STV explain Celtic-Barcelona no show

By STUART BATHGATE
Published on 24/10/2012 01:18

STV has explained why it was unable to screen last night’s Champions League match between Barcelona and Celtic, showing Manchester United’s home game against Braga instead.

“STV would love to broadcast Celtic Champions League coverage,” a spokesperson for the company said. “However, only a single game can be broadcast UK-wide, and the decision regarding which match to feature is taken solely by ITV.”

As ITV and Sky share the UK rights to broadcast Champions League games, STV cannot choose to go it alone and show a match which would otherwise not be screeened. Given that it has no rights to the Champions League, its only choice is to take the ITV game or to show something other than live football instead.

The statement from the company followed a number of complaints or inquiries from various media outlets and members of the public, asking why a fixture featuring an English Premiership club and their Portuguese opponents was being preferred to one between the Scottish champions and the best club side in the world. As the statement implied, no such preference existed. Instead, it was at the mercy of the decision taken centrally.