It might not have come home just yet but football is very definitely making its way up the drive with a set of keys in its hand. Will it make it through the front door this time? Time will tell as England take on a very good Spain side in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday night. And I’ll be there.
In front of the TV that is. Fingers digging into the arms of the sofa, cheering, shouting at Gareth Southgate to take off the ludicrously over-hyped Jude Bellingham and bring on Cole Palmer, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney. You can watch the Euro 2024 final free on the BBC and ITV, and I’ll be choosing ITV at 6.30 p.m. BST. Why? Well, because it’s on first, but for other reasons too. I’ll tell you…
Over 21 million tuned into ITV for the semi-final victory over the Netherlands but that was not just for the vivid descriptive skills of lead commentator Sam “What’s the” Matterface – the BBC weren’t showing the game live. This time we have a choice of broadcasters – and I’ll be sticking with ITV.
I think Matterface and his informed bloke-down-the-pub approach just shades that of the BBC’s Guy Mowbray who always seems too keen to indulge whichever co-commentators he’s been saddled with.
We can live with that when that someone is Alan Shearer (who delivered the line of the tournament so far at the end of the penalty shoot-out against Switzerland – “Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is for tyres!”) but Danny Murphy and Martin Keown? Not so much.
The former has all the joie de vivre of an undertaker while the latter talks about football like he’s giving evidence to a government inquiry. If only Keown approached it in the same way he played – straight in, no quarter given, life or death.
ITV’s Matterface may have the uber-excitable and reliably cheerful Ally McCoist next to him on occasion (not always great when your nerves are already shreaded) but Lee Dixon is a non-controversial foil who allows the main man to concentrate on the events in front of him. Best of all, though, is Andros Townsend who is proving to be an absolute natural behind the mic – confident, interesting and enlightening. Fingers crossed.
Euro 2024 Final, BBC vs ITV: Pundits
The Euro 2024 final pundits, of course, is where the BBC has a massive advantage. Not in so much due to the huge choice of pundits at their disposal (Frank Lampard anyone? No, thought not although his face after Gary Lineker pointed out his bald spot earlier on in the tournament was priceless) but due to the fact that they do not have advertisements to work around.
For some of us, ads are a good thing – time to crack open another bottle and take stock of the preceding half – but for others they are a waste of punditry time. But that, of course, depends on who is being asked for their opinion. And by whom. Lineker remains peerless as a presenter while Mark Pougatch needs Laura Woods to keep the viewers engaged if they are going to put up with the former’s Brian Moore. impression for much longer.
Wayne Rooney (Who knew he would be work so well? At least he’s got TV to fall back on when he gets sacked by Plymouth in November), David Moyes, Rachel Corsie, Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Frank have all been great for the BBC throughout the Euros while the Roy Keane / Ian Wright / Gary Neville Marx Brothers tribute act (with Keane as Groucho, obvs) is as reliably entertaining as ever on the other side.
The heavily-bearded Keane continues to play his world-weary schtick while waiting to be impressed (primarily by the observations of the other pundits). Wrighty serves as the emotional England every-fan and Neville channels all of our frustrations at Gareth Southgate’s risk-averse tactics – until they turn out to pay off.*
ITV’s refereeing expert Christina Unkel has also been a very successful addition. It felt a bit Superbowl to begin with but she’s grown into the role. She was spot on with England’s penalty against the Netherlands. It absolutely, categorically was NOT a penalty. But we’ll take it.
Karen Carney is always a great go-to for ITV too. So, all-in-all, not much to choose between the channels on the punditry front so maybe I’ll be flicking back and forth a bit on Sunday. Keown on co-comms? Hello ITV. Mark Pougatch attempting to serve up some more word soup? Back to the Beeb. England penalties? Panic. Flick. Flick. Flick.
* NOTE FOR ITV BOSSES: The behind-the-camera shots of the non-Keane elements of the team celebrating England winning worked once – we don’t need it every time.
Euro 2024 Final, BBC vs ITV: Stream quality
If the audience figures for those who tuned in to watch England fail to beat Italy in the Euro 2020 final are any guide, broadcasters in the UK are confidently expecting over 30 million viewers for this game with industry insiders noting “a fifth of viewers usually choosing to watch ITV over the BBC [on occasions such as these]”.
In other words an 80-20 split to the BBC but surely the talent line-up and earlier start time mean the independent channel will deliver a bigger share than that. Which brings us to the live stream quality.
With so many more tuning into BBC than ITV, the live stream on ITVX is sure to be less overloaded and that will appeal to the many, often younger, viewers who will be watching via device other than a TV.
Almost certainly with an eye to the extra costs and infrastructure involved, UEFA (who are responsible for all aspects of the Euros) has downgraded its Euro 2020 Ultra HD and dropped native 4K production this year. They will, instead, provide their broadcast partners with a 1080p HD feed with HDR – noticed an absence of adverts for 4K (or even 8K) TVs in the ad breaks? That’s why.
The BBC could have opted to technically upscale UEFAs 2024 Euro feed to 4K internally but have chosen not to. Your TV will have to do the work instead.
Either way, it’s coming home!
But does the quality of the live stream matter on occasions like this? Wouldn’t you watch it on an old 525 line resolution, CRT, black and white portable TV with a 12″ screen and a wood effect casing in the kitchen (kids, asks your parents) if there was no other way of watching England end 58 years of hurt?
Of course you would. Would you care which channel you were watching when Harry Kane lifts up that big, beautiful old trophy? Absolutely not. We’ve waited long enough, let’s just get on with it shall we!
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