Regarding the BBC Monday Night Football coverage

I have received a reply from the BBC regarding the MNF coverage. Not sure how much it answers but here it is if anyone wants to read it:-

"Thank you for contacting the BBC.

We’re very sorry about the long delay in being able to reply to your complaint, and we thank you for bearing with us in the meantime.

We have received a wide range of feedback on this issue and in order to use licence fee resources appropriately, we regret we cannot offer to address each individual point and are sending this reply to many of those who have contacted us.

Recognising your clear unhappiness about our NFL coverage, we spoke personally to the senior editorial team responsible in BBC Sport.

BBC Sport is of course very pleased to be able to offer live coverage of NFL “Monday Night” matches right up until Christmas 2012, but they explain that the situation surrounding our coverage is somewhat more complex than viewers at home might realise.

The background context is that the NFL’s UK broadcaster pulled out of providing coverage thus the NFL approached the BBC at short notice to ask if we could help in covering these matches. This we wanted to do for the benefit of the many fans of the sport in the UK, but in doing so we faced some technical and editorial challenges.

We agreed with the NFL to run our coverage on the BBC Red Button using a mixture of video and graphics to cover the numerous breaks in play and to remove any commercial material where necessary, the footage being provided from a commercial broadcaster who ran their own commercial breaks and suchlike.

The matches are broadcast live and subsequently repeated on the BBC Red Button thus allowing viewers to watch or record them (the BBC Red Button has electronic programme guide schedules which should allow viewers - depending on their platform and receiving equipment at home - to set recording devices).

And we are also making all matches available on BBC iPlayer, usually within around 15 minutes of the end of transmission. The matches will then be available on BBC iPlayer for the normal seven-day catch-up period (although in-keeping with standard technical limitations on fast turnaround live programming like this, it is not downloadable and is available on Online versions of BBC iPlayer only).

We also show clips from the matches online, although we of course endeavour to shield the final score from our headlines for those wanting to watch ‘as live’ on BBC iPlayer or the subsequent repeat on the BBC Red Button later that day.

The repeat of the coverage on the BBC Red Button on Tuesday evenings is shown with all the breaks in play removed thus allowing viewers to more easily enjoy the actual play. Occasionally scheduling clashes may mean we need to move the repeat to another timeslot, but these will be well communicated via the BBC’s Red Button website and the NFL’s website.

Our intention from the outset, in conjunction with the NFL, was to provide a ‘match action’ service on the Red Button and as such we will not be providing our own studio analysis and won’t be able to broadcast in High Definition at the current time. However, we will continue to review this as the season progresses, and we are very grateful for your feedback on this matter and we can assure you that it will be borne in mind when future decisions are taken.

In closing, please once again allow us to apologise for the long delay in being able to reply to your comments about our NFL coverage, but we hope the above helps to explain the factors affecting how and where we were able to broadcast the Monday Night matches. We hope you enjoy the rest of the season either through the live or edited repeat transmission on the BBC Red Button or via the BBC iPlayer online.

Thanks again for getting in touch.

Kind Regards

BBC Complaints"

Well an interesting email.

Proves that ESPN UK pulled out last minute due to whatever NFLUKs conditions were.
I find the Red Button thing frustrating, especially that the repeat moves around in terms of timeslots and I generally can't find out when it is on whilst guaranteeing I avoid the score.
As such I always end up Gamepassing it instead, but I appreciate the BBC picking it up when nobody else would.

Yeah, I kind of feel for the BBC on this one. The coverage clearly isn't the best but it's a lot better than not having it all. I hope they don't get scared off with all the criticism they're getting. With a bit of luck, they'll get involved again next year and beef the coverage up.

I have Virgin media and can not find the game on BBC iPlayer, anyone else had any luck?

adams_legend wrote:I have Virgin media and can not find the game on BBC iPlayer, anyone else had any luck?

It's not available on the TV version of IPlayer via Virgin Media... I have it and it isn't there... It's only online via the website

Whilst I appreciate that it might be a bit frustrating having to use the red button function, the BBC are doing their best and at no extra cost to the viewer.

Consider this, with TNF, NFL Sunday, C4 late sunday game and BBC red button, you can conceivably watch 5 live games a week. When I was a teen, that was 5 more than we could see (barring the SB). Hell, its more than live EPL games in any given week!

Good point skins4ever. Those of us that have been watching football since the days of Gary Imlach first time around and Mick Luckhurst are probably just glad to have football on the telly!!!

