Russia v Czech Rep - ITV Coverage Review

Poor ITV, they always lose out in the ratings battle and despite the BBCs often insipid analysis, they never seem to do enough to take over the mantle as the No1 terrestrial football channel.  Maybe this time things will be different.  I'll be looking at the Beebs coverage in a few days time, but first up I'll be looking at the way Channel 3 (as I always know them as) cover their 1st game of the Euros - the attractive looking Group A clash between Russia and the Czechs.  I'll be looking at various elements of the ITV programme and then comparing it to the BBC efforts next Wednesday.  The winning channel wins my viewing presence for the Final on July 1st!

The Look
The theme music is Peter and the Wolf, which is a nice, whimsical piece of classical music.  However, when it is combined with some Spitting Image type figures, it looks like you're listening to the intro music for a low budget knock off of a Pixar film.  The figures look a tad sinister and appear to be of important people from the history of the Euros...and Roy Hodgson...and Robbie Keane.
To ITVs credit, their studio looks great, with a lovely view of Warsaw and some stylish (if slightly Holiday programmeesque) furniture.  They possibly should have thought about soundproofing the studio though as local musicians seemed to have no trouble penetrating the glass throughout the programme.
6.5/10


Presenter
Adrian Chiles seems to think he's still on Daybreak. The emphasis is very much on a light entertainment style of presenting with "comedy" asides and attempts at banter.  The problem is that Chiles has been presenting football on ITV now for a few years, but hasn't improved at all.  After just 2 minutes there was a protracted silence as Chiles struggled to interact with his panel. Chiles response was a light hearted "This is going rather well isn't it?".  Much more of this and I'll be starting a "Bring Back Matt Lorenzo" campaign!
3/10




Analysts

Keane, Viera and Southgate appear to be the ITV A team for this month.  Viera took the honours on day one with some insightful comments and proved that at least he'd tried to find out about some of the players.  By contrast, Southgate and Keane were happy to just mention the PL connections involved in the match and assume that the teams would play exactly the same as in previous competitions.
Keane is especially disappointing and in stark contrast to his on field persona.  This was epitomised by his insightful verdict on the Poland-Greece encounter - "It was a game of 2 halves."  I just want to be told something I don't know, is it too much to ask?
4/10




Commentary


Peter Drury and Jim Beglin are regulars at big tournaments.  Drury has an excellent knowledge of the game and clearly does a lot of research.  Admittedly some of it does sound like he's reading from a script, but you try and remember the exact movements of the Czech squad over the last 5 years!  Drury also gets excited when there's a goal, something a lot of modern commentators frown upon.  Personally, I like it. It's a goal, it's meant to be exciting so go along with it.
Beglin isn't quite as good, but holds his own well enough. He is sometimes guilty of coming out with some odd turns of phrase - "Arshavin looks in the mood tonight".  We never found out what Andrei was in the mood for, but apparently he's very good when he's in the mood.  I don't really mind quirks like this, it's better than the deliberate attempts at comedy (I'm looking at you Lawrenson!) that some co-comms use.
7.5/10




Overall
Pretty good...apart from the bits in the studio.  6/10


Next Up:  A Haiku and a report from my local pub!