Live in Paris
Nicky Campbell was live in Paris this morning - and will be appearing on Drive this afternoon and will present Weekend Breakfast from Paris tomorrow too.
But some e-mailer/texters weren't happy. Broadly they were asking why waste money sending him to Paris - and to add insult to some people's injury - he's Scottish so what's it got to do with him.
I'm the programme editor and there were discussions with the controller of 5live Bob Shennan as soon as England qualified for the final. Last weekend Matt Smith had presented the Breakfast show on Saturday and Sunday from Paris - and we agreed that England's appearance in the final merited similar treatment.
Why? Well, 5live has the rights to commentate on the so across the station we've been keen to follow the tournament in detail and give maximum exposure to our coverage. Having a presenter like Nicky enables us to report more effectively on the build-up to the event. This is arguably the biggest sporting event featuring a UK team since the last rugby world cup final.
Having a presenter there enables us to get better guests (people prefer talking face to face), it enables us to have access to fans and hopefully it gives people listening a sense of the atmosphere in the run up to the event. This morning we spoke to Victor Obogu and Brian Moore, to English fans and South Africa supporters. We were able to reflect the level of interest in France and report on the search for tickets.
For those who accuse Nicky of going on a "jolly" you'll be glad to know we are working Nicky as hard as possible. He hasn't got a ticket to the game - and will have to dash back to present his Sunday morning TV programme The Big Questions.
5live programmes aim wherever possible to be live at major news and sports events. We believe it leads to better programmes. This is what the judges of the said "(5live Breakfast) has a great sense of movement and being "out there" and is the perfect antidote to the normal studio bound fare at that time of day. Its take on sport is unique and, in Nicky Campbell, it has someone who is equally at home as a presenter or a reporter. His snatched interview with Colin Montgomery at was one of the broadcasting highlights of the year."
For those worried about the cost, believe me we do our upmost to do these OBs as cheaply as possible and the fact that the final is in Paris means the costs were not excessive.
You can comment on this entry here.
