After seven weeks that, at times, have felt more like seven years, the Cricket World Cup is finally drawing to a close. So it鈥檚 time for some reflection on how the tournament has gone on the internet.
I think it鈥檚 fair to say that events of Sunday, March 18 made covering the 2007 Cricket World Cup a particular challenge. shocked everyone involved in the tournament. Players and spectators alike clearly found it difficult to focus on the cricket itself, when it was being played out to a backdrop of an investigation into the murder of one of the game鈥檚 leading coaches.
And the same applied to the media. Journalists and broadcasters are often accused of taking an amoral, some might even say callous, approach to their work 鈥 but in this instance those employed to cover the World Cup were deeply affected by what happened.
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Digital viewers who have pressed the red button to access our interactive TV coverage over recent weekends may have noticed that we are now using our Multiscreen service on a much more regular basis.
This format allows us to offer a number of live sports, including any 大象传媒 ONE/TWO output, in one place and without the need for the viewer to exit the service in order to view another sport.
This weekend, for instance, satellite and cable viewers will be able to select from two live World Championship snooker tables, our programme, the final service and the from Amsterdam.
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We're just a few days away now from launching (Monday, 大象传媒 ONE, 2305 BST) and yesterday we had our first and only pilot day.
It was the first opportunity to get a proper idea of what the programme might actually look like and for us to decide lots of things about how we shoot the show; with which cameras; how long we allow our panel to chat for; where our presenter stands in the studio - everything really.
And as always, lots of things aren't quite what you expected.
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Anyone who picks up a microphone and commentates on a football match instantly opens themselves up to criticism and public scrutiny. It goes with the territory. However, I don't think any commentator in the history of has been exposed to the sort of pressure that accompanied Jacqui Oatley onto the gantry at .
It wasn't supposed to be like that. We issue a monthly rota sending 10 commentators to games most weekends. As well as our regular names, we quite often borrow a commentator or two from our colleagues at Five Live for a guest appearance. John Murray or Conor McNamara, to name but two. On this occasion, the radio commentator in question happened to be a woman, and someone somewhere decided, rather unhelpfully, that the newspapers should know about it.
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Understandably, the aftermath of this year's Flora has been overshadowed by the , David Rogers. On behalf of the 大象传媒 team, I would like to extend my sympathies to all his family and friends.
We would all also like to express our admiration for everyone who did take part last Sunday. It's very easy for all of us in the media, and in particular television, to get carried away with our own self-importance. Mornings like last Sunday are a humbling experience when we watch thousands of people achieving great things, not only surpassing the goals they have set themselves but also raising millions of pounds for charity in the process. Once again this year, there were stories that brought tears to your eyes and it's only disappointing to realise that we can only feature such a small percentage of those within our coverage.
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It's felt like a great week to be in our newsroom.
In the Caribbean, the is reaching its climax with the last Super 8 game taking place on Saturday before we get on with the serious business of the next week.
Meanwhile an England coach and, within 22 hours, a replacement was . In between, one of cricket's greatest ever players from the international scene.
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One of the strongest themes in this blog and across the web is the power of money in sport these days - and in football in particular. This autumn the will start a new three-year rights deal that is worth billions overall, and tens of millions to each club. Meanwhile, some individual footballers have found unwelcome headlines by talking about 鈥渟lap in the face鈥 pay offers that were worth multiples each week of the annual national average wage. The gap between the sporting elite and the rest of the world is sometimes a real one.
But there's another side to the story. A few days ago in an unfashionable part of West London, the 大象传媒 and its partners - including the , the Premier League and - launched : a bigger and better version of the project we ran last year.
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I鈥檝e been lucky enough to work on most of the great sporting events but nothing beats the for sheer emotion. It鈥檚 not even the scale, although that can be frightening in its complexity. I find it鈥檚 the responsibility of trying to reflect 35,000 runners, all with a story to tell. The elite at the front will be looking for fast times but the rest will be aiming to meet the challenges they set themselves and raise millions of pounds for charity in the process.
Some of the tales are heart-rending and are the stuff of real inspiration. Who can fail to relate to the emotional stories of runners affected by tragedy or illness, particularly when children are involved? We don鈥檛 apologise for not exclusively focusing on the elite. This is an event that is so much more and you may be surprised to hear that audiences do not drop away once the races are won. Clearly, people are moved by the experience and enjoy watching ordinary people and a sprinkling of celebrities pushing themselves to the limit.
