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![Gary Lineker](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/football/2024/07/13/TELEMMGLPICT000375012913_17208668183980_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqilIvkws75Ed83lXhMbtZ-YGaa6qieyu8XZSxSp832jk.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Both the BBC and ITV will be televising England versus Spain live and, if previous experiences are anything to go by, the BBC will win the audience share by a ratio of four to one. Simply put, viewers will avoid the advertisements if they can but it will still be a huge pay day for ITV, who will have charged top dollar for advertising space and there will be enough takers to make their broadcast worthwhile. And they can already boast the biggest audience so far in the competition, with some 20 million watching Ollie Watkins’s marvellous finish against the Netherlands.
Years ago, when you had to remove yourself from the sofa to change channels, people were more likely to stick to the broadcaster they preferred. Now there will be a great deal of channel hopping, particularly in the build-up to the action. Once the match gets under way, viewers tend to stick to one side or the other.
Although I worked for both channels, I’m more inclined to watch the big occasions on the BBC. However, I want to hear the views of the ITV panel so shall record them to make sure I don’t miss a thing.
There is little to choose between the commentators, Sam Matterface of ITV and the BBC’s Guy Mowbray. They are both seasoned professionals but this occasion does lend itself to the outstanding line if there is a historic win, the first by England since that magical moment in 1966 and the memorable words of Kenneth Wolstenholme, who said: “They think it’s all over....it is now” as Geoff Hurst cracked in his third.
They will have thought about it but most commentators will tell you that they hope the appropriate words will just come and that it’s dangerous to lock yourself into pre-prepared lines. However, If England do win, one of their voices will go down in sporting history for ever more. Class commentators like Coleman, Motson, Davies and Moore were never given that chance.
I shall be interested to see how Gary Lineker and Mark Pougatch open their programmes and how they sign off, which of course will greatly depend on the outcome of the match. Lineker likes to end his programmes with a line that is imaginative and clever. He closed the BBC broadcast of Spain’s win over France in Spanish, in which he is fluent, referring to the amazingly talented teenager Yamal who had scored his wonder goal. I got the gist of it but how many did? I do wonder whether his producer concurred with the idea...
I was in the presenter’s chair for the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 Euros when England lost to the Germans on penalties in the semi-finals on both occasions. I felt the disappointment of the fans and I hope I conveyed my feelings appropriately too.
Of course I’ll be watching Euro final on the BBC
There will be a lot of channel-hopping before kick-off but like 80 per cent of viewers I will plump for Gary Lineker and co for the match