Nicolas Anelka

CARLTON AND ITV UPSET ARSENAL FANS AGAIN (plus best of the rest)
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Features

FEATURES

FRED STREET PROFILE

ARSENAL'S AGM

PETIT - ANNUS MIRABILIS

KANU - THE ENIGMA

NICOLAS ANELKA SPEAKS

KABA DIAWARA

OVERMARS SLICES THE BLADES

THE KIEV ANALYSIS

BRIAN GLANVILLE - GOONER

THE LETTERS FILE

DON HOWE INTERVIEWED

BLACKBURN REVIEW

SPURS DISSECTED

OLEG LUZHYNI

WILL SUKER FIT IN?

REACTION TO ANELKA

MORE THAN A GAME

NICOLAS ANALYSIS

ST.ETIENNE AND MONACO

THE ARSENAL AGM - FULL WRITE UP

SUKER - PROF POACHER

SOLNA ANALYSIS

FIVE REASONS: ARSENAL COULD WIN IN BARCELONA

CARLTON AND ITV UPSET US AGAIN

JEKYLL AND HYDE PLAY THE NOU CAMP

BUBBLE BURSTS - WEST HAM REVIEW

BARCELONA REVISTED

Adam Osborn

adam.osborn@kingston-tli .co.uk

Champions League Games

Dear ANR

I am sure that it has come to your attention that Wednesday's free for all game will be Manchester United again!!

I have contacted Carlton and they gave me the follow excuse:

Thank you for your e-mail.

It was a very difficult decision to make regarding which Champions' League match to transmit. As we proved last year we have been willing to opt out of Man Utd if we thought that this was in the interest of all our viewers. We do not expect Arsenal fans to agree with our decision, however we hope you will understand that we have to base our decisions on what we believe is of most interest to the majority of our viewers.

On the advice of our sports department, which has many years of experience of having to make such difficult choices, we have decided to show Man Utd last night and next Wednesday Man Utd v Olympique Marseilles.

Our decision was also based on the fact that our audience research has repeatedly shown that in the Carlton region more viewers want to watch Man Utd.

We are obviously sorry if this upsets Arsenal fans but the whole match will be available live on ITV2. There will also be extended highlights on ITV between 23:30 and 00:35.

The decision about which matches we will screen in future will be based on the same criteria. If we believe that the majority of all the viewers in the Carlton region will be attracted to an Arsenal match we will have no hesitation in opting out of the Network.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

How, to me this seems strange.

I find it hard to believe that Manchester United have become one of the best loved clubs in the CARLTON REGION.

I have spoken to many people, not just Arsenal fans about this and they all agree that Barcelona vs Arsenal should be the live match on Wednesday. Even Carlton agree, well at least last year they agreed when Manchester United played them.

From Carlton Duty Office last year:

We are sorry to hear that you are disappointed that ITV will not be showing the Arsenal match. The decision was based on the fact that Manchester United vs Barcelona was one of the greatest fixtures in world football with the majority of football fans wanting to see these two great footballing giants.

Carlton however, will hopefully be showing Arsenal games in preference to Manchester Utd in the near future but in this instance it was felt we would be doing football viewers a great disservice.

The highlights programme has been specifically moved to 22:55 and will major on the Arsenal game.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your views.

Is Barcelona vs Arsenal not one of the greatest fixtures in world football as well, or have Marseille overtaken Barcelona as one of the world's footballing giants.

Carlton have now shown Chelsea and Manchester United once, why not Arsenal, a game which is being played away and which fans only have 1,400 tickets for.

If they were to show the Arsenal game they would probably have the majority of the 71,227 crowd from Wednesday nights game watching as well.

71,227 was the second highest gate in the champions league, second only to Barcelona and bigger than any crowd Manchester United will get this season.

Call me suspicious, but while 71,227 watching the game would probably not make much impact on viewing figures it would be a nice amount of OnDigital subscriptions to sell at £9.99.

It looks to me that Arsenal Fans are being taken advantage of.

While they might say that this has nothing to do with it, even their website says that sales of Ondigital sets and subscriptions are 50% up this week following the first live Champions League games of the season.

Thank you for listening

Adam Osborn

Mike Goonshow

mike@route-one.demon.co.uk

ITV - ManU grovelling

Following is a copy of an email I sent to ITV in Germany tonight at the Graz farce after they announced they'd also be showing Man U and not Arse-Barcelona on terrestrial for the next game.

I thought instead of biting the carpet or smashing the set as soon as a red shirt was in close-up, I'd do something a bit more positive.

If, after reading, anybody feels like emailing Amstel - the sponsors of this Man U grovelling, I've put the URL's etc at the end.

Thanks to the boys tonight for piling it on at the death.

To ITV Sports

I am surprised you have not got the whole way and cashed in on ManU by calling your Sports Programme ManUTV.

