February 5 – The battle between ITV and the BBC for viewers’ hearts, minds, and most importantly, eyes during major tournaments almost takes on more significance than what’s happening on the pitch, and this year’s World Cup will be no exception.
ITV may have just landed the opening blow, announcing that they’ll be on location with a studio in Brooklyn framed by the Manhattan skyline, but 15 miles and an hour’s drive away from Met Life Stadium, where the World Cup Final will be played.
The BBC, by contrast, will be watching from Salford, England, at least until the quarter-finals.
This is a first for the BBC, but with cost-cutting a feature across the government-funded organisation, this is a logical financial decision; however, with today’s requirement for immediate consumption, does being ‘there’ really even matter anymore?
ITV, perhaps smelling blood in the ratings war, is going all out with Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods fronting the studio show with Gary Neville, Roy Keane, and Ian Wright based in the U.S. throughout the tournament.
The network plans to go full Uncle Sam, building travelogues and short-form documentaries around its live matches. ITV wants its viewers to feel it in the skyline, the streets, and the stories between games.
Back in Salford, Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan, and Kelly Cates will anchor coverage from MediaCityUK. In a face-saving effort, the BBC cited financial and environmental considerations in its decision to stay home. Limiting flights is part of the BBC’s broader commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.
For big media, worldwide tournaments have traditionally always traded on presence. Executives say that being on site lends coverage texture and immediacy, with the sense that analysis is shaped by atmosphere rather than what pundits are experiencing on flat two-dimensional screens. The argument being that a studio thousands of miles away cannot generate or capture that atmosphere.
The BBC is banking on the modern viewer having grown comfortable with football as a studio-based, data-led experience, no matter where it is played.
Recent history suggests the BBC does not need a New York City skyline to win the numbers game. When the two broadcasters go head-to-head, the BBC typically dominates, as it did with a peak audience of 15 million for the 2022 World Cup final, compared with ITV’s 4.3 million.
ITV, however, has shown that when unopposed, it can draw substantial figures with 10.2 million viewers tuning in for England’s Women’s Euro semi-final last summer.
So, does location move the needle? This World Cup may offer an answer. Not just in the ratings, but in whether viewers can tell the difference between being at the tournament and talking about it from home.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1771560188labto1771560188ofdlr1771560188owedi1771560188sni@r1771560188etsbe1771560188w.kci1771560188n1771560188