite not owning the broadcast rights. It will broadcast updates and reports, analysis, phone-ins and interviews with former and current players. Eng;and’s First Test Match against Pakistan begins on Saturday 12th November from 4:30am with regular updates and reports from talkSPORT’s Jack Bannister.

Meanwhile, former talkSPORT cricket commentator Mark Nicholas will be penning a new contract with Australia’s Channel 9 following negotiations with the broadcaster to continue his role as commentator for Australia’s Test and One Day Matches. Channel 9’s Executive Producer Graeme Koos said recently said the network had "a pretty full commentary roster and to bring Mark in meant someone else gets pushed out", but it would seem that situation has changed after it was reported that he had been dropped from their coverage.

Channel 9’s coverage is being taken by Sky Sports in this winter meaning Nicholas will be heard in the UK as soon as Wednesday when Australia take on the West Indies in Brisbane. Nicholas is also rumoured to be Richie Benaud's replacement in Australia when he retires.

talkSPORT RAJAR Results Q3 2005
Added: Thursday 27th October

talkSPORT has increased its market share over the same period last year because listeners are staying tuned in for an hour longer a week on average.

According to the latest RAJAR results for Q3 2005 (27th June - 18th September) announced on Thursday 27th October, talkSPORT’s listeners are on average listening to the station an hour longer every week leading to an increased share of the market for the station

The sports station, which is an official radio broadcaster of the World Cup next year, posted a market share of 1.8% - up from 1.7% last year and above rival Virgin Radio’s 1.5%. talkSPORT listeners tuned in for an average of 9.3 hours a week - one hour longer than they did in Q3 2004. This compares to Virgin Radio’s listeners' average of 6.4 hours per week, according to RAJAR.

talkSPORT has notched up 19.5 million listening hours a week - an 8% increase over the same period last year (18.1 million hours) and 3.5 million more than Virgin Radio FM and AM combined.

talkSPORT's audience profile is becoming increasingly attractive to advertisers, with 76.3% of its audience being male (up from 76.2%) and a record 58.3% ABC1s (up from 52.1%) , according to RAJAR. More than 33% of the talkSPORT audience belongs to the 15-34 age group which is a 13% increase from last year.

Scott Taunton, Chief Executive of UTV Radio and talkSPORT, says: "The increase in listening is a huge tick for talkSPORT by its listeners and we can look confidently into next year with the World Cup and everything that will bring in both audience and revenues. Consequently, we can look to the future with confidence that talkSPORT will grow from strength to strength."

BBC Test Match Special Announce Boycott Signing
Added: Thursday 27th October

The BBC have formerly announced that former talkSPORT cricket commentator Geoffrey Boycott will be a summariser for Test Match Special.

Yesterday the BBC announced that Boycott would be employed as an expert summariser on Test Match Special, which broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW and BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra, this winter for England’s Tour of Pakistan in November and December.

Ivo Tennant in The Times describes Boycott’s role with Test Match Special as proof that he has been reinstated back into the “highest media and cricketing echelons” and follows his employment by Channel 4 for England‘s victorious Ashes Series against Australia, an invitation by MCC to give its celebrated “Spirit of Cricket” lecture at Lord’s last summer and, most important of all, a recovery from throat cancer.

Boycott, the outspoken critic, was dropped by the BBC, Sky Sports, Channel 4 and The Sun after he was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend Margaret Moore in 1998. Although Boycott undertook some work for BBC Radio Five Live in the summer, he has not summarised for Test Match Special since he was in Zimbabwe in 1996-97 and has never done so during the summer in England. A spokesman for the BBC said: “He has been chosen because of his wealth of experience. And because he is outspoken."

Boycott flew to Singapore on Tuesday to work for ESPN Star in India, with whom he has been contracted over the past four years. He is commentating in its studios on India’s limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka. From there he will travel to Pakistan, where he will join Jonathan Agnew and the Test Match Special team in time for the First Test on Monday 12th November.

After Boycott lost his court case in France, which went to a retrial and ended with Boycott being fined £5,300 and given a three-month suspended sentence, he was determined to revive his broadcasting career. He found work with talkSPORT as their key cricket commentator and presenter, whose Chief Executive Kelvin MacKenzie said: “The bottom line is that he is a great ambassador for us, especially in India and Pakistan.”

It remains to be seen whether Boycott and the BBC will provide live commentary of England’s Tour of India in the Spring as the Indian Cricket Board is yet to discuss the rights sales with potential bidders, who are likely to be BBC Test Match Special and talkSPORT.

talkSPORT has said it will cover England's Tour of Pakistan in a similar way to how it covered The Ashes, despite not owning the rights. It will broadcast updates and reports, analysis, phone-ins and interviews with former and current players.

talkSPORT Signs Weather Sponsor Deal with Andrew Sykes
Added: Tuesday 25th October

talkSPORT has sold the sponsorship rights to their hourly weather reports for one year for £500,000 to UK heating and air-condition specialist Andrew Sykes.

