The Premiership (TV series)
| The Premiership | |
|---|---|
| Presented by |
Des Lynam Gabby Logan |
| Theme music composer | U2 |
| Opening theme | "Beautiful Day" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Running time | Variable |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 18 August 2001 – 15 May 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
The Premiership on Monday On the Ball The Goal Rush Match of the Day |
The Premiership (also known as The Premiership on ITV) was a television programme which showed highlights of the FA Premier League.
It was ITV Sport's flagship football show from August 2001 to May 2004. The show was created after the ITV network won a multimillion-pound deal to air Premier League highlights once owned by the BBC. The programme was presented by Des Lynam, with Ally McCoist and Andy Townsend frequently serving as pundits.
The Premiership ended in 2004, when the rights returned to the BBC from the 2004/05 season.
Match of the Day, the BBC's long-running football programme, was in its eighth year of terrestrial Premier League coverage and about to start a record ninth in 2000. Bidding for a further three seasons to the Premier League panel, the broadcaster went in as favourites to retain the exclusive highlights package. The contract was however awarded to rival network ITV at the last possible moment, outbidding their rivals by £60 million and securing the rights from the start of the 2001–02 league season at a reported cost of £183 million. This meant that they were splashing out roughly £1.3m per show.
In June 2001, ITV secured a three-year deal with the soft drink corporation Coca-Cola to help sponsor their new programme. At a fee of £50 million, it was the biggest sports sponsorship deal in British television history and was enough to overcome competition from rivals Pepsi and Budweiser. A remixed version of U2's Grammy Award-winning track, "Beautiful Day" was selected as the show's signature tune. To reflect the supplementary changes on the network, ITV extended their lunchtime football show, On The Ball to an hour and introduced The Goal Rush, which was billed as the fastest and most comprehensive results service in the country.
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