TV Coverage of the Game in Scotland

[colinmaroon]

Good article by Archie MacPherson and, although it would effect me being tied to the house, can't disagree!

 

There's life in the old dodderer yet!

 

http://www.heraldsco...vision.16192463

 

 

 

Why football in Scotland can't take this much television

Archie Macpherson

 

'OH, wert thou in the cauld blast?' is a refrain that will increasingly be answered in the negative by the footballing public carrying home widescreen televisions this Yuletide."

 

 

 

Archie Macpherson For scarcely had the ink dried on the recent television deal with the Scottish Premier League, incurring some predictable initial euphoria, than the reality dawned that it was like handing over the therapeutic massage of a sickly patient to the Boston Strangler.

 

Viewing the St Johnstone-Aberdeen game, in its almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere, and incorporating every available mode of comfort, like a softly-cushioned divan, a Speyside malt and an HD television, the experience painfully, and guiltily, reminded me that home comforts could yet be the ruination of the game.

 

To witness what ought to be one of our main fixtures, Hibernian against Rangers, last Saturday, turned into a moribund affair barely attracting 12,000 sends a chill up the spine.

 

A recession; a product constantly and unflatteringly compared to the stream of games from England and Spain; kick-off times that have an almost Alice in Wonderland appeal to them; a largely inclement winter climate; and now loony legislation which means you could be lifted for humming something in a football ground that does not conform to the purity of Songs of Praise. How many more inducements can there be to keep the great footballing public indoors and away from a sport that desperately needs its human dimension?

 

At some point in the 1960s, the late Sir Robert Kelly, then Celtic chairman, looked me in the eye and said that television would destroy football. He was thereafter regarded in the broadcasting world as a Jeremiah, unable to see the benefits this powerful medium would bestow. Posterity might see him now as having the wisdom of Solomon.

 

For in the years of fighting the cause for televised football, as I certainly did, it never occurred to anybody around me that we were engaged in a process that could possibly produce fatalities. But then the termite, munching blithely away at the foundation of a house, does not appreciate that its voracious appetite can produce the condemned building.

 

For although television's encroachment on football during the period of Sir Robert's office was modest by today's standards, it was never a static situation. It wanted more and got it, as he had predicted.

 

Towards the end of the 1970s the sole objective of television executives became the pursuit of live coverage at the expense of anything else. The highlights tradition served by both Sportscene and Scotsport was considered fit only for those who still thought Muffin the Mule was visceral drama. For the health of our national sport this was an historic mistake.

 

Of course the blunt facts are stated that without a television deal Scottish football would wither and die anyway. The ?65m deal here, with 30 live matches to be shown, seems like manna from heaven to clubs who are barely keeping their heads above water. But it is almost a Faustian deal with the soul of the game, the patrons who used to turn up for a 3pm start of a Saturday, every week for every club, wholly sacrificed. Is any institution, anywhere in society, wholly durable when it is held constantly to ransom? Punters, staying away from matches, even at Celtic Park and Ibrox, are beginning to feel they are part of a bum's rush.

 

For our environment is entirely different from other countries and demands a different analysis of cause and effect. In Germany the Bundesliga recorded the highest average attendance per game, 42,000, last season despite the fact that they are greatly exposed to television coverage. But with a population of 80 million their model is sustainable. In the south, as another example, the recent four-year study of the Premiership by Alex Cox of the University of Portsmouth's Business School reached a startling conclusion which could not possibly apply here. He states, " . . . the evidence suggests all three parties ? fans, broadcasters and clubs ? would be better off if the number of Premiership matches shown on television was increased". This is based on the statistics he examined that top clubs would lose ?50,080 per live game, lower ones, ?169,839 on attendance figures but each on average gain ?4.1m per match through television rights.

 

SKY and ESPN, while covering the games admirably, have come north with that similar business mindset that, somehow, with a much cheaper deal, Scottish football can withstand the same amount of exposure on the box, even though it is clear they are depopulating the stands.

 

The obvious solution, of course, would be to return to square one; slash the number of live matches, hold fast to the cherished 3pm start on a Saturday every week and for television to return to the tried-and-trusted tradition of the highlights programme at peak viewing times and not, as Sportscene is now, shunted off into what used to be the God slot. That should be our sustainable model. And while it might be ridiculed in many quarters as the musings of a hopeless romantic, it is made as a rebut to witnessing Scottish football continually treated by television now with no more respect than truck-pulling on ice.

 

 

 

 

[brownkg]

can't disagree with much of what he says

[frankblack]

The problem is the stupid old-firm biased contracts that we have signed so that every other game is <someone> vs Rangers or Celtic at 12pm/12.30pm.

 

Games such as Hearts vs Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Motherwell don't get picked because no one team can get picked more than about 6 times at home, so once you take out the Hearts vs Rangers/Celtic games we only have the Derby games left.

 

The issue about the quality of Scottish football is a different matter, but the biased contract leads to dull games.

