See kabaddi, basketball, Formula One and Champions Cup rugby for further reading, plus a bit of darts, snooker, tennis, athletics and so on.Ĭhannel 4 were sad to lose the rights to Sky and no one is saying that the Beeb was much missed in those first few years. With the exception of horse racing (1984–2016), Italian football (1992–2002), American football (1982–97, 2010–14) and Tour de France (1985–2000, dropped so Channel 4 could concentrate on the cricket), flirtations with other sports have been shortlived (in comparison to the Beeb anyhow). The trouble was that Channel 4's commitment was never going to be for the long haul. Producers Sunset + Vine won a Bafta and two Royal Television Society awards in the first three years, helping them to secure a new deal from 2002–05. The master, Richie Benaud, was still there with his apprentice, Mike Atherton, and Michael Slater, Ian Bishop, Dermot Reeve and Wasim Akram provided some funk, alongside the excellent Ian Smith and the candid Geoffrey Boycott. In came the housewives' favourite, MCJN, and Simon Hughes, of this parish, who – as The Analyst – shed light upon a sport that had seemed technical/bewildering to many. The coverage on BBC One and Two had become very tired.ĭear old boys like Tom Graveney – a lovely man – talking about "beautiful drives through the covers" and balls on the pads being "meat and drink to top players" had become a bit staid. Now this might seem a strange opinion, for everyone knows cricket on Channel 4 was – to paraphrase Mark Nicholas – "Crackerjack!" But, in my humble opinion, the actual damage came in 1999 when cricket switched from BBC TV to Channel 4. Many are critical of the decision to take cricket off terrestrial television and give it to Sky in 2006. Brilliant, right?Īnd yet… with the Corporation being criticised by the government and battling to preserve the licence fee, could it be a bit too late?
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