TV Sports News

Ajax v Man United on Channel 5 and Porto v Man City on ITV 1 as Europa League live games confirmed

2012-02-01T20:47:00.000Z

ITV, Channel 5 and ESPN have confirmed their live matches from the UEFA Europa League as the competition moves into the knockout phase.

The first leg games to be screened are:

Tuesday, February 14
5.30pm Braga vs Besiktas (ESPN)

Thursday, February 16
6pm Ajax v Manchester United (Channel 5)
6pm Lazio v Atletico (ESPN)
8.05pm Porto v Manchester City (ITV 1)
8.05pm Stoke v Valencia (ESPN)

> For a full list of all live TV football in all competitions see HERE

Live FA Cup fifth round ties 2012 on ESPN and ITV confirmed

2012-02-01T16:26:00.000Z

ESPN's FA Cup team in action.

Five live FA Cup fifth round games have been selected for live coverage on ITV and ESPN.

Each club will receive a £212,000 TV fee for being shown.

The full list is:
Saturday 18 February
Chelsea v Birmingham City 12.30pm (ESPN)
Sunderland or Middlesbrough v Arsenal 5.15pm (ITV1)

Sunday 19 February
Crawley Town v Stoke City 12noon (ESPN)
Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur 2pm (ITV1)
Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion 4.30pm (ESPN)

> Full list of all live TV games from all competitions HERE

Middlesbrough v Sunderland FA Cup replay live on ITV 1

2012-01-31T12:34:00.002Z

ITV 1 is to screen the north-east derby between Middlesbrough and Sunderland at the Riverside Stadium.

The fourth round FA Cup replay will be shown live with a 7.45pm kick-off on Wednesday, February 8.

ITV also screened the original tie which ended 1-1.

ESPN, meanwhile, will show the replay between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackpool the night before (Tuesday, February 7) also with a 7.45pm kick-off.

Each club will receive a £62,000 TV appearance fee.

> Listings of all confirmed live TV games from all competitions HERE

Sky Sports seals new international and county cricket deal

2012-01-31T12:03:00.000Z

Sky Sports has sealed a new four-year deal for live international and county cricket with the ECB.

The new agreement kicks in from 2014 when Sky's current deal with the England & Wales Cricket Board expires.

Sky Sports has been awarded exclusive live coverage of:

> TEST MATCHES: all of England's Test matches played at home, including series against India (2014), Australia (2015), Pakistan (2016) and South Africa (2017).

> INTERNATIONALS: all one-day Internationals and T20 matches, plus selected fixtures including England Lions and women's matches.

> COUNTY MATCHES: at least 60 days of domestic cricket each summer covering each of the major competitions and including every county.

There is also an option for Sky to extend the deal for an additional two years to cover tours by India in 2018 and Australia in 2019.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: "This is good news for cricket and good news for viewers. Our viewers will enjoy a breadth of live coverage, at domestic and international level, and the ECB extends a partnership that has proved good for the game.

Sky Sports News reveals F1 coverage plans

2012-01-26T11:24:00.000Z

Sky Sports News is to have two dedicated Formula 1 reporters as part of its coverage of the sport.

Rachel Brookes and Craig Slater will take on the roles and will work amongst the teams both at races and during the upcoming 'test season' with the channel promising to "provide viewers with breaking news stories, detailed analysis and extensive coverage of each grand prix, including on-site build-up and reporting for all 20 races."

The pair will be reporting on-site from each circuit for up to six days from Tuesday through to post-race reaction.

"This is the ultimate news service for F1," enthused Andy Cairns, executive editor of Sky Sports News.

"Our reporters will be trackside and in the studio ensuring viewers are always up to date with what's happening on and off the track."

The news channel's coverage comes on top of the new Sky Sports F1 channel which launches in March ahead of the season's start.

