I’ve Quite Enjoyed ITV at the Rugby World Cup
Tony Horne sings the praises of ITV and Steve Rider.
22 Oct 2011, 19:33
ITV Coverage
Roll forward to 2011, and there’s no trace of Jim this time – he has been covering Europa League football on Five lately – and there’s no sign of Stuart Barnes and Will either.
Irony of all ironies, Steve Rider is now the anchor, having been jettisoned by the network (you know the rest) when rumour was abound that Adrian Chiles didn’t want Chris Evans doing The One Show on a Friday and jumped ship from the Beeb. I suspect that the carrot of live football anchoring is the real reason Chiles left, beyond money.
Ignoring the fact that pictures come from the host broadcaster so that is out of their hands, I think ITV have done a good job. Not everyone agrees but they’ve kept it simple; they’ve not over-hyped or patronised and bar the odd flirtation with a Sky-esque touchscreen TV to gimmick our way through the action, it’s been an educated and solid effort. It’s snobby to say, but rugby union tends to be played and watched by people who have a bit more upstairs – remember, until very recently you would work in the city in the week, and play for your country at the weekend. I think you can see that intelligence in the dialogue – Lawrence Dallaglio and Sean Fitzpatrick the main men this time around. What a contrast to all those Super Sundays were Richard Keys would tell me that West Brom versus Bolton was “fascinatingly poised”.
But it’s the ringmaster, to whom I would like to pay tribute.
Steve Rider is indeed back from the dead – and what an inspired choice. Unflappable and trusted and always against the backdrop that he might only really have an audience for a handful of games given that only Wales of the home nations shone, he has breezed through the tournament.
Tucked away largely on a Saturday morning, you might not have even noticed, but I did, and whilst the future of ITV’s revenue will not rest on this tournament, I think it has unwittingly given them a problem. In short, Adrian Chiles is not in Steve Rider’s league when it comes to live sports anchoring.
I have no problem with Chiles – in fact you can see his skill as an operator by the fact that a whole host of male anchors have simply failed to link convincingly on The One Show from the item about Henry VIII to the piece on nipple piercing, and then back to the item on my pet earthworm whilst stopping to chat to the guest about something they know nothing about because it was in the short film they’ve just seen with Gyles Brandreth, all rounded off with a battle re-enactment, a feature about funny place names like Cockermouth and an elephant who can play the violin. He made that look like a walk in the park.
Steve, however, always was Des but without the flirting.
If ITV craved the quirkiness and man in the street appeal of Chiles, I urge them to think again – and sometimes they do rip up the rule book. He himself came in – you may recall – just weeks before South Africa 2010 when Rider had anchored all the football all winter.
It’s just my opinion but I would rather have an old friend calmly prod the panel as England crash to quarter final penalty misery next summer than have a nervous anchor who seems more of a fan than a host, and that’s how I see Adrian Chiles.
It doesn’t work for me even though, of course, he is genuinely reflecting what most of us feel...as fans.
Judge for yourself – Adrian Chiles did the live game on Wednesday and that should be fresh in the memory; Steve will host the rugby World Cup final this weekend. Maybe, I’m from the generation of Des, and Steve comes closest to that genius calm but ironic “we know how this all ends” tone that Lynam perfected. Who can forget France 98 and “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
For me, Adrian Chiles would be a brilliant host of They Think It’s All Over or Fantasy Football. That’s where fans broadcast.
Of course, my words count for nothing. Steve Rider won’t be anchoring the Euros next summer. I think that’s a schoolboy error from ITV.
What price him not even making the next rugby World Cup as Adrian Chiles hosts, having been jettisoned by the network...blah blah blah...as Matt Baker jumps ship from the BBC to front Champions League coverage?
The author
Tony Horne
Network Broadcaster for UTV Media, Ghostwriter of “Bodyguard – My Life on the Front Line” with Craig Summers and “Tango 190” with PC David Rathband.
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Comments (6)
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Completely agree with your comments about Ryder. I was completely baffled when the Beeb let him go to ITV.
However, like you say it is ITV who now have the quandry. Bear in mind as well that historicaly ITV have signed presenters without really working out what to do with them. What they did with Jonathan Ross when they signed him from Channel 4 is a prime example of this.
Signing Chiles is an example of something else ITV does, signing someone popular without really understanding what they do. Chiles & Bleakley were popular in presenting a week night show. So they were signed to front a breakfast programme. They do this a lot with sports broadcasting - they did this with Lynham & with Bob Wilson.
23/10/2011 00:32ITV usually ruin any sports coverage they turn their hand to, so their RWC effort was a welcome surprise.
24/10/2011 09:11Good to know I'm not alone in this.
24/10/2011 13:25ITV haven't been half bad. Their insistence on "showing off" their touch screen technology mirrors that of the football; there is more time spent with admiring camera shots of the pundits working the touchscreens than there is actually looking at the content of said touchscreens (admittedly it wasn't as much of an irritation as it is in the football).
The commentary teams were generally good. The exception was Phil Vickery who added nothing except breathless "come on England" eulogies and certainly nothing insightful. On the flipside Andy Gomersall was superb, adding a lot of things that amateur watchers like me would never pick up on.
The "heavyweights" - Dallaglio, Fitzpatrick, Lynagh and Pienaar - justified their inclusion and were generally excellent.
24/10/2011 14:54I should qualify that my comments above refer to the English ITV coverage!
As a Welshman living in England, I found myself in Cardiff watching the Wales semi-final on HTV Wales. This was truely dreadful. Some woman you've never heard of (maybe she's hugely famous in Wales?) in a cheap looking studio with two bored looking former Wales players (can't recall who).
The whole thing was the worst kind of inward-looking regional programming and a total waste of money (hopefully not too much money) when a far superior programme was already available.
24/10/2011 16:00I think it comes down to how formal you like your coverage and how regularly you watch a sport. For week-in, week-out coverage of any sport you would usually prefer informal coverage but for major events you go for a more formal style. I don't like the BBC's coverage at all (though the commentary team of Butler and Moore is outstanding) because it tries to be informal and fails and a the same time overdoes the 'big event' feeling. Sky's rugby coverage is outstanding and the way the guests are seen as co-presenters without a formal anchor works exceptionally well BUT it lacks the big event feeling that a main host gives it. The BBC's F1 coverage has now shifted to the multi-presenter informal format so liked by Sky and it works for F1 - it's hard to imagine them going back to the formal studio setting again but F1 suits that style.
If you look at the 2009 Lions coverage it was presented like an episode of the Rugby Club and not like one of the biggest matches in the four year cycle of rugby. That worked well for those of us who watch rugby on a regular basis but not for those who come in for the big events as it almost feels undersold.
But the main sports anchor still has a place and Ryder's biggest asset is that he comes across as someone who really enjoys his job, not someone who's paid to look like they enjoy their job.
25/10/2011 09:52