Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Have you decided which FA Cup replay you're showing yet?

knowing bbc s love affair with united it will be them but surely this time its obvious which is the best pick.

hopefully sky will have the other match

Interesting to see that Plymouth v Watford which was moved to the fan-unfriendly time of 6pm to give it maximum exposure at a time it deserved (as quoted from one of your earlier blogs) resulted in the LOWEST audience figures for any of the FA Cup ties. Any views on how your planning to inconvenience everyone in the semi finals yet?

No offence to Middlesboro fans, but as a neutral fan I'd prefer you chose the Chelsea-Spurs game instead, as Man Utd get enough TV airtime as it is!

If you are so hacked of at the choice of kick-off times why not write down your preference - instead of cheapshotting the guy who is probably trying to please everyone. I, for one, am glad I got to watch three out of four FA Cup quarter finals - at whatever time they were on.

Our replay choice, subject to final confirmation, will be Spurs v Chelsea on March 19th.

On Simon's point in #3: first, thanks for Andrew's defence.

In the earlier post I quoted the audiences across the weekend for the peak 15 minutes of each game. But if you look at the average audience across the whole match, Plymouth v Watford at 4.7m was actually higher than Chelsea v Spurs at 4.4m.

"If you are so hacked of at the choice of kick-off times why not write down your preference - instead of cheapshotting the guy who is probably trying to please everyone."

We did and whilst there were genuine reasons why some KO times were impractical there was a general lack of empathy with the real fans - that is people who wanted to actually go to the game and not watch it on TV. You may have been glad to watch it at any time but please spare a thought for the people who spend a small fortune going to games rather than merely sitting on their behinds!

Finally a game on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ not involving Manchester United!
Tottenham vs Chelsea!
Thank goodness the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ FINALLY LISTEN to people who didnt want the Man U Game!

i know it's a difficult situation - but did you feel any responsibility for the massive anti-climax that was Ireland v Scotland on Saturday?

Even kicking off half an hour later would have made a massive difference to the atmosphere.

Spurs vs Chelsea does seem like the logical choice in this case as both sides have a more or less equal chance to reach the semi final.In the other replay Man Utd will be clear favourites to see off middlesbrough and get through themselves.Sky sports will probably have to show simultaneous live coverage of that replay in conjunction with Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ of the spurs fixture.I should imagine 7.45pm ko on sky and 8.05pm for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ on 19th March.

Simon - as I think Roger mentioned in one of his previous posts, part of the scheduling problem was caused by the fact that the 6 Nations start times had been fixed with no Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ input. So, for those sports fans who wanted to catch as much action as possible, I think the schedule worked out well.

That applies just as much to people who attended any of the games, many of whom would have been glad of the opportunity to see England triumph over France or the Chelsea-Spurs thriller, before going to whichever match they were attending in person.

Roger, I'm really enjoying this blog - keep up the good work!

Thanks Stuart (#11). Just on the point you make, though, we do have input into the Six Nations timetable. The difference is that the rugby kick-off times are agreed about a year ahead of the matches; whereas the detailed FA Cup schedule is only fixed once the draw for each round has been made.

On Aaron's point (#9): yes, in an ideal world Scotland v Ireland would have started later. But that would have forced Italy v Wales later if viewers were to be able to see both matches - and on a weekend where we knew there'd be FA Cup ties it's difficult to get some police forces to agree to a later time than 5.15 or 5.30 for the football KO. So it's a complicated jigsaw!

On Robin's point (#10): yes, Man U v Middlesbrough will be running on Sky alongside Spurs v Chelsea on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. This is unusual, but it's because of the wish to give all the international players as much as a gap as possible before the following weekend's matches.

Couldn't the FA have scheduled the quarter finals for a non six nations weekend? March 3 or 24? Will the same thing happen next year?

March 24 is an international weekend for football - so not available for the FA Cup.

I know everyone else will know but how do you calculate these ratings?

Is it through the digital tele where you can tell what ppl are watching?

JACK
age 10

Hi Roger,

What will the format for the semi-finals be? Do the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ get both games or is it split between you and Sky? And are there set kick-off times for these games or is it dependent on location?

I don't suppose there's any chance that you can arrange for the Watford game to be on the saturday? I have to fly to Japan on business on the sunday and couldn't bear to miss Watford in the semis!!

Oh, and Jack (#15) - don't worry I don't know how they do it either and I'd be interested to know myself!!

Alex (age 29!)

I feel sorry for those who had to sit through Watford RFC win via time-wasting and hoofing the ball against the luckless Plymouth (a REAL football team!)

"We're sometimes told off for allegedly being obsessed by audience figures"

Allegedly? Come on!

Hi Jack (post 15). Here is how you can find out how ratings are collected:

The section How does the audience measurement process work? is very helpful.

Why was Plymouth v Watford at 6? I'm a fan of neither, but it would have inconvenienced travelling fans greatly, what with the long journey to and bakc Plymouth for Watford fans.

I'm a Chelsea fan but, when it comes down to it, I'm a football fan - so I don't care who you pick to cover. I missed the United game by chance and I watched the Chelsea game and watched Plymouth versus Watford.

It was a feast of sport! Ultimately, I'm one of the millions of people in the UK who just love these sports coverage days, particularly football. I love being able to sit and watch football all day, with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's excellent coverage - it's the perfect day off! So, pick who you like, just get as many games as you can!.

Losing the rights to England Internationals and the FA Cup makes today a bleak day for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
The viewing public now have to pay twice to see all the football on Sky and Setanta.
No live football on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ leaves the sports rights department in a very poor state and unless the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ can get the Champions League of ITV it will have nothing worth watching.