RELATED STORIES
> Damon Hill joins Sky F1 team HERE
> Sky Sports F1 available on Virgin HERE
> Sky confirm Formula 1 channel launch date HERE
> Sky Sports reveals F1 team HERE
> BBC reveals F1 2012 coverage HERE
> Sky announces new dedicated F1 channel HERE

Man City v Fulham ESPN Premier League game to be screened for no charge on Freeview

2012-01-23T20:39:00.002Z

The ESPN football team in action.

Manchester City's home Premier League match with Fulham is to be screened on free-to-air TV.

ESPN are making their main UK channel free to non-subscribers for the weekend of February 3 to February 6 on all platforms including Sky, Virgin and Freeview.

It will mean ten million homes with access to Freview in the UK will have free access to the match which kicks-off at 5.30pm on Saturday, February 4.

Other free content from ESPN that weekend includes the live UFC 143 event and live Bundesliga and Italian Serie A games.

> Full list of all live UK TV football matches HERE
> Sky and ESPN confirm March/early April live Premier League games HERE

March and early April 2012 live Premier League games on Sky and ESPN confirmed

2012-01-23T12:34:00.000Z

Ed Chamberlin and Gary Neville on Sky's Monday Night Football

Sky Sports and ESPN have confirmed their latest batch of live Premier League matches from the 2011-2012 season.

They cover the period up until early April as the title, Champions League and relegation races reach a climax.

Fixtures confirmed are

MARCH

Sat 3 Liverpool v Arsenal Sky Sports 12.45pm

Sun4 Newcastle v Sunderland ESPN 12noon
Sun4 Fulham v Wolves Sky Sports 2.05pm
Sun4 Spurs v Man United Sky Sports 4.10pm

Sat10 Bolton v QPR Sky Sports 12.45pm
Sat10 Everton v Spurs ESPN 5.30pm

Sun11 Norwich City v Wigan Sky Sports 4pm

Mon12 Arsenal v Newcastle Sky Sports 8pm

Sun18 Wolves v Man United Sky Sports 1.30pm
Sun18 Aston Villa v Bolton Sky Sports 4pm

Mon19 Man City v Chelsea Sky Sports 8pm

Sat24 Chelsea v Spurs Sky Sports 12.45pm
Sat24 Stoke v Man City ESPN 5.30pm

Sun25 West Brom v Newcastle Sky Sports 4pm

Mon26 Man United v Fulham Sky Sports 8pm

APRIL
Sun1 Newcastle v Liverpool Sky Sports 1.30pm
Sun1 Spurs v Swansea Sky Sports 4pm

Mon2 Blackburn v Man United Sky Sports 8pm

> Full list of confirmed live TV games from all competitions HERE

Premier Sports confirms latest 2012 live Blue Square Premier matches

2012-01-22T21:47:00.000Z

Premier Sports has confirmed its latest batch of live games to be screened from the Blue Square Bet Premier.

Seven more fixtures have been selected from non-league football's top division as part of Premier's deal to show up to 30 games from the competition.

It's also been confirmed that all fixtures from the final day of fixtures on April 28 will now kick-off at 1pm to allow Premier to show one of the key decisive matches live.

Latest live fixtures confirmed are (all kick-off times are 7.30pm):
January
Wed 25 Luton v Mansfield

February
Fri17 Southport v Grimsby
Wed22 York v Gateshead

March
Wed7 Wrexham v Luton
Fri9 Kidderminster v Fleetwood
Fri23 TBC
Fri30 Luton v York

April
Tue10 Fleetwood v Wrexham

Live March and April 2012 SPL games on Sky and ESPN confirmed

2012-01-19T23:13:00.000Z

The latest batch of 2011-2012 live Scottish Premier League games to be broadcast live on Sky Sports and ESPN have been confirmed.

