The FA Cup Cock-Up

There was an FA Cup fourth-round replay played last night between Everton and Liverpool. It was on live on ITV, but not for viewers in Scotland. The reason for this is STV's eagerness to frequently 'opt-out' of network programming. When the BBC had the rights to the FA Cup the whole of Britain got to see it. I'd thought we were past the days when we were forced to watch 'a quiz about hills presented by Paul Coia' when the rest of Britain enjoyed football, Seinfeld or other quality programming. Apparently not.

What STV showed instead was a repeat of Foyle's War. Not what STV said they would do in this slot - broadcast locally produced output. Being involved in the Scottish entertainment industry myself I would be delighted if the decision allowed STV the opportunity to create and air new Scottish programmes at primetime. Except that doesn't seem to be what STV are doing. The suggestion all along was that they have taken the nip at paying what they perceive to be too much money for network programming.

So instead I watched the game online at ITV's website. The match itself was an utter borefrest, with I don't think one shot on target all throughout 90 minutes. When the game moved into extra time forcing the News at Ten to be delayed, STV the top drawer broadcasters they are, marked time for around 50 minutes by playing filler programmes such as Moviejuice Moments and a profile on Beyonce as well as showing repeated adverts for forthcoming shows.

It was little better on ITV and online however as with two minutes remaining in extra-time ITV cut to an ad break. When they returned Everton supersub Dan Gosling was celebrating with his team-mates having just slotted the ball into the net for the game's only goal (and shot on target). You can watch that debacle down below.

In the game's commentary this little beauty was reported by several people on online forums. Bear in mind that Phil Jagielka and Phil Neville are team-mates who were playing alongside one another last night.

"Phil Jagielka, with his versatility, he is a modern day Phil Neville."