The CBBC football commentary that swept Twitter was intended as a complement, not an antidote, to BBC1's coverage
I've been part of a CBBC commentary team twice before but we've never had a reaction quite like we did during and after our alternative commentary for the Euro 2012 final last night. Then again, Twitter and sport have never been more intertwined. It was on the social media site that news starting spreading about our red button frolics. It didn't take long for CBBC to start trending.
The idea behind the CBBC commentary was to provide six- to 12-year-olds (the channel's target audience) an alternative way of watching the match. Kids who didn't fancy sticking with the usual BBC offering were able to press the red button and hear four familiar voices (three ex-CBBC presenters in me, Joel Defries and Michael Absalom, and Chris Johnson who is a current face on the channel) chat about the action and provide them with fun facts and quizzes about the tournament, the two nations, the teams and the players.
We viewed it as a complement, not antidote, to the conventional commentating on the main channel. Mark Lawrenson, Alan Hansen and Gary Lineker on BBC1 aren't what everyone wants – particularly kids. It was also positive, particularly for a target demographic who play sports with boys and girls together, to have at least one female voice commentating.
It was also great to get any children who had been allowed to stay up for the match involved. Anyone that's ever read the CBBC message boards knows how opinionated, cheeky and funny today's kids are – not always intentionally. They got in touch with us through email, phone and those messageboards – telling us where they were watching the match, who they were supporting and why, who they were watching the match with, their match predictions, their favourite goals of the tournament and of course their favourite hairstyles.
Some of their reasons for backing a particular team were brilliant. One caller told us how he loved pizza and spaghetti, and so decided to support the Italians. But my highlight of the evening came when one young fan, who had been banished to his bedroom by his parents to watch the game with our commentary, called us. We got his dad on the phone and eventually convinced them to watch the game together – with our commentary.
Kids hear the opinions of adults all week long. (Yes, I know we're adults too but I'd like to think CBBC alumni know how to entertain children.) This was a chance for them to watch a huge sporting event going on in another country and feel part of it. Entertaining some adults along the way was an added bonus. CBBC produces and airs some of the funniest, most entertaining television out there. Just ask Sue Barker who has welcomed Hacker the Dog at Wimbledon for the last four years. A wider audience being aware of this can only be a good thing.
I can sometimes be looked down on as an ex-children's TV presenter now working in grownup sports TV – some people think that because you're talking to kids you're somehow more simple yourself. I hope the success of last night, which saw adults and kids chuckling along together, goes some way to disprove that. Read More
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