BBC World Cup presenters are in a green screen studio, not on site.
Forget Thomas Tuchel’s squad selection. The biggest World Cup debate so far in England has been about the studios being used by the main broadcasters – the BBC and ITV. The former has remained on home soil in Salford, while the latter has built up an elaborate set in New York.
There is little doubt which looks better.
ITV’s outdoor view of the Brooklyn Bridge [below] is stunning. The BBC World Cup green screen studio… looks like a green screen studio, albeit an impressive one.
Does it matter? I think it does.
The joy of watching an international tournament on TV comes from feeling like you are there, even though most of us cannot be. Think of summer 2010, with the sound of vuvuzelas coming out of every TV and radio set. If the broadcaster isn’t based in the host nation, much of that vibe is lost.
Mark Pougatch, Laura Woods, Gary Nevile and co. are navigating New York’s sun and wind. Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates are in a box hundreds of miles away. It feels claustrophobic when you watch it – a programme about the World Cup, instead of the World Cup itself.
Of course, this is not the same as TNT Sports not having some commentators in Australia for at least some of the Ashes. The BBC World Cup commentary teams and reporters are there. So, yes, viewers do get some of the atmosphere. But that is not good enough from the national broadcaster.
BBC World Cup Green Studio to Save Money
In the Daily Mail, Katie Hind writes that the BBC world cup studio decision was made for “woke” reasons. The BBC is spinning that it was down to financial considerations. I suspect the latter is more accurate. Either way, should England and/or Scotland make it to the quarter-final stage, they will relocate to the US. This is supposedly a reasonable compromise by Aunty.
There has also been some suggestion that whatever the corporation did to cover the tournament, it would be criticised. People would complain if it spent a lot of money on a fancy American set and flying people over, and people are complaining now that they are not there.
I don’t agree with this. Licence fee payers expect the BBC to cover the biggest events in the best possible way. That includes being on site for everything from national and international news events to major sporting competitions. It had 550 people on site for Glastonbury 2025, for goodness sakes!
Research conducted for Ofcom back in 2021 backs this up. It found
The BBC is strongly associated with delivering content for occasions.
The corporation’s Olympic coverage declining. It will not even show one minute of the Commonwealth Games. The World Cup is the largest sporting event it covers. The ultimate occasion. It is not the time to scrimp and save. A green screen background does not, cannot, compete with a studio in the heart of a host city.
The BBC World Cup studio is yet another own goal for the corporation.
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