The Premier League arrives at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
Matt Seel
Digital Content Producer, About the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
With the Premier League coming to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ for the first time ever this week, we spoke to Philip Bernie about what it means to have top-flight football back for the first time since 1988.
This is the first time Premier League games have been shown on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, how excited are you to see the first match?
Although this has come about due to unfortunate circumstances, it’s genuinely exciting to see the Premier League coming to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
It’s a terrible pandemic that’s affected a lot of people in an awful way. With a return to football on both live and highlights programmes, we hope to bring some more entertainment back into people’s lives.
What does it mean for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to show Premier League matches?
It’s a historic moment. We’ve never shown a Premier League match in full on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ before, the last time we showed top division football was in 1988, so this is very big for us. We want to do our very best with it. We have shown Premier League highlights on Match Of The Day for so many years now, and that’s one of our most valued properties
How are these matches going to be different to matches before the pandemic?
The biggest difference for viewers is- obviously - that there won’t be a crowd. It’s a big change and undoubtedly, it’s going to change the experience - not having people there creating an atmosphere. There are other smaller changes such as interviews being done at a distance or ‘down the line’.
The major priority is the health and safety of people working. For people working on match day there will be a lot of things that are different but that won’t affect how viewers see the match.
Which match are you most excited to watch?
The first one - Bournemouth v Crystal Palace. It’s the first one and we’ve never done it before. We’ve got some big games coming up, not least the FA Cup Quarter Finals (Norwich v Manchester United and Newcastle v Manchester City), but the first match will be exciting for us because it’s the first time the Premier League has come live to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
Have you been watching games from the Bundesliga or other leagues to learn lessons about games under lockdown?
Yes, it’s been interesting to see what they’ve done. I think there are certainly things we’ve learnt about how you can cover the games in terms of the action and the sound.
It’s also been great to see how well the football has played out in the end. It’s a proper match and properly competitive, it’s not the same without the crowd but you can’t get away from that. The main thing is that it’s worked and we’re certain that when it arrives here there’ll be a lot of appreciation for it.