More radio commentary for Iron away games

Last updated : 27 August 2010 By Matt Blanchard

Concerns were raised on the Iron-Bru.net about a perceived preference for covering Hull City on the station's main 95.9FM frequency.

As well as Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby Town are covered by the station. The station also has AM and digital frequencies, although the signal for both in Scunthorpe is weak.

In the past two seasons the Tigers have been given preference as they were in a higher division, but both Hull and the Iron are now competing in the Championship.

Following a co-ordinated string of emails to the station, the managing editor Simon Pattern said that the policy of giving preference to the team playing away was back in place.

David Burns, the station's sports editor, said that the Iron's away game at Sheffield United on Tuesday September 14 would be given full commentary on the FM frequency.

Below is an email from Pattern


"A follow up message to your recent e mail...

Dear Matt,

I thought you might appreciate an update on our recent e mail exchange regarding BBC Radio Humberside's coverage of football, in particular the concerns Iron fans have been raising in connection to the allocation of frequencies used for carrying our coverage.

We have been listening very carefully to the feedback that we've been getting in recent days, particularly from supporters of Scunthorpe United. As a result, we have reviewed the criteria we use to decide on which frequency is allocated to each game that we cover. I hope that you will be pleased to hear that for the rest of this season we will be adopting the principle of the "away team" being allocated to our FM frequency as a first choice.

However, I should also say that there are likely to be a few occasions during the season where the editorial story at the home teams match might need to override the basic principle. For instance, if Scunthorpe United were drawn at home in the Carling Cup to a major Premier League side - we are likely to decide to place that game on FM instead of a Hull City away fixture. That, or course, might also mean the occasional coverage of Hull City at home game on FM, if an important editorial story drove the need.

I hope that this e mail update will help to reassure you that we do listen and take note.

Yours faithfully,"

Simon

Don't forget, you can make contributions to the show after Saturday's game with Crystal Palace on the Football Phone in, by calling Burnsy or Matt on 01482 225959 or texting on 07786 200959.