The morning after the night before
So we are finally on air.
It was with a mixture of apprehension and relief that the clock finally ticked round and we broadcast our first programme.
It was nearly 10 minutes past 11pm last night when it finally happened - our big interview was with John Terry. at Chelsea and said he hadn't been racist towards Ledley King, called for a return of David Beckham to the England squad and talked really openly about his life and family.
The interview - and - was picked up well by other parts of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and in the morning papers.
It's been one of the ambitions of the programme to get the big interviews but do them in a more revealing way - the line up for the rest of this run is , , , and . You can send us your questions to them at .
Each week the list of sports we cover will be different - this week there were two big football-related items, as things stand next week there aren't any - it depends on the sporting agenda and when we can get to the big interviews. As always, new programmes are a work in progress and I'd really appreciate your views on what worked and what didn't. The more the better.
We've already . In specific reply to your responses, which are summarised here:
Q: Why were Gabby and John not wearing seatbelts?
A: You are right - they should have been wearing seatbelts. No Excuses. It won't happen again.
Q: Why is it on so late?
A: That's a question for the Controller of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE but I hope we can tempt you to stay up? Perhaps a power nap early evening may help?
Q: Will you be covering netball at all?
A: No plans to do netball in this first short run (six weeks). As with any sport it will be the story that drives whether it gets on the programme - I'd like something with a journalistic edge rather than simply cover a sport that we are good at for the sake of it. With a so-called minority sport, we also have to think even harder about how to make it appeal to a broader audience. So I will watch out for and all ideas gratefully received.
Q: Will you cover medical aspects of sport?
A: Yes, we will cover this sort of story when a good angle comes up. We nearly went over to meet the doctor in Colorado who did (amongst others) Michael Owen's knee. But in the end we thought he'd been on other outlets recently and so we didn't.
Q: What about Arsenal Ladies, sailing, and women's sport?
A: As a former football player myself, I was very pleased to see . I'm hoping there will be a piece about women's soccer in the second run in the autumn. I think however you can't deny the sailing was all about women in sport so I don't think you can say the programme is all about men's sport. And on the subject of itself - I stand with those who say it’s a great sport and this was - Des is entitled to his view, that's what he's there for - and it certainly provoked debate.
Q: Or ?
A: Yes have thought about him - interesting bloke.
Q: Will Inside Sport be available on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World?
A: It will be - check the shedule locally for details but we have several runs on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World nearer the coming weekend.
Q: Did you feel the show was too rushed?
A: That's one of the things I will look at when I see the tape back. It's a balance - keeping the pace up and keeping people awake versus not being too rushed.
Update 16.45pm: A few more answers to questions received throughout the day. I really must go home for a lie-down now...
More of you felt that the show was too rushed.
We're definitely looking at this - I think we may have tried to cover too many areas of chat and not let a single area develop more.
Q: What about minority sports?
A: Once again, it's interesting to see the great divide between those of you who are bored by so-called minority sports, and those who want us to cover netball, gaelic football and croquet (all of those are real requests). We will cover "minority" sports but there needs to be a point, an edge to it, a journalistic reason otherwise the majority won't watch.
Q: Where is the sporting action? Where are the highlights?
A: I'm afraid we've never been billed as a programme with lots of match/game action because a) that's not what we were ever supposed to be and b) this programme does not have the rights to a lot of sports that even news bulletins are allowed to use through the news access arrangements. So those wanting match action will have to look elsewhere - I would hope we compliment those programmes.
Q: How topical is the show aiming to be?
A: The big debating point here in the office amongst the team - it's that tension between not ending up becomming an edition of Sky Sports News but not feeling off the pace nor out of touch with any big stories that have happened.
Q: What's with the funny camera shots?
A: Most of you seem to like them - a few don't - they are going to stay as the consensus here is they work BUT I take the point and we must be careful not to overdo.
