The Premier League has resumed and last night saw the return of top-flight football live on the BBC after 32 years. Crystal Palace defeated Bournemouth in a largely-forgettable match that saw the contest end in the first half-hour and the relegation-doomed hosts trying and failing to take something out of the game.
In a review of the BBC’s coverage, Simon Burnton of The Observer wrote, “A Premier League live on the BBC is in itself an exceptional circumstance, and this one the result of even more exceptional circumstances.” A global pandemic, to be short. Football in the context of the ‘new normal’ is bread and circuses, and it will get some getting used to: the empty stands, the fake crowd noises, the ubiquity of matches on television and indeed, live coverage on free-to-air channels. These are not the circumstances the national broadcaster hoped to find when it was awarded four live Premier League matches last month, but when opportunity knocks it is not there to be wasted.
The early signs are encouraging. Last night’s match peaked at 3.9 million (24.5% viewing share), slightly short of the audience that watched the Manchester derby in April 2012, but with iPlayer figures and consolidated figures yet to be added, it is likely to smash the record. In two weeks from now, Manchester City’s trip to Southampton will be an indicator of how well the BBC has managed to earn the interest of the nation, given both sides may have little to play for.
When the season is over in six weeks, there still is the uncertainty over coronavirus, and whether fans can be allowed back into stadiums. The government is aiming for September for normality to be restored, a little over one month into the new stadium, yet in honest truth it could be a little while longer. Ministers are insisting that football must remain in part FTA until then, and undoubtedly this has created tension between the broadcasters who have paid huge sums of money just to secure exclusive rights. Sky and BT are said to be worried that any new arrangement that incorporates FTA football will ‘devalue’ their contracts and runs the risk of shrinking their subscriber base because they would simply be content with the BBC’s offerings. That logic would perhaps only stick if the BBC had control of which matches it could air, but it doesn’t. The Merseyside derby, a pivotal match for Liverpool in their quest for the title kicks-off tonight at 8pm on Sky Sports. The broadcaster has also made it FTA on Pick (which will increase the viewing audience), but it is slim pickings.
What the next six weeks will also tell us is whether there is more wiggle room for matches to be aired at 3pm. The blackout serves a purpose of protecting and maintaining the attendances of grounds up and down the country, but in recent years the Premier League has moved more and more games out of the window, keeping up with television demand. The pandemic may have accelerated the blackout’s cessation.
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I hope they continue to use those silly fake crowds!