BBC viewers have made it clear they have very little interest in the proposed changes to Match of the Day. BBC chairman Samir Shah has claimed that the broadcaster’s flagship football programme should show less highlights of Premier League matches and dedicate more time to pundits analysing the day’s action. The Beeb have the rights to show highlights of England’s top-flight games until the end of the 2028-29 season.
At the moment, long-time host and former England striker Gary Lineker presents Match of the Day after 10pm on Saturday night with MOTD2, presented by Mark Chapman, then shown on Sunday evenings. But Shah, talking to the Sunday Times, has proposed some significant changes to the iconic show. He suggested MOTD “should not be built around highlights”. Shah added: “It should be built around analysis and examination of the match to give viewers a deeper insight.”
Yet viewers have now made it clear they think exactly the opposite. In a poll on the BBC’s website, at the time of writing, just eight per cent of voters were in favour or more analysis and less actions.
While 45 per cent argued the show should stay the same as it is and 47 per cent voted for more action and even less analysis than offered currently. The comments on the website were exactly the same.
One by ‘tony’, liked by over 3,000 BBC Sport users, read: “I want more highlights. I just fast forward the boys club pundits.” That was echoed by @Sharon71 who said: “I record MotD and fast forward the ‘expert analysis.'”
And a user by the name of ‘peter’, with over 2,500 likes, similarly said: “What planet is this man on? I watch it for the highlights not the analysis? Football focus has been ruined along with Question of Sport. Looks like Match of the Day will be next. These so called leaders are so out of touch with real people.”
A fourth disgruntled viewer going by the username ‘cml’ – backed up by nearly 2,000 likes – wrote: “MOTD serves the viewers who don’t subscribe to Sky / Prime / TNT etc. Seems rather arrogant and defeatist to say that most viewers have already watched the matches on TV, so the BBC isn’t going to bother with highlights. I get precious little else for me licence fee…..”
And ‘Chris’ said: “Truly, my favourite episode of MOTD was in March 2023 when everyone went on strike in solidarity with Gary. The show came on, they showed the highlights of the matches one by one, the show ended. Maybe I’m the minority but I just want to see the game, I’ve no interest in analysis waffle.”
Whether the BBC take such feedback on board remains to be seen. Lineker has hosted MOTD since 1999 but will step down at the end of this season. He will be replaced by Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan who will rotate across shows.
And upon the announcement Logan suggested she is in agreement with the viewers who mainly want to watch the highlights: “There’s an enormous responsibility to make sure we continue to evolve while at the same time respecting the traditions of Match of the Day.
“People want to see the goals, they want to see the incidents, they want to see the moments everyone’s talking about, so while we can tinker at the edges, the core is the football.”