The ten-second adverts for the UK-based group will introduce the hourly weather bulletins during the news updates for the next 12 months, following a successful trial during the summer months on talkSPORT where they advertised their air-conditioning products.

The period will cover the 2006 FIFA World Cup, during which talkSPORT is an officially licensed UK broadcaster of the event, and the advertiser hopes the surge in listeners will provide a platform to raise awareness of its available product range.

talkSPORT Sponsorship Manager Ashwin Saddul highlighted Andrew Sykes' product offering of heaters and air-conditioning systems as a "congruent fit" for the weather sponsorship, he said: "The weather sponsorship allows Andrews Sykes to engage with talkSPORT's audience through an innovative mix.”

To complement the static adverts, the deal includes a mix of outside broadcasts, on-air promotions and online competitions. Andrew Sykes also promotes the British Superbikes Hawk Kawasaki Team, and will leverage this through the radio deal by events such as a live talkSPORT show, likely to be The Sports Breakfast or The Game, from Silverstone.

OFCOM Drops talkSPORT FA Cup Rights Complaint
Added: Thursday 20th October

OFCOM has dropped an investigation into the BBC’s exclusive deal with the Football Association for radio broadcast rights to live FA Cup matches.

The media regulator has closed the file on a complaint submitted in December by talkSPORT, which was at that time run by Kelvin MacKenzie. It had argued the agreement between the BBC and the FA about the sale of national radio broadcast rights to FA Cup matches was contrary to article 81 of the EC Treaty and also breached the Competition Act. The BBC was accused of "hoarding" games and locking talkSPORT out of competition by paying over the odds for exclusivity.

talkSPORT also said agreements preventing individual clubs from selling games were anti-competitive and argued the FA was able to fix prices as the only supplier of rights. But OFCOM said today it had evidence that there was "only limited interest" in games outside the seven per round that are broadcast on BBC Radio Five Live and BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra.

"OFCOM has considered whether demand for further FA Cup matches exists from other national broadcasters and further evidence obtained in September 2005 indicated only limited interest in the currently unsold rights and that a low value is placed on these games," the regulator said.

It also noted that the European Commission was also looking into "very similar" issues as part of its investigation into how the FA Premier League sells broadcasting rights. OFCOM said: "For these reasons, OFCOM does not propose to allocate further resources to a detailed examination of this complaint at present and has therefore closed the case."

The BBC won the rights for live national radio commentaries for cup matches from the 2004-05 season to the 2007-08 season after submitting a "global" bid for all available rights in April 2004. talkSPORT bid a limited amount for a selective number of matches but have since been broadcasting unofficial coverage of FA Cup matches in addition to their complaint to OFCOM.

A spokesman for talkSPORT's owners Ulster TV said the company "accepts what OFCOM has to say" but plans to keep pursuing the issue with the European Commission. "This isn't the end of the matter. The company is still looking to broadcast FA Cup matches, it's something it still believes in and is pushing very hard for," the spokesman said. He added that the issue was being considered by the European Commission as part of its inquiry into the way live television rights to football were allocated to broadcasters.

BBC’s Test Match Special To Sign Geoffrey Boycott
Added: Wednesday 19th October

Former talkSPORT commentator Geoffrey Boycott is to join the BBC’s Test Match Special team as summariser for England’s Tour of Pakistan.

Boycott’s elevation to Test Match Special, which broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW and BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra, comes after a summer spend providing his regular outspoken opinions on England’s victorious Ashes Series against Australia for Channel 4 and BBC Radio Five Live.

The prospects of Boycott commentating on the sub-continent had appeared limited after he split last year with his regular winter employer talkSPORT, which monopolised overseas tour radio rights to cricket in recent years. When talkSPORT was outbid by the BBC for England’s Tour of Pakistan which includes One Day Internationals and Test Series, however, Boycott, had already signed to the BBC and extremely popular on the sub-continent, was an obvious choice.

While Boycott’s contributions to Test Match Special will be limited by his commitments to BBC Radio Five Live during the tour, his presence seems certain to reduce the workload for the rota of existing summarisers draw from the written press, and his outspoken views may alter the usually subdued Test Match Special tone. It remains to be seen whether Boycott and the BBC will provide live commentary of England’s Tour of India in the Spring as the Indian Cricket Board is yet to discuss the rights sales with potential bidders, who are likely to be BBC Test Match Special and talkSPORT.

talkSPORT has said it will cover England's Tour of Pakistan in a similar way to how it covered The Ashes, despite not owning the rights. It will broadcast updates and reports, analysis, phone-ins and interviews with former and current players.