You are broadcasting tonight a game which was always destined to be a boring football carve-up - or perhaps you hadn't spoken earlier to your commentators who read out all the previous wipe-out scores on that ground when Graz had played European opposition.

I could just about have gone along with that until you announced it would be Man U for the next game too - when Arsenal will be playing, of all teams, Barcelona away - in what your new presenter described at half-time as the toughest group in the Cup.

That may well turn out to be one of the toughest and most eventful games of the whole Cup (ask Des, on the quiet) - to be seen by nobody on your terrestrial service, while you show another mouse playing your favourite team.

Of course we understand that if we subscribe to OnDigital - not available in this area or anywhere else where you can't receive Channel 5 - we might see the Arse-Barce game on ITV Digital, along with the other few thousand people.

There is absolutely no logic in this programming decision depriving millions of a great game of football it was in your power to show. It will be understood by no single non-ManU genuine football follower (ask Des, on the quiet) but then it's your digital marketing men who must be pulling the strings.

I realise this kind of protest is a waste of time. You'll go on in your own sweet way.

I shall however try to persuade the Arse listserve and the Web sites to do two things.

i) email Amstel and tell them nobody will touch their beer in a large part of N. London - they should save their sales expenses and spend their time and money selling it to the grateful of Manchester.

ii) on no account to subscribe to ITV digital - any Arse fan foolish enough to feel forced on to it will then no doubt get a diet of ManU - as the same pogramming game is played with their fans.

Here's one person anyway who'll go along.

As Terry Thomas would undoubtedly have said about you, a little way back, what a shower.

Not too many regards

Mike Goonshow

________________________________________________

http://www.amstel.com/index_champs.html

Go to the green button, bottom right of the home page which says "React".

This will take you to an email form, "Love it" or "Hate It". Send your comments to you know which one!

Best of the Rest

Tom Round

36warwick@tinyworld.co.uk

Kanu

I know he made a mess of his penalty against Fiorentina but since he arrived from Inter, Kanu has given our beloved side a extra dimesion of unpredictablity which, with the skills of Bergkamp, no Premiership team can match. I am sure that when we win the Champions League ( winning 5-4 against Man Utd ) Kanu will become a Gunner's legend. Kanu! Kanu!

Andy Dobson

androyd1@arsenalfc.net

Website

I've just found it thanks to Newsnow and it looks absolutely the complete business. I shall mention on the Arsenal NG and it will become a firm favourite. A stunner.






