BBC,ITV,Sky,RTE,TV3

Dub13

Ok with Euro 2004 about to start it got me thinking of what station does the best Live game.For me it has to be the BBC its not just that they have no adds they just do a better job all round,I cant wait for Match of the Day to come back.

1)BBC
2)Sky (but I hate Andy "I love Man Utd" Gray)
3)ITV (all I will say here is woman have no place talking about football)
4)RTE (they are getting worse,but they do the World cup/Euro cup ok,but I even watch the Ireland games on Sky now)
5)TV3 (Just CRAP)

Pacifico

1) BBC
2) Sky
3) RTE
4) ITV (If i had too...)

Btw whats the story with coverage? Are all the games on live? I'm off next week and it would be quite nice

The Clown Man

TV3! More Packie!

A national standard of eloquence fused with a perfectly measured dash of critique that every commentator should wake up soggy dreaming about!

That guy was made for the big screen.

Guy:Incognito

Originally posted by The Clown Man
TV3! More Packie!

No, not more Packie "I'm a cardboard cutout" Bonner.

Pepe LeFrits

Who are on the various panels for each station for the tournament? As I don't have Sky i'll probably go with the BBC.

eirebhoy

Do Sky even have the rights to any game? It's news to me if they do.

Anyway BBC would be my first choice and the no add's plays a major part in that, I hate adds.:mad:

byte

The BBC for me and all its interactive-ness

mike65

Clearly BBC1 with RTE close behind depending... (ie it depends how England bashing the RTE panel are and if the Beeb go into "Engerland Engerland Engerland" mode or not!)

Mike.

KdjaCL

Sky without question ,you get what you pay for.
BBc be second then i would reconsider watching a match would prefer eurosport over the others.

kdjac

jrd

BBC for commentary
SKY for multi-screen active options
RTE for analysis
TV3 for emmmm ....
ITV even my remote control does not want to go there

Dewey

Sky dont have any rights to Euro 2004. The Law states Football touraments like European Championships and the World Cup MUST be on Free to air TV.

BBC is the worst in my oppion. Lineker, Hansen, Reid are very boring somethings. And there commentors make me want to go asleep.

I'm not going to rate Sky cause there not doing the Euro 2004. but i do like there Premiership coverage.

RTE can be good. I like Eamon, Giles and Houghton. Also George Hameltion is very good commentating but he think he knows everthing.

ITV are coming on really well. I didnt see there World Cup coverage a few years ago but i heard it was good. they did the premiership really well last season and i'm sad to see they wont have next season.

TV3.....what can i say. Poor alround really. Kevin Moran is HORRIABLE to listen to. And Packie should stick to coaching.

So in this order.

Sky(for Premiership)
RTE
ITV
BBC
TV3

Guy:Incognito

Originally posted by Dewey
Sky dont have any rights to Euro 2004. The Law states Football touraments like European Championships and the World Cup MUST be on Free to air TV.

If its on terrestrial tho, can they not have it aswell, i thought that was the rule.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Dewey
Also George Hameltion is very good commentating

jrd

Originally posted by Dewey
. Also George Hameltion is very good commentating but he think he knows everthing.

Georgie boy is up there with Frank Stapleton, I must admit

therecklessone

Whichever station has Dunphy on it is my #1.

So RTE at the moment...

gandalf

It has to be the BBC

Plus I'm supporting England in the compo (I have to, I'm going out with an English woman!!!)

Jivin Turkey

Dunphy is a complete twat to be honest, and tries too hard to be controversial. And then regularly goes back on what he said previously at the final whistle. Give me George Hook anyday.

thejollyrodger

RTE number one.

I didnt have RTE for a while there and it started to hit me, i missed it. I think the rest of the stations are crap to be honest.

BBC is a little dry or something, with garry linker/were going to win this time and that Alan Hanson idiot.

ITV and TV3 are similar in that they have less cash, small sets and the commentary and anchors are quite dodgy tbh.

RTE does all the big games brilliantly, a lot of people dont like dunphy but he's one to get the craic going.

TwoShedsJackson

BBC, definitely. Hansen is the best pundit around, if a bit overly concerned with the defence

DMC

'bout sums up ITV's coverage.... Votes so far = 0.

Not even Des could turn around ITV's coverage.