They are:

Saturday March 17
Dundee United v Rangers
Live on Sky Sports, 12.45pm

Sunday March 18
Hearts v Hibernian
Live on ESPN, 12 noon

Sunday March 25
Rangers v Celtic
Live on Sky Sports, 1pm

Saturday March 31
Motherwell v Rangers
Live on ESPN, 12 noon

Sunday April 1
Inverness CT v Hibernian
Live on ESPN, 12 noon

Saturday April 7
Kilmarnock v Celtic
Live on ESPN, 12 noon

Sunday April 8
Hibernian v Motherwell
Live on ESPN, 12.30pm

> All live TV matches from all competitions HERE

Damon Hill joins Sky Sports F1 team

2012-01-18T21:00:00.002Z

Sky Sports has confirmed that former world champion Damon Hill will be part of its new dedicated Formula 1 channel.

Hill will provide expert analysis as part of Sky's coverage which will see all 20 grand prix weekends screened live, ten of them exclusively.

Sky's F1 executive producer Martin Turner said: "Damon Hill is a British motor racing legend and has incredible Formula 1 knowledge and insight. He will provide our viewers with not just a driver's eye view, but also that of a world champion. There aren't many around and I'm delighted we'll have Damon with us during the season."

Hill said he was delighted to be joining Sky. He commented: "The plans Sky Sports have for Formula 1 are very impressive, particularly the dedicated Formula 1 channel and I couldn't resist becoming involved. There are so many reasons to be excited about the new season and I can't wait to get started."

RELATED STORIES
> Sky Sports F1 available on Virgin HERE
> Sky confirm Formula 1 channel launch date HERE
> Sky Sports reveals F1 team HERE
> BBC reveals F1 2012 coverage HERE
> Sky announces new dedicated F1 channel HERE

ITV confirm new FA Cup and England deal

2012-01-18T20:47:00.000Z

ITV will continue to screen live FA Cup football and Wembley England internationals until at least 2014.

Under a two-year extension to its current agreement with the Football Association, the deal will see:

> ITV have the first pick live game from the first round proper to the final.
> ITV will also have the first pick live game for replays from the third round to the final.
> ITV will screen up to 16 FA Cup games live in each of the seasons and "comprehensive highlights" from each round.
> ITV will show all England's home World Cup 2014 qualifiers live, along with all home and away friendlies.
> The Community Shield will move from its current home on Sky Sports to ITV for 2012 and 2013.
> ITV will extend its coverage of FA competitions with six live games being screened from the FA Youth Cup on ITV 4 including the final and semi-final.

ITV director of television, Peter Fincham, said: “The FA Cup and England internationals are events with huge resonance and appeal for our viewers. I’m delighted that we are extending our partnership with the FA and that ITV1 will continue to be the home of live football on free-to-air television.”

Stuart Turner, FA group commercial director said: “We enjoy a great relationship with ITV and this extension to our agreement underlines that. Having The FA Cup and England alongside other ITV content such as the Champions League and World Cups shows that our football content holds its own in exalted company. It further confirms ITV's position as the home of free-to-air live football.”

ITV's new deal sits alongside ESPN's which also has a deal to show live FA Cup games.

> Live football matches on TV HERE

Sky Sports F1 to be available on Virgin Media

2012-01-16T13:22:00.004Z

It's been confirmed that Sky Sports' new dedicated Formula 1 channel will be available on Virgin.

The channel will be added to the complete Sky Sports package available through Virgin Media, alongside Sky Sports 1 to 4. Subscribers to this package will have the channel added automatically at launch. Sky Sports News is separately included in all pay TV tiers.

Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this new channel right from the off as it’s certain to be an exciting Formula 1 season with a record number of races and six former or current world champions racing for the title.”

RELATED STORIES
> Sky confirm Formula 1 channel launch date HERE
> Sky Sports reveals F1 team HERE
> BBC reveals F1 2012 coverage HERE
> Sky announces new dedicated F1 channel HERE

Sky Sports F1 channel launch confirmed for March 9

2012-01-15T18:18:00.003Z

Sky Sports has confirmed the launch date for its new dedicated Formula 1 channel.