	CARLTON AND ITV UPSET ARSENAL FANS AGAIN (plus best of the rest)						More Features FEATURES FRED STREET PROFILE ARSENAL'S AGM PETIT - ANNUS MIRABILIS KANU - THE ENIGMA NICOLAS ANELKA SPEAKS KABA DIAWARA OVERMARS SLICES THE BLADES THE KIEV ANALYSIS BRIAN GLANVILLE - GOONER THE LETTERS FILE DON HOWE INTERVIEWED BLACKBURN REVIEW SPURS DISSECTED OLEG LUZHYNI WILL SUKER FIT IN? REACTION TO ANELKA MORE THAN A GAME NICOLAS ANALYSIS ST.ETIENNE AND MONACO THE ARSENAL AGM - FULL WRITE UP SUKER - PROF POACHER SOLNA ANALYSIS FIVE REASONS: ARSENAL COULD WIN IN BARCELONA CARLTON AND ITV UPSET US AGAIN JEKYLL AND HYDE PLAY THE NOU CAMP BUBBLE BURSTS - WEST HAM REVIEW BARCELONA REVISTED
	Adam Osborn adam.osborn@kingston-tli .co.uk Champions League Games Dear ANR I am sure that it has come to your attention that Wednesday's free for all game will be Manchester United again!! I have contacted Carlton and they gave me the follow excuse: Thank you for your e-mail. It was a very difficult decision to make regarding which Champions' League match to transmit. As we proved last year we have been willing to opt out of Man Utd if we thought that this was in the interest of all our viewers. We do not expect Arsenal fans to agree with our decision, however we hope you will understand that we have to base our decisions on what we believe is of most interest to the majority of our viewers. On the advice of our sports department, which has many years of experience of having to make such difficult choices, we have decided to show Man Utd last night and next Wednesday Man Utd v Olympique Marseilles. Our decision was also based on the fact that our audience research has repeatedly shown that in the Carlton region more viewers want to watch Man Utd. We are obviously sorry if this upsets Arsenal fans but the whole match will be available live on ITV2. There will also be extended highlights on ITV between 23:30 and 00:35. The decision about which matches we will screen in future will be based on the same criteria. If we believe that the majority of all the viewers in the Carlton region will be attracted to an Arsenal match we will have no hesitation in opting out of the Network. Thank you for taking the time to contact us. How, to me this seems strange. I find it hard to believe that Manchester United have become one of the best loved clubs in the CARLTON REGION. I have spoken to many people, not just Arsenal fans about this and they all agree that Barcelona vs Arsenal should be the live match on Wednesday. Even Carlton agree, well at least last year they agreed when Manchester United played them. From Carlton Duty Office last year: We are sorry to hear that you are disappointed that ITV will not be showing the Arsenal match. The decision was based on the fact that Manchester United vs Barcelona was one of the greatest fixtures in world football with the majority of football fans wanting to see these two great footballing giants. Carlton however, will hopefully be showing Arsenal games in preference to Manchester Utd in the near future but in this instance it was felt we would be doing football viewers a great disservice. The highlights programme has been specifically moved to 22:55 and will major on the Arsenal game. Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your views. Is Barcelona vs Arsenal not one of the greatest fixtures in world football as well, or have Marseille overtaken Barcelona as one of the world's footballing giants. Carlton have now shown Chelsea and Manchester United once, why not Arsenal, a game which is being played away and which fans only have 1,400 tickets for. If they were to show the Arsenal game they would probably have the majority of the 71,227 crowd from Wednesday nights game watching as well. 71,227 was the second highest gate in the champions league, second only to Barcelona and bigger than any crowd Manchester United will get this season. Call me suspicious, but while 71,227 watching the game would probably not make much impact on viewing figures it would be a nice amount of OnDigital subscriptions to sell at £9.99. It looks to me that Arsenal Fans are being taken advantage of. While they might say that this has nothing to do with it, even their website says that sales of Ondigital sets and subscriptions are 50% up this week following the first live Champions League games of the season. Thank you for listening Adam Osborn Mike Goonshow mike@route-one.demon.co.uk ITV - ManU grovelling Following is a copy of an email I sent to ITV in Germany tonight at the Graz farce after they announced they'd also be showing Man U and not Arse-Barcelona on terrestrial for the next game. I thought instead of biting the carpet or smashing the set as soon as a red shirt was in close-up, I'd do something a bit more positive. If, after reading, anybody feels like emailing Amstel - the sponsors of this Man U grovelling, I've put the URL's etc at the end. Thanks to the boys tonight for piling it on at the death. To ITV Sports I am surprised you have not got the whole way and cashed in on ManU by calling your Sports Programme ManUTV. You are broadcasting tonight a game which was always destined to be a boring football carve-up - or perhaps you hadn't spoken earlier to your commentators who read out all the previous wipe-out scores on that ground when Graz had played European opposition. I could just about have gone along with that until you announced it would be Man U for the next game too - when Arsenal will be playing, of all teams, Barcelona away - in what your new presenter described at half-time as the toughest group in the Cup. That may well turn out to be one of the toughest and most eventful games of the whole Cup (ask Des, on the quiet) - to be seen by nobody on your terrestrial service, while you show another mouse playing your favourite team. Of course we understand that if we subscribe to OnDigital - not available in this area or anywhere else where you can't receive Channel 5 - we might see the Arse-Barce game on ITV Digital, along with the other few thousand people. There is absolutely no logic in this programming decision depriving millions of a great game of football it was in your power to show. It will be understood by no single non-ManU genuine football follower (ask Des, on the quiet) but then it's your digital marketing men who must be pulling the strings. I realise this kind of protest is a waste of time. You'll go on in your own sweet way. I shall however try to persuade the Arse listserve and the Web sites to do two things. i) email Amstel and tell them nobody will touch their beer in a large part of N. London - they should save their sales expenses and spend their time and money selling it to the grateful of Manchester. ii) on no account to subscribe to ITV digital - any Arse fan foolish enough to feel forced on to it will then no doubt get a diet of ManU - as the same pogramming game is played with their fans. Here's one person anyway who'll go along. As Terry Thomas would undoubtedly have said about you, a little way back, what a shower. Not too many regards Mike Goonshow ________________________________________________ http://www.amstel.com/index_champs.html Go to the green button, bottom right of the home page which says "React". This will take you to an email form, "Love it" or "Hate It". Send your comments to you know which one! Best of the Rest Tom Round 36warwick@tinyworld.co.uk Kanu I know he made a mess of his penalty against Fiorentina but since he arrived from Inter, Kanu has given our beloved side a extra dimesion of unpredictablity which, with the skills of Bergkamp, no Premiership team can match. I am sure that when we win the Champions League ( winning 5-4 against Man Utd ) Kanu will become a Gunner's legend. Kanu! Kanu! Andy Dobson androyd1@arsenalfc.net Website I've just found it thanks to Newsnow and it looks absolutely the complete business. I shall mention on the Arsenal NG and it will become a firm favourite. A stunner.