23-03-2023, 07:28 PM
Not much change for Channel 4's second calendar year covering England Men's football internationals. Jules Breach will again present, Steve Bower will commentate and Kelly Somers will be the reporter. Some change to the pundits involved: Joe Cole remains an ever present but Steven Gerrard and Jill Scott will both be present for the first time in Channel 4's studio. Dion Dublin has said he will be tonight's co-commentator, another debutant.
www.channel4.com
Graphics wise, it appears that both the UEFA friendlies and European Qualifiers graphics from the last rights cycle look to have remained. No complaints from me, though the original iteration of the Ode to Joy was superior for me.
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Of course this is Viaplay's first qualifiers campaign broadcasting in the UK. Last night's Ireland match and today so far has again been world feed only jobs, though presentation looks likely again for Northern Ireland tonight. No matches on BoxNation any more (unlike the Nations League last year), with ViaPlay Xtra (formerly FreeSports) getting three matches aired, including Portugal tonight.
The amount of football across Viaplay this weekend means some of the URC rugby has been demoted to online only (Zebre v Cardiff tomorrow as an example is also on BBC Two Wales). I cannot recall that happening before in the UK, though some matches that were not shown live on eirSport in the previous contract.
www.channel4.com
Graphics wise, it appears that both the UEFA friendlies and European Qualifiers graphics from the last rights cycle look to have remained. No complaints from me, though the original iteration of the Ode to Joy was superior for me.
twitter.com
twitter.com
Of course this is Viaplay's first qualifiers campaign broadcasting in the UK. Last night's Ireland match and today so far has again been world feed only jobs, though presentation looks likely again for Northern Ireland tonight. No matches on BoxNation any more (unlike the Nations League last year), with ViaPlay Xtra (formerly FreeSports) getting three matches aired, including Portugal tonight.
The amount of football across Viaplay this weekend means some of the URC rugby has been demoted to online only (Zebre v Cardiff tomorrow as an example is also on BBC Two Wales). I cannot recall that happening before in the UK, though some matches that were not shown live on eirSport in the previous contract.