BBC Radio 5 Live to axe second commentator for football matches

Use of two commentators to cover live football matches described as an ‘anachronism’ in climate of cost cutting The BBC is to end the historic mismatch between its TV and radio football coverage by axing the second commentator’s role on Radio 5 Live. It has long been a quirk of the BBC that it sends two commentators to cover a game on Radio 5 Live but only one when it is being broadcast on TV. The changes will begin next season and all live matches will have a single commentator by the 2014 season as part of plans to save almost £5m from Radio 5 Live’s budget. Radio 5 Live insiders described the use of two commentators as an “anachronism”. But it remains to be seen how the change will be greeted by the station’s lineup of big name commentators including Alan Green, John Murray and Conor McNamara. “There is no reason why one person cannot commentate for the whole game,” said a Radio 5 Live source. “It’s a historic thing – the way the BBC has always done it – but it is also expensive, especially if the game is coming from Moscow.” Radio 5 Live has used two commentators – they currently swap over in the middle of each half alongside a summariser who covers the entire match – since it began broadcasting in 1990. Dual commentators were also used before that when the BBC’s live football coverage was broadcast on Radio 2. Previous BBC management attempts to axe the second commentator’s role met with resistance from inside the corporation, but the scale of the latest round of cost cutting meant change has become inevitable. An extra commentator was thought to add extra texture and objectivity to its coverage but has come to be regarded as an expensive indulgence. The cutbacks are part of BBC director general Mark Thompson’s Delivering Quality First (DQF) proposals to save £700m a year . As part of the savings being made across the corporation, Radio 5 Live is having to cut its content budget by 7.5% – or £4.7m – over the next five years. The DQF proposals, published earlier this month, said Radio 5 Live would maintain sport output at “approximately current levels” but would “reduce the cost of sports presentation including using smaller teams at many events”. The corporation will also have less money to spend on sports rights. Radio 5 Live already broadcasts fewer live football matches than it once did, having lost a third of its live Premier League commentaries to rival stations TalkSport and Absolute Radio. Radio 5 Live also broadcasts live Uefa Champions League and Europa League games, as well as England internationals and the European Championships and World Cup. Both TalkSport and Absolute Radio use only one commentator, alongside a match summariser. Radio 5 Live is currently in the process of moving from its London home to the BBC’s new northern headquarters in Salford . A number of programmes, including Richard Bacon’s afternoon show and drivetime, already broadcast from BBC North. The breakfast programme is due to switch next month. A Radio 5 Live spokesman said: “Radio 5 Live plans to phase out the use of two football commentators on football matches as part of its Delivering Quality First savings. The changes will begin next season and be fully implemented by 2014. “The use of two commentators has for long been something which has helped define BBC radio’s football coverage but we believe the savings achieved by making this change will enable us to continue to offer the high quality coverage 5 Live listeners expect, using an outstanding team of commentators and pundits.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Radio 5 Live BBC Radio industry John Plunkett guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 25, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.