BTW, ITV will show England's first 2 group games live, the BBC will be showing the 3rd, and (if they qualify) their quarter final. Both channels will show the semis and final live. The two channels have shown all Euro championship and World Cups together since 1966, and actually, Sky are not that interested in these tournaments. They are also on the sports rights protection list the UK govt have.

leeroybrown

As the house I'm living in only has the 'four channels' at the moment, it'll be either RTE or TV3 (I'll be sleeping through these ones) for me.

Given a full choice I'd probably watch the BBC coverage.
I'd probably take ITV ahead of RTE/TV3 too on the basis that their premiership coverage is better than RTE's.

Aside:
Are RTE and TV3 showing all the matches between them?

eirebhoy

God only knows how RTE are ahead of Sky. Since Sky don't have the rights for Euro 2004 I'll compare both for an Ireland match.

Sky start their coverage of a match about an hour before kick off with interviews with a load of players, a chat to the fans, etc. After the match they would show all the interviews and highlights.
RTE start 15 minutes before hand which includes 2 add breaks before kickoff. After the match they always seem to be stook for time and rarely show interviews. For the Holland match they hadn't even got time to show all the highlights.

In the RTE studio there would be Dunphy and Giles who honestly make my blood boil with their negetive comments. For away matches their sitting their in a boring RTE studio in Ballsbridge.
Sky would have Niall Quinn and Ray Hougton or Frank Stapleton who are usually a bit more optimistic and (with the exception of Frank) seem to know what they're talking about. For away match they would make it a bit more lively with a a giant screen in the studio showing a live feed of the stadium.

Sky's main commentator (I forget his name) knows his stuff but he's usually paired with Frank Stapleton or Ronnie Whelan who have such boring voices.
RTE's commentary, all I will say is George.

The Rooster

George Hamilton - useless
John Giles - good
Dunphy - very entertaining, if you dont take what he is saying seriously
Houghton - quite good
Brady - very good
Quinn - useless
Lineker - very good
Schmeichel - useless
Hansen - very good, expect when he's on with Schmick, when he becomes equally as bad the Red Nosed man.
Strachan - very good.
Reid - good, and very entertaining when England are playing, especially if they're losing (sooo emotional)
Tyler - good
Andy Gray - worse than useless
Stapleton - Frank
George Hook - the same as Dunphy. His anaylsis of Irish player performances is not worth listening to due to his bias towards and agaisnt certain players.
Townsend - average
Venison - useless
Des - very good
Trevor Francis - useless

Pepe LeFrits

Originally posted by TwoShedsJackson
BBC, definitely. Hansen is the best pundit around, if a bit overly concerned with the defence

lol

"When I was at Liverpool we showed that with a back 4 of..."

Dub13

Originally posted by mike65
Clearly BBC1 with RTE close behind depending... (ie it depends how England bashing the RTE panel are and if the Beeb go into "Engerland Engerland Engerland" mode or not!)


I think the BBC have come a long way in the last 10 years they dont go on so much about "66" but still the odd mention.Just look at there guest for most of the games

Hansen (Scottish)

Mark L (Irish)

Schmeichel (Danish)

I even like Lineker...he is good and not to in your face about being English

phenom

The order i would watch the matches on is
1. BBc
2.Sky
3.Itv
4.Tv3
5.Rte

Personally i think that the BBC And Sky have the best commentators. I don't like listening to the Irish commentary. Especially Rte.

naitkris

RTE for me as...

a) i only have the 3 main national channels
b) RTE did a good job with World Cup 2002 coverage
c) RTE will be less biased as Ireland unfortunatly isn't in Euro 2004 unlike England which will reflect in the BBC's, ITV's and Sky's coverage of the tournament

eyerer

bbc is the best, not just because of no ads either
rte is next because they won't go on about how great england are
i refuse to watch itv, just listening to their bias would put me off

therecklessone

Originally posted by eirebhoy
God only knows how RTE are ahead of Sky. Since Sky don't have the rights for Euro 2004 I'll compare both for an Ireland match.

Sky start their coverage of a match about an hour before kick off with interviews with a load of players, a chat to the fans, etc. After the match they would show all the interviews and highlights.
RTE start 15 minutes before hand which includes 2 add breaks before kickoff. After the match they always seem to be stook for time and rarely show interviews. For the Holland match they hadn't even got time to show all the highlights.

Fuuny you should say that eirebhoy. For a recent Irish match (can't remember which one) Sky's pre-match, half time, and post-match commentary consisted of news from the England camp ahead of their match that evening! Not a dicky bird out of them regarding our game.

Oh, I'm surprised nobody mentioned Eurosport yet. Bryan Hamilton makes me want to cut my own ears off...