Ahead of today’s World Cup start, one of Ian Wright’s comments stood out amidst the conflict between ITV and the BBC’s coverage of the tournament.
Wright is obsessed with ITV’s New York set, to say the least (Image: ITV)
Arsenal legend Ian Wright said “of course” as the ITV team unveiled their stunning World Cup base. Ahead of the start of the tournament, Mr Wright, Roy Keane and ITV presenter Mark Pugatch watched England’s friendly win over Costa Rica from a spectacular set in New York City.
The infamous Big Apple skyline dominated the backdrop as Keane, Wright and Pugatch led Thomas Tuchel’s side to a 3-0 victory. This is in contrast to the BBC, which chose to analyze the World Cup from its Salford studios.
BBC Director Alex Kay Jelski recently justified his decision to remain in the UK by reminding critics that investment in US studios and travel for reporters and TV teams comes out of taxpayers’ pockets. While ITV marveled at the New York set, Wright made some interesting comments about their base.
“Welcome to my New York loft apartment, my home base for six weeks of World Cup coverage,” Pugach said at the beginning of the broadcast.
“We hope you like this view as much as we do, of the buildings of Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. You’re thinking this must be AI, but I assure you it’s real.”
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Keene responded, “Great, great,” and Wright echoed that sentiment, saying, “It’s a great, unbelievable set. It’s the World Cup, so it should be, it should be big, huge.”
This is in stark contrast to the BBC’s setback in Salford. The Beebes were heavily criticized for their decision to keep the core of their World Cup broadcast team in Britain.
Few sports reporters were sent across the pond for the competition. BBC sports director Kay Jelski recently justified the decision to the Daily Mail, saying: “So far I’m incredibly happy with the decision.
“You’re talking about probably hundreds of additional people, and that’s before you even build a studio, but you’re talking millions of dollars. If I were to stand here and say that everything was going to be done in a studio in Dallas, you would of course say to me, ‘How can you justify that expense?’
“I don’t think the answer from an economically sustainable perspective is for everyone to participate. That doesn’t seem like a very wise use of license fees to me.”
BBC World Cup pundit lineup (Image: BBC)
Mr Keane also opened up about the conflict between ITV and the BBC, going so far as to say it extended to the professionals working for each broadcaster. Regarding Sky Bet’s miniseries Road to American, he said: “The conflict between the BBC and ITV critics is a bit strange, but I think it’s good to have some tension.”
“I think there needs to be a bit of competition. Don’t kid yourself. There’s definitely some tension, even from pundits collaborating with other pundits. The BBC may have some younger pundits, but these are two completely different shows.”
“The people working behind the scenes at the BBC and ITV are all about numbers, and perhaps that’s passed on to the experts.”
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