Ex-BBC Radio 1 DJ Read in for Hawksbee & Jacobs
Added: Monday 17th October

Former BBC Radio 1 presenter Mike Read will be filling-in for Hawksbee & Jacobs alongside Micky Quinn from Monday 24th October on talkSPORT.

Born in Manchester in 1951, where his father Les played for Manchester United in the 1940’s, Read had his first crack at showbiz as a singer in clubs around the city. He later moved south and whilst commentating on Surrey County Cricket, someone suggested he should put his voice to use as a disc jockey.

Eventually he became presenter on the local Thames Valley Radio station, and soon after moved to Radio Luxembourg. He joined BBC Radio 1 late 1978 as host of a Saturday night 8:00pm-10:00pm show playing “new wave” type records broadcast. His Radio 1 Breakfast Show, which he hosted between 1981-1986, is well remembered for his amusing impressions of Radio 1 disc-jockeys as he read out the day's schedule.

In January 1984 he famously took the single “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood off the air half-way through, because of the records' sexual inferences. This led to a BBC airplay ban (except for on the Top 40 show) but the record became number 1 in the UK Charts.

On British television, Read presented Pop Quiz, Saturday Superstore and of course Top of the Pops. He eventually left Radio 1 in 1991. He has since written the music, lyrics and books for 6 stage musicals including Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. Read has had many songs recorded by major artists such as Cliff Richard, Don McLean, David Essex.

In addition to Radio 1, Read has presented on Classic FM and EMAP’s Magic 999 in Blackpool and Preston. Mike Read & Micky Quinn will be filling-in for Hawksbee & Jacobs from Monday 24th October and Friday 28th October between 1:00pm-4:00pm on talkSPORT.

Meanwhile, Ray Houghton will be in for Alan Brazil on The Sports Breakfast on Friday 28th October between 6:00am-10:00am with Graham Beecroft. Ian Collins will be in for James Whale on Whale on Sunday on Sunday 30th October between 12:00pm-4:00pm on talkSPORT.

UPDATE: Patrick Kinghorn instead of Mike Read will now be filling-in for Hawksbee & Jacobs alongside Micky Quinn between 1:00pm-4:00pm from Monday 24th-Friday 28th October.

talkSPORT’s Rodney Marsh Faces Latics Winter Wrath
Added: Monday 17th October

talkSPORT’s Rodney Marsh faces the wrath from fans of Wigan this winter having said that he would allow them to throw rotten fruit at him.

At the beginning of the current Premiership season, Marsh said he would allow fans of newly-promoted Wigan Athletic to throw rotten fruit at him if the Latics won more than seven Premiership matches this term. He probably thought that the worst case scenario would be that he would get a pelting in late spring with Wigan trying to survive against relegation from the Premiership to the Championship.

However with Paul Jewell’s team pulling off their fifth win of the campaign against Newcastle United on Saturday, the chances are that talkSPORT’s co-host on The Game alongside Paul Breen-Turner will be facing the Latics faithful’s wrath in the winter cold. The Racing Post reports that rotten fruit businesses are booming in the north-west town with shops springing up all over the place in anticipation of Marsh’s arrival.

Rodney Marsh joined talkSPORT on a permanent basis at the beginning of August following his sacking by Sky Sports earlier this year for making a remark regarding David Beckham and the Boxing Day Asian tsunami disaster on the Your on Sky Sports programme with Rob McCaffrey. Marsh co-hosts The Game every weekday between 4:00pm-7:00pm alongside broadcaster Paul Breen-Turner on talkSPORT.

Meanwhile, talkSPORT have unveiled a new package of jingles for their on the hour news and sports updates. talkSPORT had the current news jingle since the beginning of the War of Terror in 2001 and are thought to be bringing the rest of the programme jingles in line with the news jingles in the coming weeks.

Tory MP Wallops Labour MP at talkSPORT
Added: Friday 14th October

Stephen Pound, a Labour backbencher, needed hospital treatment after a brawl with Conservative MP Phillip Davies following a clash at talkSPORT's studios.

Pound and Davies were invited into talkSPORT as studio guests on the Ian Collins mid-morning programme for a phone-in after 12:00pm on a number of political matters, including the subject of who the next Conservative Party leader would be. However, the confrontation was sparked when Pound read out an email on-air that suggested Davies asked colleagues to ring in and give him support.

talkSPORT's presenter Ian Collins told The Sun: "It was an absolutely ridiculous sight, two grown men in their Savile Row suits brawling as if they were in a playground. They were in a bear hug and really going for it. We broke it up but as they were leaving, one taunted the other and it broke out all over again."