Sky Sports F1 will start broadcasting on Friday, March 9 on channel 408 on the Sky platform. It will be available as an extra channel to Sky Sports subscribers and Sky HD subscribers (even if they don't take the sports channels). It's also been confirmed the channel will be available on Virgin as well HERE.

It will show all 20 race weekends live with ten weekends only live on Sky (the other ten are being broadcast on the BBC as well).

Sky has also released details of some of its back-up programming on the new channel and details of its broadcast times.

The F1 Show
As previously announced, a weekly F1 magazine show hosted by Georgie Thompson and Ted Kravitz.
It will be shot on location on race weekends and include major talking points from the season.

F1 Legends
Steve Rider hosts a new programme including feature-length interviews with some of biggest names in F1 both past and present.

Broadcasting times
Race weeks:
Monday to Thursday: 20:00 to 23:00
Friday to Sunday: 07:00 to 24:00

Non-race weeks:
Monday to Thursday: 20:00 to 23:00
Friday: 19:00 to 23:00
Saturday and Sunday: 15:00 to 23:00

RELATED STORIES:
> Sky Sports reveals F1 team HERE
> BBC reveals F1 2012 coverage HERE
> Sky announces new dedicated F1 channel HERE

ESPN and ITV confrim live fourth round FA Cup ties including Liverpool v Man United

2012-01-12T18:00:00.000Z

Liverpool's FA Cup clash with Manchester United is one of five matches from the fourth round which will be screened live.

ITV 1 will screen the game along with the north east derby between Middlesbrough and Derby.

ESPN have three ties - Watford v Spurs, Brighton or Wrexham v Newcastle and Arsenal v Aston Villa.

The full line up is:

Friday 27 January
Watford v Tottenham Hotspur
7.45pm ESPN

Saturday 28 January
Liverpool v Manchester United
12.45pm ITV1

Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United
5.15pm ESPN

Sunday 29 January
Sunderland v Middlesbrough
1.30pm ITV 1

Arsenal v Aston Villa
4pm ESPN

Live FA Cup third round replays on ITV and ESPN confirmed

2012-01-12T13:49:00.002Z

Three live third round FA Cup replays will be screened by ITV and ESPN.

QPR v MK Dons and Leicester City v Nottingham Forest will both be shown on Tuesday, January 17 with Wolves v Birmingham being screened the following night, Wednesday, January 18.

Each club will receive a £62,000 appearance fee.

Full details are:

Queens Park Rangers v Milton Keynes Dons 8pm (ITV4)
Leicester City v Nottingham Forest 7.30pm (ESPN)
both Tuesday 17 January

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Birmingham City
8pm (ITV1), Wednesday 18 January

ITV extends Tour de France deal

2012-01-10T00:18:00.001Z

ITV has struck a deal which means it will continue to show live coverage of the Tour de France until at least 2015.

Under the extension of its current rights deal, the broadcaster will continue to:
> screen live daily coverage of the competition on ITV4.
> screen a daily highlights show on ITV.
> and from this year's event, extend its digital and online coverage.

Niall Sloane, ITV’s controller of sport, said: “ITV’s coverage of the Tour de France has a terrific reputation with viewers and sports fans and I’m delighted that, in one of the most exciting periods for British cycling, we have secured coverage on ITV4 until 2015.”

ITV apologise after commentary disappears from Peterborough v Sunderland FA Cup match

2012-01-08T16:16:00.001Z

ITV made an on-air apology after viewers had to watch the start of an FA Cup match without any commentary.

It happened at the beginning of the Peterborough United v Sunderland FA Cup third round tie.

Host Matt Smith handed to the commentary team of Peter Drury and Jim Beglin, but viewers heard just crowd noise from London Road.

Three minutes into the game, ITV put up a caption apologising for the loss of sound before it finally returned eight minutes into the match.

