“You know we’re in Salford right?” joked Micah Richards as Joe Hart was eulogising about the “unbelievable energy” of the Azteca Stadium before England’s epic win over co-hosts Mexico.
Richards got a round of laughter in the studio, but the loveable pundit touched on one of the lively debates around this World Cup. Should the BBC be broadcasting from a futuristic studio thousands of miles away from the action? Does it affect the coverage? Do the viewers care? Or is it just one of those weird media obsessions?
Comparison is the thief of joy, as the famous saying goes, but here comparison is stealing the admiration that the BBC might have received for their state-of-the-art studio. The technology is impressive and it will be used by BBC Sport for years to come. The problem is, ITV’s backdrop has blown them out of the water.
Apart from the strange decision to give Emma Hayes a chalkboard in what looked like a kitchen, ITV have had a brilliant World Cup so far. When your wide shot is framed by the Statue of Liberty on one side and the Brooklyn Bridge on the other, it’s hard not to see that as the pinnacle of TV bases. I’m sure they would have loved to add a huge name like Zlatan Ibrahimovic to their pundit panel but not even their coffers can cover the rumoured £1.9m that Fox are paying the superstar former striker for his six weeks’ work.
