Sky -1 BBC -0 (Sky Sports News)

Member Name: jac22

Product:	Sky Sports News
Date:	13/02/08 (492 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 24/7, breaks news first, live updates, good presenters and set up

Disadvantages: tired looking presenters

Introduction

As a fan of all sports great and small I find myself always watching Sky Sports News when there's nothing else on. Its far better than any BBC sport service. Launching in 1998 with the introduction of the Sky Digital service the channel has since acted as hub for great presenters like Kirsty Gallagher and Jeff Stelling to polish their skills. The channel, with its hourly news and updates, has been the best place for all the breaking stories for the last 10 years, setting the benchmark for sports news in the UK. This has been highlighted by the number of presenters from the channel who have since gone to report for BBC news.

The Presenters

The hourly sports news updates are presented by 2 readers (usually one man and one woman, or two men at night). They tend to be young, attractive and well spoken, with excellent knowledge in the field. Present and past presenters have included ex Blue Peter man Simon Thomas, Kelly Dalglish, Georgie Thompson. Kelly famously being the daughter of Liverpool legend, Kenny. One thing I would say about the presenting is that it is often emotionless, with no humor or warmth. Although this gets the information across well, with the exception of Georgie Thompson, they always look bored, tired and ruthless. There's nothing like the friendly banter you get on GMTV. During match days on Saturdays, Sundays, and usually Tuesdays the usual cast of presenters get a break as cult hero Jeff Stelling and his panel of ex-football nutts take the stage. They're supposed to talk about football (and they do most of the time) but they always end up taking the mick out of each other and the footballers they're reporting on at the matches. Jeff is truly a TV legend and has coined a number of phrases particular to when certain teams and players score or get sent off. Such as:

* When Liverpool defender Daniel Agger scored against West Ham United at Anfield in 2007, Jeff remarked "Just how did Agger-do that?"
* When Gareth Jelleyman was sent off for Mansfield Town 2 years ago Stelling replied "it looks as if Jellyman has thrown a wobbly".

Jeff acts as the main anchor to the show with the other ex players reporting back with in-game analysis. These presenters currently include- Matt Le Tissier, Paul Merson, and Phil Thompson. Infamously Chris Kamara also reports back live from the actual games but always messes it up by missing a goal or going absolutely insane, shouting and screaming over wrong referee decisions.

The Set Up

On top of the studio presenting, the latest tables and fixtures are displayed along the right-hand side of the screen. These include information from the top 8 football divisions of England as well as all the main European leagues (Serie A, BundesLiga, La Liga, Ligue 1). Toward the end of the hour the latest rugby union tables/fixtures are also displayed. Along the bottom of the screen the day's latest news is summed up in brief, with news of football transfers, injuries and new contracts. As great as this is for me being a football fan, if you prefer Rugby, or golf, you may feel your sport is a little under represented, as SkySportsNews is first and foremost a football channel.

You can get Sky Sports News through a number of packages now. Obviously it comes with the sky package, but you can also get it on freeview and cable. For freeview its channel 83, and for sky its 405.

If you're a football fanatic make sure to put this channel onto your favorites if you haven't already. You can get news 24 hours day, updated by the minute, 7 days a week. Although you probably wont be able to watch it more than 3 times during the day (as stories are repeated hourly) you can get more than enough of your daily allowance of football news if you watch it once when you get up or get home. A real winner of a channel.

Music is always good on sky sports. Heres a selection they use:

Good Morning Sports Fans - Surface to Air by Chemical Brothers
Football Today - Shooting Star by Deepest Blue
Evening Update & News At Ten - Ready to Go by Republica
Through the Night - Artisan by Deadly Avenger
Various Shows - Sing Song Sung by La Rocca
Carling Cup Football - Inner Smile Sung by Texas
Premiership Football - The Time Is Now Sung by Moloko

(also on ciao as carneypingu)

Summary: a real winner for footy fans