Drury said: "If you're just hearing us for the first time from London Road here on ITV we apologise if you haven't up until this point."

He then remarked: "...apologise with some reservation because it presupposes that our noise enhances your entertainment!"

The incident started trending on Twitter with some tweeters saying they preferred the football without commentary!

Off The Ball on ESPN

2012-01-06T20:38:00.001Z

ESPN is to launch a new weekly comedy and Premier League chat show to its line-up.

Off The Ball will run for half-an-hour from January 12 and air each Thursday night at 10pm.

ESPN say it will deliver "a weekly TV dose of wit and wisdom" examining the goings-on around the the Premier League.

Regular panellists line up alongside host Will Buckley to sift through the goals, transfers, manager sackings, controversies, sending-offs, off-the-field shenanigans and more.

Each week, Buckley will be joined by three other panellists who will take it in turn to discuss a wide range of topics.

Panellists will include writer and broadcaster Martin Kelner, writer Harry Pearson and comedians Henning When, Ian Stone and Bob Mills.

ITV and Eurosport to screen African Cup of Nations

2012-01-06T20:14:00.000Z

ITV has secured a deal to show live matches and highlights free-to-air of the African Cup of Nations.

Under the agreement, ITV 4 will screen:

> one game live from the group stages: Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso
> one live quarter-final
> one live semi-final
> the final live
> comprehensive highlights programmes
> the live games also online on ITV's football website

Niall Sloane, ITV’s controller of sport said: "The African Cup of Nations is a major football event with a huge following in the UK and I’m delighted that we’ll be offering viewers free-to-air live coverage and highlights throughout the tournament on ITV4."

ITV will announce their presenting and commentary teams shortly.

Meanwhile, ALL 32 games will be screened live on Eurosport in the UK which holds the pay TV rights to the tournaments.

The Eurosport team includes Leroy Rosenior, Tim Caple, Jon Roder, Dan O’Hagan and Wayne Boyce.

In addition to the live coverage, Eurosport will also broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations Special, a daily 15-minute programme including reviews and previews of matches.

The African Cup of Nations will run from from January 21 to February 12 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

ESPN boost live Serie A and Bundesliga coverage

2012-01-03T19:20:00.001Z

ESPN is to boost its live coverage of Serie A and Bundesliga matches by adding studio analysis for the first time.

Since its UK launch, the broadcaster has screened the matches live with no pre, half-time or after-match programming.

It's part of a new-look to Sundays which will see almost nine hours of live sports coverage anchored from ESPN's studios.

As part of the changes, ESPN's Talk of the Terrace - which is hosted by Kelly Cates (above) - will move from Mondays to a new live Sunday night slot.

Sunday evenings will be rounded off with Mark Chapman and Steve Bunce presenting their take on sport's big talking points in a new series of Pardon the Interruption.

The Sundays will centre around a range of sports including live Serie A, Bundesliga, FA Cup, Aviva Premiership rugby, Top 14 rugby, the WRC and occasional live Sunday Premier League games.

The revamped Sunday line-up begins on January 15 with the schedule as below:

1:45pm – LIVE SERIE A – JUVENTUS v CAGLIARI: Immediately following live coverage of Lazio v Atalanta, ESPN’s Nat Coombs and guests present live coverage of the Serie A match between Juventus and Cagliari, with pre-match, halftime and post-match studio analysis plus goals from other Serie A matches.

4:15pm – LIVE BUNDESLIGA STUDIO: ESPN presenter Kelly Cates is joined by guests to present a live studio wrap up of the Bundesliga season so far, with live studio analysis and discussion, plus video of the day’s action from around Germany’s top league.

6:45pm – TALK OF THE TERRACE: Kelly Cates is joined by guests to look back at all of the weekend’s Premier League or FA Cup action and discuss the biggest topics on the domestic football landscape, as well as expert technical analysis using ESPN Arena, ESPN’s virtual reality analysis tool that brings match plays and players to life, plus, interviews and integration of fan opinions via social media.

