FOOTBALL FOCUS

Premiership football clubs have already started creating their own local TV news relating to the sport and their club.

It provides fans with all the latest news on forthcoming matches, injuries, transfers and other team news, but it also has the power to control the output its dedicated fan base watches.

But does this not provide the football club with the opportunity to manipulate information for their own wants?

For example if a player has hit the headlines over unprofessional behaviour outside of the game, club bosses can order him to go on the channel and give an exclusive interview where he can express his sorrow and announce he is donating two weeks wages to a local charity.

How will this effect local news?

It will have a significant impact on local newspapers, for example Manchester Evening News has suffered from a lack of exclusives since MUTV went live in 2002 and it also brings into question the very nature of news; objectivity and impartiality.
Manchester United are very unlikely to broadcast something that shows the club in a negative light, irrespective of whether it is an essential element of the initial story.

There is, however, one glaring example of when using the clubs TV station as a forum for players to air their views backfired. In 2005 Roy Keane appeared on MUTV to discuss the clubs 4-1 away defeat to Middleborough. He took the opportunity to heavily criticise some of his team-mates performances. The views were deemed so damning that club bosses pulled the programme before it was transmitted. But the damage was done and the incident resulted in one of United’s greatest players leaving the club by mutual consent.

Following this incident manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reluctant to allow his players to air personal views on the clubs TV station and as this impacted on subscription figures over the next twelve months.

But, on the other hand as the success of MUTV and other stations including Liverpool’s LUTV and Chelsea’s Chelsea FC TV shows, there is a huge market out there and it’s a very good source of revenue for the clubs.

Arguably, football is the perfect base for internet TV to capitalise on fans seemingly unending loyalty and deep pockets. However, for those who don’t wear rose tinted glasses there is the worrying prospect that these stations are telling the fans what they want and expect to hear rather than portraying a true reflection of the beautiful game.

CHECK OUT

MUTV
www.mutv.com

LUFC
www.liverpoolfc.tv

CHELSEA FC TVwww.tv.chelseafc.com