Arsenal FA Cup TV clash: why did BBC go up against Sky?

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has criticised the TV networks over the scheduling of the Gunners FA Cup semi-final against Reading on Saturday evening and the critical Premier League clash between league leaders Chelsea and Manchester United.

The FA Cup showdown at Wembley kicks off at 5.20pm on Saturday and will be shown live on the BBC. The game between Chelsea and United, just a few miles away at Stamford Bridge, begins just ten minutes later and will be shown on Sky Sports.

The clash leaves football fans with a choice to make, but the Arsenal boss thinks it is the result of bad planning. "Something should be done about it," Wenger told a press conference ahead of the game. "I'm surprised that they did not analyse that in television deals. Basically what happens is something that should have been planned, that two television channels who pay a lot of money for football, have conflicted interests in promoting games. That, inside the country, shouldn't happen."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Arsenal game is likely to draw more viewers, as it will be on terrestrial TV, but Wenger believes that the FA Cup should not have to compete for viewers with the Premier League.

"You would like it to be the unique competition that is played," he said. "Especially a semi-final and a final. You would want it not to conflict with other competitions."

But who is to blame for the problem?

"Sky Sports and the Premier League announced in February the Chelsea game would be moved to Saturday evening," explains James Olley in the London Evening Standard. "The BBC, in conjunction with the Football Association, had the choice of when to screen Arsenal's game but chose to proceed with their primetime Saturday night slot even though it meant going head-to-head with Sky."

The FA and BBC's decision to go head-to-head with Sky and the Premier League has caused "considerable surprise inside football" says Jeremy Wilson in the Daily Telegraph. But he points out that when Sky decided to move their game to Saturday evening Manchester United were still in the FA Cup, and there was a chance that they would make the semi-finals meaning that the game would not happen.

However, when Arsenal knocked United out of the cup it became apparent the league match would take place. "The BBC and FA clearly then decided that they should not back away from the prime-time Saturday evening slot just because Sky had scheduled their highest profile game of the season at that time," says Wilson.

But forget the whys and wherefores, says Eurosport. "The totally absurd situation will see millions of fans missing one or other of the biggest games of the season," it says, pointing the finger at the BBC for refusing to switch the kick off time in order to set up its viewing figures "for the rest of the night".

Supporters have "been thrown to the dogs by ruthless TV executives and football administrators – for there is fault on all sides in this situation", it concludes.