new tv deal for the football league

It’s a case of goodbye Manish and late nights and hello to a new 9pm slot for Cardiff City highlights next season as Channel 5 have taken over the Football League highlights.

A new deal has been signed by the Football League next season for all three of its divisions with Channel 5 and ITN productions that looks surely to be welcomed by sleep-deprived supporters up and down the country, especially those of the Bluebirds and Newport County.

For the first time ever all the goals and highlights from Cardiff City’s games and the rest of the Championship and League One and League Two will get a prime-time spot on Saturday night, Channel 5 will broadcast a 90 minute show from 9pm, starting at the beginning of next season.

It will be a big transformation for fans, more used to burning the midnight oil to catch the BBC’s Football league Show. That was presented by Manish Bhasin often alongside former pros Steve Claridge or Leroy Rosenior.

Channel 5 will also broadcast highlights of the Capital One Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy from next season too.

The Football League’s Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey, said: “This is an exceptional opportunity for The Football League to work with a broadcaster that will schedule our matches in a prime time slot. It will take our games to a wider, younger audience by giving us the chance to be first in front of fans on a Saturday night.”

Whilst David Lynn, President of Channel 5’s parent company, Viacom International Media Networks UK said: “We are extremely happy to be welcoming back top quality football to such a prominent slot on Channel 5. The Football League is one of the toughest and most attractive club competitions in world football and we’re convinced this highlights package will prove highly popular with a mainstream audience at the heart of our Saturday evening schedule.”

The chance to broadcast the games earlier on a Saturday has been made possible by the installation of a high-speed fibre-optic network that will link all the Football League grounds to a company called ADI’s Sports Hub operations centre in Preston. All Championship clubs are currently connected to the network with League 1 and League 2 clubs going live by the summer.

The Football League’s Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey added: “The expansion of the fibre-optic network across our clubs represents a significant multi-million pound investment by The Football League into our future broadcasting content strategy. It will deliver new opportunities for supporters to view matches across a range of platforms.