 

Who wants to watch the likes of St. Mirren vs anyone on TV? Even with my season ticket, its one of the least attractive fixtures to watch in person.

[colinmaroon]

Of course, it's not just TV but, TV contributes to empty seats and empty seats effect the "experience" of supporting your team.

 

What really "hooked" me as a kid was the tremendous atmosphere at games. I had never experienced anything like that!

 

Even in the horrible 70's, because the terracing allowed the "singers" to congregate together, it was still better than many of the games in all seated stadia today with bigger crowds!

 

You could also get away from the odd persistent moaner!

 

The wide open spaces of Pittodrie today are thoroughly depressing and act more as a disincentive than encouraging anyone to watch this stuff!

[rudi]

The problem is the stupid old-firm biased contracts that we have signed so that every other game is <someone> vs Rangers or Celtic at 12pm/12.30pm.

 

Games such as Hearts vs Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Motherwell don't get picked because no one team can get picked more than about 6 times at home, so once you take out the Hearts vs Rangers/Celtic games we only have the Derby games left.

 

The issue about the quality of Scottish football is a different matter, but the biased contract leads to dull games.

 

Who wants to watch the likes of St. Mirren vs anyone on TV? Even with my season ticket, its one of the least attractive fixtures to watch in person.

How do you make that out?

[scots civil war]

its like when i used to put on raves,it can be the best music you`ve ever heard

 

but if there aint any women/birds/bints there........it aint a party

 

 

 

 

******* depressing image that jock football has.....cant get any worse eh

[scott_jambo]

its like when i used to put on raves,it can be the best music you`ve ever heard

 

but if there aint any women/birds/bints there........it aint a party

 

 

 

 

******* depressing image that jock football has.....cant get any worse eh

 

It can and will.

 

Archie making the point that the new 5 year deal will see further decline.

[Locky]

Of course its going to work more in England and Germany as they're leagues are so evenly contested that there is also growing interest from all supporters. In Scotland however, the situation works for the old firm in much the same way as it works in Spain with real and barca. Basically in these 2 countries a vast majority of the population is made up of supporters of the top 2, and that means that even when they fill their grounds there is thousands still watching their teams from home. However, these 2 leagues are becoming no contests season after season and most of the smaller clubs aren't quite up to the occasion of tackling the big 2 as they used to be and that reflects to the fans.

 

Of course your die harder turn up no matter what but, your supporters who don't quite have the same attitude its much more satisfying watching from home. It's a sorry state of affairs at the moment, especially in Scotland.

[vlad on the tyne]

Auld weetabix heid boring the tits aff the nation as per.

[Sharpie]

I watched a bit of the Hibs v Aberdeen game this morning. It looked Baltic and then the snow started. The stands you could see on TV were empty, a crowd in the area of 7000. The product on the park was poor, O'connor for example to me looked like some of the old pros you used to see that didn't have it for the big leagues any more but loved the game so played in the Juniors, which to be fair was good football in the old days. I suppose my point is I doubt I would be going to games every week to sit in an empty ground freezing what cajones I have left, and to be honest I am not sure how much of this poor product I would even watch on TV. Probably picked a bad game to use as an example, but these are two teams who claim falsely to be the third biggest team in Scotland.

[kingantti1874]

The cost, the abysmal level of ability om show, the weather, better cheaper alternatives, premiership and la liga on tv...

Scottish football really is in the shitter - yep Archie has pretty much nailed it although I don't think the games being shown on sky is a massive factor - there wouldn't have been any more at the his rangers game last week if it wasn't on sky... And it's only one game per weekend - what the excuse for the rest of the games...

 

Scottish football is on its last legs in its present format... Sown thing will have to give

[frankblack]

How do you make that out?

 

The contract is biased in that its all about getting the old firm live every week on Sky or ESPN.

 

ESPN tend to get the cast offs now and again and have to pick from dross like St. Johnstone, St. Mirren etc.

 

The point is you don't get the interesting games like the key games in battles for Europe because these teams have their home games allotted for them vs Rantic.

 

The SPL agreed to this shit TV deal, however, and recently renewed it.

[skinnybob72]

I watched a bit of the Hibs v Aberdeen game this morning. It looked Baltic and then the snow started. The stands you could see on TV were empty, a crowd in the area of 7000. The product on the park was poor, O'connor for example to me looked like some of the old pros you used to see that didn't have it for the big leagues any more but loved the game so played in the Juniors, which to be fair was good football in the old days. I suppose my point is I doubt I would be going to games every week to sit in an empty ground freezing what cajones I have left, and to be honest I am not sure how much of this poor product I would even watch on TV. Probably picked a bad game to use as an example, but these are two teams who claim falsely to be the third biggest team in Scotland.

 

I had the misfortune to see some of this while visiting the folks earlier and it was more akin to 2 bald guys fighting over a comb, rather than a match to confirm the 3rd best side.