ESPN to continue its touchline analysis despite Keown's whack
Broadcaster keen to bring fans 'as close to game as possible' – even if
pundits end up being hit by balls
Martin Keown's head may still be ringing, but ESPN is not prepared to do
away with pitch-side punditry quite yet. The former Arsenal defender,
working as a summariser, was hit by a well-struck football before Monday
night's game between Arsenal and Leeds at the Emirates but the TV
channel insists it will continue "to bring fans as close as we can to
the game".
That aim, laudable as it sounds, may prove hard to live up to. Keown's
accident – the ball was apparently struck by Michael Brown, the Leeds
midfielder – was not the only problem suffered by ESPN's team (which
also included presenter Rebecca Lowe and Robbie Savage) on Monday.
Nearby Leeds fans threw objects including hot dogs and coins at the
Welsh midfielder and some fairly strong language was picked up on the
trio's microphones.
Keown suggested yesterday that the ball may have been aimed at Savage,
who was the focus of much of the Leeds fans' abuse. Afterwards, Savage
was clearly upset. "Majority of Leeds fans were a disgrace throwing
coins and hot dogs, shouting obscenities to a lady presenter! Disgrace!"
he tweeted.
Nonetheless, ESPN says it will aim to continue to place analysis teams
by the byline, although it will now be taking special care to assess
where best to put them. It also seems clear that, in certain situations,
they will be relocated to a studio – at Elland Road, perhaps.
"Our first commitment is always to our presentation and production team,
and ensuring their safety and well-being," said ESPN's director of
communications, Paul Melvin. "We have no specific plans to change our
editorial approach, and will look to continue to be innovative and bring
fans as close as we can to the game. As always, we will work hard to
examine how we do that while also ensuring the right environment for our
team week in and week out."
After appearing initially shocked by the blow, Keown – who was regarded
in his day as one of the toughest footballers in England – gave the
Leeds team the thumbs-up and insisted there was no damage done. When
Lowe asked him: "Are you all right?" he replied "Yeah, just about – they
can keep doing it." ESPN takes a different view, but it is clearly keen
to continue sending its studio team down to the touchline.
A real turn-off: Other questionable TV innovations
Pitch-side punditry has been shown to have its drawbacks, but it is far
from the worst sporting idea that the TV bods have had:
The tactics truck
When ITV took over Premier League highlights, it had all manner of ideas
– of which the worst was probably the Tactics Truck, led by Andy
Townsend. It was as excruciating and unenlightening a segment as has
ever appeared on a British sports show.
The rise of panel shows
They Think It's All Over, the first of its ilk, was just about
acceptable. A League Of Their Own, by contrast, featuring regular "gags"
from Andrew Flintoff could lead the most positive of optimists to join
the "Britain is going to the dogs" gang. Grim.
You're On Sky Sports
The most obvious of fillers, the most obnoxious of fillers. We all know
Sky Sports has hour upon hour of airtime to fill, but the broadcaster
could surely come up with something better than this. Less informative
than a Ladybird book and has also relaunched the careers of former
footballers such as Jason Cundy. And again, the only question is why?
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PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
