Euro 21 on the BBC (and ITV) and ITS LIVE

[The Golden boy]

On 10/06/2021 at 19:59, CFuller said:

You know a major tournament is almost upon you when you're rewatching BBC and ITV intros from past events. I thought I'd look back at their opening sequences to every European Championship since my first one in 2000 (I was a bit young for Euro 96, sorry).

 

EURO 2000

 

BBC: A classy intro with Andrea Bocelli and some animated table football. A few noticeable landmarks too, but otherwise feels neither Belgian nor Dutch.

ITV: This is the one I really remember as a 10-year-old. Loads of flags and a rousing instrumental, though a bit more chaotic visually. A close-run thing, but I probably prefer this one.

ITV WIN (BBC 0-1 ITV)

 

EURO 2004

BBC: I LOVE this one. The tournament's biggest stars playing around Portugal's most iconic landmarks to the sound of Basement Jaxx.

ITV: Surprisingly similar to Auntie's effort, with a little more fun and some historic footage... but the music just isn't grabbing me. A resounding win for the BBC.

BBC WIN (BBC 1-1 ITV)

 

EURO 2008

BBC: Animated cards play football in the Alps, with Mozart providing the soundtrack. Top marks for originality, but Ronaldo's smile just rubs me up the wrong way.

ITV: Sepia-toned, traditional, operatic. Doesn't feel much like a Swiss-Austrian Euros. That said, I probably like this one a bit more than creepy Cristiano.

ITV WIN (BBC 1-2 ITV)

 

EURO 2012

BBC: Epic sound and animation, though it feels like it's introducing a Game of Thrones knock-off rather than a football tournament. Completely and utterly forgettable.

ITV: Urgh, those melted waxworks make Roy Hodgson really look like a character from Thunderbirds. At least it tells you exactly what it's promoting, so ITV win again... just.

ITV WIN (BBC 1-3 ITV)

 

EURO 2016

 

BBC: The Beeb made more of an effort this time. Nice visuals combining action shots with French landmarks, and Izzy Bizu provides the music.

ITV: The soundtrack is top-drawer, the animations ooze sophistication, and all the host cities are represented. It's more Euro 1916 than 2016, but this gets my vote.

ITV WIN (BBC 1-4 ITV)

 

A few close calls, but for me, ITV tend to produce the better (or at least more memorable) title sequences when it comes to major tournaments. Will this year's efforts follow a similar story, or will the BBC finally hit back after several lean years?

BBC's Euro 2004 is the best of them all.

But the best Euro's related video creation has to be BBC's trailer for Euro 2016.

 

[HopOnBaby]

Is it just me, or have SD broadcasts got worse?

Feel like I have to watch on iPlayer or ITV Hub for HD, but you're always at least 30 seconds behind and the latter is an appalling, constantly crashing platform.

[Andrew_]

I accidentally put on BBC1 SD initially yesterday. Looked horrific on a 65 inch TV.