Or Nicky Horne he was a DJ and still is on Planet Rock

I heard before that it was a short notice sort of thing which could explain their presentation of it. I am happy that they're showing more games on free tv, even it is on ed button, I'm happy it's on iPlayer so we don't have to stay up to watch it and the highlights package is good. I just wonder if they really can't find a 2 hour spot somewhere on tuesday to show the highlights on normal tv as while I'm happy to have the game available to me I don't think it being on the red button is helping the sport in the UK.

Nat Coombs ‏@NatCoombs
RT @David_Tossell: From next week, new look to MNF aired on @BBCSport Online and Red Button. Studio show hosted by @fletch5live

FINALLY BBC!!

Olly wrote:Nat Coombs ‏@NatCoombs
RT @David_Tossell: From next week, new look to MNF aired on @BBCSport Online and Red Button. Studio show hosted by @fletch5live

FINALLY BBC!!

I wonder if Mike Carlson will be on it too? He was on the Wembley game highlights. Shame they still can't find room on mainstream channel.

At least its gonna be a proper show though mikey! Two nights of Carlson in a row? I can only wish!!!!

Maybe they will have a special guest each week?

The full tweet from David Tossell is:
"From next week, new look to MNF aired on @BBCSport Online and Red Button. Studio show hosted by @fletch5live, with guest @neilreynoldsnfl"

Derbyblue wrote:The full tweet from David Tossell is:
"From next week, new look to MNF aired on @BBCSport Online and Red Button. Studio show hosted by @fletch5live, with guest @neilreynoldsnfl"

Ah quality! I love the Inside the Huddle podcast they do together

I hate Neil Reynolds. Hail be to Gamepass.

I really cant stand that Neil Reynolds, everytime he speaks i want to chop off my ears so i don't have to listen to his rubbish

For all you Reynolds haters:

Neil Reynolds ‏@neilreynoldsnfl
For all you guys who are asking, I will no longer be able to do MNF on BBC with @fletch5live Sorry to all those hoping to see our double act

Neil Reynolds ‏@neilreynoldsnfl
@fletch5live will be joined on Monday Night Football by @rockyboiman50 this week and those 2 are great together. Should be good.

Seems Sky have vetoed him doing it which is quite pedantic really.

Sky stopped Nick Halling from commentating on the Football League Show too. Not really pedantic. You wouldn't see Gary Lineker on Super Sunday.

Not keen on Reynolds either to be honest. Not really all that sure why, which is kind of weird. There's just something about him that I just can't take to. It may well be a deep-seated jealousy that he's just an ordinary British bloke that gets paid to watch and talk about NFL while I don't..... come to think of it, I never could take to Nat Coombs either so we might be getting somewhere here with establishing the reasons for my dislike of Reynolds. Having said all that, I thought Gary Imlach was great, but there was always just something cool about him. Geeky cool... but cool nonetheless.

Anyway, well done to the Beeb for bringing us some free-to-air football. I'll take what I can get. Like I've said before, I'm on Gamepass this season but I'm starting to find that frustrating cos over the last couple of weeks, every time I've went to watch a game that I've really fancied, it's been blacked out ! I know you can watch it 24 hours later but by that time, I know the score and can't be arsed.

I loved the combination of Imlach and Carlson, literally could not do any better than that.

I like Nat Coombs he is alright I guess, the Americarnage podcast they do is quite good.

Olly wrote:I loved the combination of Imlach and Carlson, literally could not do any better than that.

I like Nat Coombs he is alright I guess, the Americarnage podcast they do is quite good.

Nat and Mike are amazing... end of.

And Josh Chetwynd. Seriously, three guys who aren't afraid to talk with their followers on Twitter......

I asked Mike Carlson about this and he tweeted back that he would be interested but has had no contact.

mikeygnfl wrote:I asked Mike Carlson about this and he tweeted back that he would be interested but has had no contact.

That would be good, and make sense as I assume he'll be on their Super Bowl coverage again.

For those of you who wish to record it, then I think I have good news for you...... It will be on the BBC HD Channel this week, and I assume will be for the rest of the season and the future.

Derbyblue wrote:For those of you who wish to record it, then I think I have good news for you...... It will be on the BBC HD Channel this week, and I assume will be for the rest of the season and the future.

They seem to be banding the phrase "due to the importance of the matchup" or similar in relation to the game... would be silly if its a one week thing!