In an earlier post, I had been critical of the decision by the Football Association to award the rights to screen live FA Cup games to both ITV and Setanta from this season. I was sceptical over whether they could do a better job of covering the competition than both the BBC and Sky.
For both broadcasters, the current viewing figures for this season’s competition had fallen very sharply compared to last season (2007-8) makes very depressing reading. In the third round, traditionally the biggest day in the competition after the cup final, just over 2.09million people watched the live games, compared with over 5.07million who did so last season. In the fourth round, they fell to 2.1million, compared with 3.7million last season, and in the fifth round*, they fell to 1.8 million, compared with 3.7million last season.
Mistakes made by both ITV and Setanta (particularly the infamous Goalmissgate) have ensured that this season’s competition had become a turn-off to the armchair fan. I’ll bet that there are many commentators who now say that the FA had made a huge mistake, and that the broadcasters, who are now both struggling financially (particularly ITV), may find it difficult in their ability to carry out their commitments.
Unless both ITV and Setanta raise their game in the FA Cup coverage, they may have to consider the unthinkable… and hand the broadcasting rights back to the FA.