Both Pound and Davies had kept their cool whilst on-air and remained professional throughout but The Sun reports that when the microphones were turned off, Davies, who is the new MP for Shipley in West Yorkshire, tried to snatch a note from Pound, who is Law & Order Spokesman for Labour, allegedly "sent him flying".

Last night Ealing North MP Pound, who had treatment for a cracked rib, told The Sun: "He was wrestling me around. We weren't swapping punches but he was grappling me around. One of the producers is blind, so his guide dog was in there as well. We were all over the place. I've decided he's a little squirt and don't want to give him any more publicity by reporting him to police."

Davies denied there was real violence, he said: He's pulling everyone's leg. There was no grappling. It was more like handbags. There's no way he could have hurt his rib. If he went to hospital he's done it for effect."

Davies also accused Pound of targeting him because he joked about the Labour MP once being a bus driver. Surprisingly, the two MP's shared a taxi back to Parliament immediately after the bust-up.

talkSPORT’s Micky Quinn in Talks with Celebrity Fit Club
Added: Thursday 6th October

talkSPORT’s Final Whistle pundit Micky Quinn is in negotiations with television producers with the view to appearing on ITV’s Celebrity Fit Club.

Quinn, who combines his punditry on talkSPORT on Saturday Final Whistle alongside broadcaster Patrick Kinghorn, is enjoying great success as a horse racing trainer at Newmarket. He is one of two talkSPORT presenters to become a successful trainer following their retirement from professional football as Alan Brazil on The Sports Breakfast owns and runs his own horse racing club called Alan Brazil Racing.

The former Newcastle, Portsmouth and Coventry striker was popularly known by fans as “Sumo” during his playing days and Quinn is reportedly not adverse to shedding a few pounds for Celebrity Fit Club if the exposure means he can attract new owners. Other celebrities to appear on the ITV programme in recent series including former Conservative MP Anne Widdecombe, Pop Idol star Rik Waller, BBC London’s Vanessa Feltz and Jono Coleman  and television presenter and journalist Lowri Turner.

Micky Quinn is not the first talkSPORT presenter to be linked to an ITV reality TV show with Rodney Marsh reported to be in talks with producers of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here earlier in the year. Rodney Marsh co-presents The Game on talkSPORT alongside Paul Breen-Turner every weekday between 4:00pm-7:00pm and was sacked as a pundit on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday programme for making a joke about David Beckham and the Asian Tsunami disaster on Boxing Day last year.

No official comment has been made by the talkSPORT pundit as yet as to whether he will be appearing on the forthcoming series of Celebrity Fat Club but continue to check out this website for all the latest news on this and the rest of the key talkSPORT news stories.

talkSPORT TV Closes on Channel 425
Added: Monday 3rd October

Ulster TV have ceased transmission of their talkSPORT TV operation which broadcast everyday between 4:00pm-7:00pm on Sky Channel 425.

talkSPORT TV launched in September 2004 by former Chief Executive Kelvin MacKenzie, initially on Get Lucky TV on Sky Channel 235, broadcasting between 4:00pm-10:00pm during The Game with Patrick Kinghorn & Tony Cascarino and Evening Kick-Off with Adrian Durham, Alvin Martin & Ray Houghton.

Earlier this year talkSPORT TV’s format was sold to William Hill TV on Channel 425 and began broadcasting only between 4:00pm-7:00pm during The Game with Patrick Kinghorn & Jason Cundy and later Paul Breen-Turner & Rodney Marsh. However, the station has now been closed by talkSPORT’s new owners Ulster TV.

talkSPORT and the rest of The Wireless Group was taken over by Belfast-based media group Ulster TV in a £98.2m deal meaning Kelvin MacKenzie, Managing Director Michael Franklin and Head of Sales, and son of Kelvin MacKenzie, Ashley MacKenzie would be leaving the company. However, with new management comes changes and talkSPORT’s TV operation closed on Sunday 2nd October following the end of The Final Whistle with Patrick Kinghorn, Ray Houghton & Micky Quinn.

talkSPORT TV cost around £500,000 a year to maintain which could have been seen as too much of an expense for Ulster TV. At the time MacKenzie described the channel as “as marketing tool” but critics argued that no advertising space was sold to cover the cost of the channel and that promoting the radio station would have meant mentioning the frequency of talkSPORT but neither was done.

Meanwhile, Weekend Sports Breakfast co-host Mike Parry will be filling-in for Rodney Marsh on The Game alongside Paul Breen-Turner between 4:00pm-7:00pm and Mark Keen will be in for Mike Mendoza between 1:00am-6:00am from Monday 17th October until Friday 21st October.