7:15pm – LIVE SERIE A – AC MILAN v INTER MILAN: Mark Chapman and a guest present live studio match presentation of the Milan Derby, as well and provide a round-up of the weekend’s Serie A action.

10:00pm – PARDON THE INTERRUPTION (PTI): Mark Chapman and Steve Bunce discuss the hottest issues in sports, in a fast-paced debate format based on the original Emmy Award-winning US format.

Tears as Georgie Thompson says farewell to Sky Sports News

2011-12-29T19:30:00.000Z

EMOTIONAL: Georgie fights back the tears as Jim White presents her with flowers. Photo: Sky Sports News.

Georgie Thompson says she is "overwhelmed" after presenting her last programme on Sky Sports News.

The popular presenter will be part of Sky Sports' new F1 channel when it launches in March where she will co-present a magazine show with Ted Kravitz who is joining Sky's F1 team from the BBC.

Thompson has been a huge success on Sky Sports News since her debut on the station ten years ago and has also featured on Sky 1 comedy panel show A League of Their Own.

The 34-year-old presented her final shift with Julian Warren who she referred to as one of her many "on-screen husbands".

KISS GOODBYE: Georgie's co-host Julian Warren says farewell. Photo: Sky Sports News.

Her final few minutes on Sky Sports News featured a surprise call from Spurs manager Harry Redknapp wishing her well, an airing of her original Sky audition tape and previously unseen footage of her dancing to a Cheeky Girls Christmas song!

She thanked viewers for all their support and as her shift was starting tweeted: "Thank you for your kind messages and support this afternoon. I am very touched, humbled and a bit of a wreck as a result!"

Later after bowing out, she added on Twitter: "I'm choked, overwhelmed and speechless, which is a first! Thank you."

Thompson wiped away a tear as fellow presenter Jim White made a surprise visit to the set to present her with flowers.

SURPRISE: Jim White turns up with flowers. Photo: Sky Sports News.

Thompson and Kravitz are among a number of new presenters and pundits signed up for Sky's new F1 channel. See HERE for more details.

Football League Show "under threat" due to BBC budget cuts

2011-12-29T14:30:00.000Z

Speculation is mounting about the long-term future of The Football League Show after it emerged the BBC has still not renewed its highlights contract which is due to finish at the end of the season.

The Daily Mirror reported that the show - fronted by Manish Bhasin (above) - is facing the axe due to BBC cutbacks which have already seen them do a deal to share rights for live F1 races with Sky Sports next season.

The BBC is already scaling down its Football League coverage. This season will be the last it shows ten live Championship games, and two League Cup semi-finals and the final, after Sky secured those rights in a deal which kicks in for the start of the 2012-2013 season.

This fits in with the BBC's policy on sports rights of only going after events it considers to be "the crown jewels" such as the Wimbledon fortnight. Premier League football highlights (which is airs through the hugely popular Match of the Day) is said to be on that list of sports rights it is determined to keep.

The Football League is not considered as important while the huge cost of covering more than 30 football matches for the highlights show is also unattractive not just to the BBC, but other broadcasters who otherwise might be interested in airing League highlights.

The speculation has been prompted by the BBC failing to air two festive editions of the programme despite there being a full schedule of matches.

Writing on his Twitter page, presenter Manish Bhasin said the programmes weren't screened due to "a budget decision" later adding: "I feel your frustration, believe me." He also confirmed there would be an extra edition of the programme on Easter Monday.

But Bhasin was unable to confirm the future of the programme beyond the end of the season, writing: "Not sure where these rumours have come from but the FLS has NOT been scrapped! It's on till May and who knows maybe even longer...but.."

RELATED
> Sky clinches exclusive live Football League rights HERE

Ben Edwards confirms BBC F1 commentator job

2011-12-13T17:50:00.000Z

Ben Edwards has confirmed speculation he will be the BBC's new F1 commentator for the 2012 season.

