World Cup 2010 - 5,000 complaints over ITV blunder

Eurosport - Tue, 15 Jun 11:48:00 2010

ITV has received more than 5,000 complaints regarding the botched coverage of England's first goal at the World Cup.

- 0

Viewers watching the match against the United States in Rustenburg on the broadcaster's ITV HD channel missed Steven Gerrard's fourth-minute finish.

As Glen Johnson prepared to take the throw-in which led to the goal, coverage was interrupted by an advert and returned seconds later to show the England players celebrating.

ITV blamed the incident on human error at Technicolor, the company which provides their feed.

The 15 million people watching on the standard channel were not affected, but a sizeable audience of 1.5m was using the high-definition version. ITV has apologised to those viewers.

ITV's group technology director Richard Cross said it had met Technicolor "to put in place measures to address the issue".

The apology is not the first ITV has been forced to issue in recent times.

In the 2008-09 season it failed to show the deciding goal of an enthralling FA Cup fourth-round replay Merseyside derby, scored by Dan Gosling in the 118th minute.

Soccer City LIVE: All the World Cup news and debate after the final match of the day LIVE on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin 521) & on the Eurosport Player

Eurosport

Comment 68 - 87 of 87

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. my comment was invalid, fuc.ked if im typing it out­ again

    From Barry, on Thu 17 Jun 4:30

  2. very true84

    From toe, on Thu 17 Jun 2:48

  3. That's what happens when TV companies move the­ goalposts.

    From Tim B, on Wed 16 Jun 20:23

  4. bit of a hot head for this time of the day bob!!

    From manimal, on Wed 16 Jun 20:02

  5. Oh can i also say Peter Crouch.....worst spokesman of­ all time never eating another pringle again

    From BOB, on Wed 16 Jun 19:39

  6. no. 80. IAN L you a moron you have no idea what your­ talking about, the reason people don't like England­ is because your arrogant and ignorant, your football­ team is totally over-hyped and the minute they slip up­ you and your class act journalists are there ready to­ stab them in the back, as well as the manager.....as­ for the money thing, i have to say WHAT MONEY and­ thanks for proving my ignorance point, have a nice day.

    From BOB, on Wed 16 Jun 19:26

  7. Yes, Dan Gosling's goal WAS missed too, I remember­ that now, also ITV recently got into trouble for­ cutting short the very first showing of the current­ Wayne Rooney featured advert, where Rooney goes in for­ that tackle....... so much for technology ...... this­ is the dark side of "automated response"­ systems. I believe all the televison HD or otherwise is­ "clocked" to change automatically because the­ sponsors demand their slot at their contractually­ agreed time regardless of game time or extra time, but­ some of the automated systems are kicking in thru error­ during a match which, almost certainly is human error,­ sad.

    From james, on Wed 16 Jun 19:19

  8. One has to chuckle :) David whilst decrying 'band­ wagons' has himself leapt on to one, sad idiot :(

    From John, on Wed 16 Jun 18:59

  9. Who are these thousands of people who ring/email to­ complain? It seems always to be the same: it starts off­ with a few complaints, then the press gets hold of the­ issue, talks and talks about it, and a few days later­ complaints have suddenly risen to thousands. It was the­ same with the Jerry Springer opera, then the Ross/Brand­ fuss. I suspect that, of these thousands venting their­ self-righteous indignation, as with the previous howls­ of outrage, a fair few probably weren't even­ watching the ITV HD feed, but couldn't resist the­ urge to try to assert their authority by complaining­ non-stop until a sacrificial lamb is provided.

    I have­ no problem with complaints about ITV's coverage,­ which sounds like it was a mess, but I do have a­ problem with tedious self-righteous people who seem to­ spend their whole lives watching out for bandwagons­ onto which they can leap.

    From terrified, on Wed 16 Jun 15:47

  10. These 'Anyone But England' people are really­ flattering us! The little countries of the UK (the ones­ which live off English money) are so jealous! I love­ it!

    So many of them actually live in England too!

    From IAN, on Wed 16 Jun 14:50

  11. Haha. That's what you get for being consumerism­ crazy.

    I saw the goal perfectly on my old Sony­ trinitron, wwoooaaaahhhhh!

    From K P, on Wed 16 Jun 14:21

  12. This is ENGLAND

    From ivo, on Wed 16 Jun 14:08

  13. The Everton Liverpool game to which this report refers­ was anything but enthralling.

    From David, on Wed 16 Jun 13:12
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ABE T SHIRTS AVAILABLE ON E- BAY (Anybody But England­ ) 1966 says it all and still going ona bout it ..YA­ LOOSERS...

    From LUCY F, on Wed 16 Jun 13:09
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I had some friends round to watch it on HD and loads of­ people are saying it was shown on a reply so whats the­ fuss about?! Its alright seeing the goal but you cant­ really celebrate it like you can if it was live. COME­ ON ENGLAND

    From HELEN, on Wed 16 Jun 13:07

  16. good exposure for Hyundai

    Give me real proper African­ Drums anyday over these plastic toy VUVUZELAs

    From Nerdhan, on Wed 16 Jun 13:06

  17. ITV has a long history of screwing up and unfortunately­ will happen again!... Typical that they should blame a­ sub-contractor for something that is ultimately their­ responsibilty. They bought the rights, they should take­ the fall. Allowing an advert to be shown during an FA­ Cup match is bad enough, to allow the same thing to­ happen during an event as big as the World Cup is­ completely unacceptable.

    Abide with Me has been part­ of FA Cup Final traditition since the 1920's and­ yet ITV managed to miss most of it at this year's­ match due to the fact they were too busy talking to­ notice it had already started..... Only ITV would be­ stupid enough to switch to an advert break on the last­ lap of a F1 race.....

    ITV's whole presentation is­ and laways has been unprofessional and 2nd rate at­ best!

    With any luck the likes of the FA will start­ seeing sence and refuse to do futher business with­ these idiots! F1 took coverage off ITV mid-contract,­ others hopefully will follow.....

    From Bring It On!, on Wed 16 Jun 13:03
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    There were plenty of replays, just seconds later. So­ why the fuss about the advert?

    From Noddy, on Wed 16 Jun 12:50

  19. Agree, ITV coverage is rubbish, commentators are worst­ with their pre-rehearsed soundbites. Don't mind­ Chiles though, he has wit, maybe he's in the­ minority i this country. Britain's Got Talent­ judges lol, what would they know?

    From ANDREW, on Wed 16 Jun 12:49

  20. Mick McCarthy as a commentator. The most boring bl%%dy­ voice in broadcasting. What a no brainer. Imagine him­ giving a team talk. Imagine him trying to inspire or­ motivate players. What a loser but apparently ITV think­ otherwise.

    From Viva Espana, on Wed 16 Jun 12:48
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account

Global World Cup coverage