United domination to saturate small screen
IT'S time to drag out the hoary old chestnut about too many Manchester United matches being televised.
This has long been a gripe of the vociferous and increasingly bitter anti-United factions in football-dom.
But up until now it's been a matter of subjective opinion and slippery definitions.
How much is too much? And who says so ? Bearing in mind United have the biggest club following of any Premier League side either in or outside of the UK, surely market forces dictate they deserve to be on more often than other teams.
Partisan club loyalties come into play, of course. In 1980s England the complaints used to surround Liverpool's domination of the schedules.
But now the issue is about to take on a drastic new dimension as we prepare for 'Total United Domination'.
To indicate how far things have come, consider this. Wharf Cable, whose commitment to live Premier League games has been excellent the past few years, are on the verge of clinching the rights to the forthcoming seasons.
They are willing to pay considerably more (perhaps even three times the current rate) because the new international rights holders, IMG and Canal Plus, are promising vastly more flexible scheduling. This will mean Wharf will have much more choice in what matches they take each week.
And, incidental to that, Wharf are hoping to satisfy the huge Red Army they believe exists in Hong Kong by securing the rights to every single United league match in season 1998-9. Every game. Not all live. After all, that would be excessive. But still, if the plan comes off, United fans in the SAR will be able to see their heroes in action for the whole 90 minutes of every league match either on tape delay or live. Chew on that.
As an indicator of things to come, perhaps, Wharf have dropped plans to show the Coventry v Sheffield United FA Cup quarter-final live tomorrow in favour of the Sheffield Wednesday v Man Utd league clash - a decision made by the international provider, say Wharf. Three of the four Cup ties WILL be live, however. While the United league match is on Channel 6, Leeds v Wolves will be on 18, with the Coventry v Sheffield United match immediately after .
#CNN International (on Wharf Cable) have a daily half-hour all-sports bulletin which gives a good showing to soccer from around the world. But now, for the first time, they are screening a weekly show exclusively on the game. It's called 'World Cup Weekly' and is a well-packaged half-hour preview to the coming finals tournament in France. Well worth a look.
ATV Home are showing League Cup Road to Wembley highlights every Sunday night just after midnight for the next three weeks before the March 28 final between Chelsea and Middlesbrough.