He wrote on his Twitter page: "So, it looks as though it's really happening. I will be the BBC F1 commentator in 2012 and I can't wait!

"It took a while for things to be sorted, and thanks to ITV for being so understanding. Really looking forward to working with the crew," he added.

Edwards, who has been working with ITV on their British Touring Cars Championship coverage, has previously commentated on F1 during Sky's short-lived pay-per-view F1 + service. He's also worked for Eurosport.

The BBC are showing just ten live F1 weekends next year after a joint deal with Sky Sports which sees the subscription service show all 20 weekends live.

Edwards takes over the role vacated by Martin Brundle who quit the BBC to join the new Sky Sports F1 channel.

RELATED
> Sky Sports reveals F1 team HERE
> BBC reveals F1 2012 coverage HERE
> Sky announces new dedicated F1 channel HERE

BBC and ITV reveal live Euro 2012 games

2011-12-12T11:31:00.001Z

The BBC and ITV have revealed their Euro 2012 live TV schedules.

England's group stage matches with France and the Ukraine will be on ITV with the BBC covering the England-Sweden clash.

BBC will then have first pick of the quarter-finals and will select England's match if they've made it through.

BBC will screen both semi-finals, while both broadcasters will screen the final.

The BBC and ITV jointly hold rights to the competition and agreed a system together for deciding who gets what matches.

Full schedule revealed:

8 June: Poland v Greece (BBC), Russia v Czech Republic (ITV)

9 June: Netherlands v Denmark (BBC), Germany v Portugal (BBC)

10 June: Spain v Italy (ITV), Republic of Ireland v Croatia (ITV)

11 June: France v England (ITV), Ukraine v Sweden (BBC)

12 June: Greece v Czech Republic (ITV), Poland v Russia (ITV)

13 June: Denmark v Portugal (ITV), Netherlands v Germany (BBC)

14 June: Italy v Croatia (BBC), Spain v Republic of Ireland (ITV)

15 June: Ukraine v France (ITV), Sweden v England (BBC)

16 June: Greece v Russia (BBC), Poland v Czech Republic (BBC)

17 June: Portugal v Netherlands (ITV), Denmark v Germany (ITV)

18 June: Croatia v Spain (BBC), Italy v Republic of Ireland (BBC)

19 June: Sweden v France (ITV), England v Ukraine (ITV)

Knock-out stages
Quarter-finals (21, 22, 23, 24 June) - BBC has first & fourth picks, ITV has second & third

Semi-finals (27 & 28 June) - BBC

Final (1 July) - BBC & ITV

RELATED
> BBC to host Euro 2012 from Salford - not Poland and Ukraine HERE

Channel 5, ITV 4 and ESPN set for Europa ratings boost following Manchester Champions League flop

2011-12-08T19:28:00.001Z

Channel 5, ITV 4 and ESPN could be in line for a ratings boost after Manchester United and Manchester City's exits from the Champions League.

The pair will now play in the Europa League which the three broadcasters jointly own the rights to for the rest of the season.

For Channel 5 and ESPN to have two big guns like the Manchester clubs is likely to see an increase in viewer numbers.

It's not clear yet whether ITV will chose to air some of the Manchester pair's Europa games on its main ITV 1 channel to maximise advertising revenues. Currently matches air on ITV 4.

Certainly Channel 5 executives seem excited about the prospects, especially as under the current deal they get first pick of the matches.

"Manchester might not be happy but Channel 5 are delighted," Nick Bampton, commercial sales director at Channel 5, told the Media Guardian website.

"We get the two best teams in England entertaining our audiences for free, which in turn delivers mass audiences for our advertising partners," he told the newspaper.

From next season, a new deal starts which will see Europa games aired on just ESPN and ITV after Channel 5 lost the rights to their share of the games.