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Let me start by saying how pleased I am with the response we鈥檝e had to of Saturday鈥檚 Grand National. The weather was brilliant and it was matched by one of the closest and most in years. Here are the thoughts of a couple of you who were kind enough to write in:
鈥淛ust to say your coverage of the Grand National 2007 was superb. Top marks to you all for putting on a great programme.鈥 - Paul Coote, UK
鈥淕reat show Clare and Sue, especially that Ginger McCain interview - colourful or what! Anyway, keep up the brill presenting!鈥 鈥 Kevin, UK
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Hello again,
I last blogged three months ago when I asked what sorts of ideas you had for our new sports news programme and you responded in your hundreds. It was interesting that many of the ideas were things the team were already thinking about - interviews that aren鈥檛 just the usual puffs for a sportsman or sponsor; features that get behind the scenes and under the skin of sport a bit; - not just - and last but not least, that the programme have a bit of fun given that it's on late at night.
You also suggested lots of different names for the show. Sadly, Locker Room didn鈥檛 make it but in fact the name was chosen by the audience. What happened was that we used the standing audience panel the 大象传媒 has called The Pulse to come up with their suggestions and, together with a bit of additional research we did for the programme, the overwhelming choice was for INSIDE SPORT 鈥 so that鈥檚 why we are called what we are.
We launch on Monday, 30 April, at 11pm on 大象传媒1. We are also doing an updated Second Edition for 大象传媒2 on Sunday mornings at 1130am. There鈥檚 also a version going out on our global channel , and of course, for the techies out there, a Vodcast available on the website.
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If there is one sporting event that truly unites the nation annually it is surely the .
While over 600 million will watch the race worldwide, Britain, as usual, will come to a halt at 4.15pm this Saturday as charge towards the first fence at the .
The enduring beauty of this event is its total unpredictability. The only thing you can safely say about Saturday's winning horse and jockey is that there will be a great story behind them - somehow there always is.
In our (BST) on 大象传媒 ONE this Saturday, the team led by Sue Barker and Clare Balding will try to tell a number of those tales to help mark your card.
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The and will rightly take centre stage for the next few days, but a what a finish there promises to be to the Premiership season. A few weeks ago, every major issue appeared virtually resolved. Manchester United for the title, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League, and Charlton, West Ham and Watford adrift at the bottom.
I wouldn't put much money on Liverpool not finishing third or fourth, and Watford's yesterday may well not save them. Otherwise, on all fronts, the season looks like going all the way. "It's up for grabs now," as a certain ITV commentator once famously said.
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This year鈥檚 Masters was a bit out-of-the-ordinary for many reasons 鈥 not least the 鈥榰nlikely鈥 victory of long-shot Zach Johnson (anywhere between 60-1 and 200-1 depending on your bookie) whose 289 (one over par) winning score was the equal highest in Masters history.
Despite being a golf lover, I鈥檓 ashamed to admit I fell asleep before the closing stages 鈥 (I hasten to add I was not on duty at the time) which was a shame as it meant I missed Johnson 鈥榯urning into a spigot鈥, as one writer put his emotional greenside celebrations.
That would have given a nice weepy symmetry to my weekend - have any of you ever seen so many grown men cry as in Saturday鈥檚 edition of Joseph?.
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"PLEASE give our guys and girls the coverage they deserve!"
"Just wanted to thank all at the 大象传媒 for the excellent coverage"
The first of those sentences was in an email I received today, complaining about our lack of coverage of the World Track Cycling Championships. The second of those sentences was in an email I received today praising our coverage of the World Track Cycling Championships.
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Since I started working for Football Focus and Match of the Day, the question I鈥檝e probably been asked most is: "What are the presenters and pundits really like?" I thought you might enjoy hearing about a few of my more peculiar experiences and observations with our talent team, as well as sharing two revealing bits of footage of them that I stumbled across on YouTube.
Let鈥檚 start with Gary Lineker. I鈥檓 never sure whether the person who鈥檚 asking wants me to confirm Gary鈥檚 the same lovely bloke that appears in public, or instead fancies an outrageous tale of heavy drinking, chicken jalfrezi and stealing a traffic cone. Because of responsibilities to my employer, I normally plump for telling them the latter. For legal reasons I must stress this incident hasn鈥檛 happened 鈥 Gary doesn鈥檛 eat jalfrezi.
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