Updates

16/09/98 some good news at last Here is Carlton's reply to Paul Casha's complaint (see next item: 15/09/98) "THE ALEX FERGUSON STORY was produced by Granada TV and scheduled by ITV and not Carlton in a networked slot which is why it was on before CARLTON SPORT.
The good news is that on Wednesday 30/9/98 Carlton will opt-out of the ITV networked schedule to show Arsenal v Panathinaikos at Wembley from 1930-2145. Carlton will also opt-out of the networked highlights programme to show coverage from the Bayern v Man Utd game at 2255.
Subsequent decisions on the choice of future matches, televised by Carlton & ITV Sport, will be taken after each round of matches depending on the teams involved and results to date."
This decision was in no small way affected by the campaign to get the Lens match shown. Carlton had in fact already agreed with ITV Sport that they would show the Man United match again. But they were surprised by the number of complaints about the (lack of) Lens coverage so they went into a panic to get an OB unit arranged for the Panathinaikos game.
Still, we hope that Carlton appreciate that it's coverage of the AWAY matches that's most crucial. We're going to be really pissed off if the only times Arsenal's European matches are live on the telly is when 80000 of us are at the stadium!
15/09/98 more Carlton scheduling idiocy Paul Casha has spotted another example of Carlton putting Manchester first... "Continuing the theme of the anti London clubs bias of Carlton Tv, I noticed that tonights (15/9) Carlton schedule after News At Ten has....
```
2240 - The Alex Ferguson Story (Part 1)
2340 - Carlton Sport 
```
Ok, I know, who wants to watch Spurs but the principle is the same as the preference shown towards Man U in the Champions League scheduling. Something needs to be said to this company who seem to think that a documentary on Fergie is more important to followers of London football than highlights of local teams participation in the League Cup. Let's keep these idiots as far away from the Marble Halls as possible." Hear hear!
13/09/98 ITC feedback a correspondent (BB Hajilou) writes: "Just wanted to let you know that I just received a letter from iTC about Carlton's refusal to show the Arsenal game. They claim they are powerless to act, but suggested that Carlton TV should be contacted directly." So that's pretty bloody helpful isn't it?

Carlton TV cock-up.... please register your displeasure

We'd like to make it clear that we at ArseWeb are not troublemakers and while we support it wholeheartedly, we did not initiate this campaign. The following information is here because many people wrote to us requesting it.

Sorry this page is a bit of a mess! I'm adding bits to it all the time and haven't had time to reorganise it.

As you may be aware, Carlton (the ITV channel for London & region) have decided that their live match on the 16th will feature Barcelona against the runners-up from the English Premier League. Manchester United may have more fans in London than in Manchester, but we feel that they still have fewer fans in London than Arsenal do!

Surely Carlton have some responsibility to provide programming that satisfies the requirements of the people living in their catchment area?

We reckon that football fans generally would be just as interested, if not more so, in the Arsenal match, and so there is no excuse for not showing it live.

The idea that Manchester United should get preference because they are a "bigger" club is particularly disturbing given the Murdoch buy-out. The Murdoch deal means that in a financial sense Manchester United are likely to be considerably bigger than any other club in this country for the foreseeable future. We all expect Sky TV to give preference to Manchester United because of the Murdoch link, but the idea that all the other stations will give them preference too is extremely worrying.

Arsenal are the current Champions and double-winners, and this warrants the kind of coverage that Manchester United enjoyed during their recent spell of success. Surely if the BBC had a simple choice, they would pick the Champions rather than the also-rans? Surely Thames television would also go with Arsenal. And would Granada show Arsenal in preference to Man Utd? We think not.

But Carlton, in their infinite short-sightedness, have decided to show only highlights of Lens vs Arsenal, later in the evening, and then the whole game at 2.10am on Thursday morning (gee, thanks!). They have put the Arsenal match live on Carlton select (their cable-only channel) but this reaches a tiny minority of the people that Carlton should be serving.

Here are parts of a message from Carlton [with ArseWeb comments]...

"Carlton are broadcasters, not narrow-casters and, while we are very much aware that there will be Arsenal fans who wish to see their team play, not every "football viewer" in the Carlton region is an Arsenal fan": [right, so they're all Man Utd fans are they? Carlton are also appealing to the fact that they don't just broadcast to London but to "the whole Carlton region which incorporates the South East", ie including Manchester??? The point is that any team within Carlton's region should take precedence and if this was a matter of Man Utd being selected in favour of Chelsea, Southampton, or even Tottenham (as if! they'd get into Europe!), the argument from regionality would be the same]
we had to take this into account when deciding which match to show on 16th September. May we remind you that Carlton will be showing Arsenal games in preference to Manchester Utd in the near future": [when exactly? when they get knocked out??? Carlton are now saying just that they "hope to show some Arsenal games in preference to Manchester Utd in the near future"]
"but, in this instance, it was felt we would be doing the "football viewer" a great disservice": [and yet no-one living in the Carlton area would expect to be able to see the Man Utd match live when there's a London/SE team playing at the same time!].
"If you wish to pursue your complaint, you may contact the ITC (Independent Television Commission). Their E-mail address is: publicaffairs@itc.org.uk. (The ITC is the public body responsible for licensing and regulating commercial television services provided in and from the UK.)": [note: if you email ITC please include your postal address as they need this to reply]

So there's one address to write to. It might be worth pointing out that Carlton's argument that the general "football viewer" would prefer to watch Manchester United is fallacious. We are talking the first match of the English Double winners in the premier club competition in Europe if not the World. This is the first time for ages that a London club has reached this competitoin, and they are playing the Champions of the country that has just won the World Cup, an event that attracted massive interest all over England.

Carlton's claims that this was a national decision are true, but note that they don't just say "it's not our fault, we would have loved to show the Arsenal match but we can't". Instead they try to justify the national ITV Sport decision. This is because they know that if we complained to ITV sport they'd tell us that Carlton CAN choose to go their own way (as viewers in the Granada and Tyne Tees regions will be well aware). But it would cost Carlton more money. However it wouldn't cost them that much more because they already putting the Arsenal match out on Carlton Select! So why not just switch that program to the regular Carlton channel?

The email address for complaining direct to Carlton is dutyoffice@carltontv.co.uk

Please keep it polite and reasoned (this is the only approach that has a chance of working). Also, if you have non-Arsenal supporting friends who are sympathetic to this cause please encourage them to get in touch with Carlton too (it's easy to email) to help them understand that this isn't just a question of individuals unhappy at not being able to watch their team.

The address for Carlton TV is 101 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4AZ, and the number for the Carlton duty officer is 0171-615-1515,
Please note that by law, Carlton are obliged to keep and pass on to the Broadcasting Authorities a record of telephone complaints. Thus telephone is much the preferred method. Presumably this is why they give the email address rather than the phone number on their web site!

Anyone got a fax number for them?

10/09/98 latest news... Carlton Communications PLC have just issued the following statement...

'As a media business, Carlton has a close relationship with the sports rights' holders and regularly meets with them. We have discussed with Arsenal Football Club plc a range of ways in which our two companies could work together. These discussions are at an early stage.'

We wonder if Carlton have spotted the irony in this. Perhaps you'd like to join those pointing it out to them. Carlton PLC web site has a HTML form for feedback.

It could be that this aspect of the Carlton intrigue is a storm in a teacup. Apparently Carlton are talking to all the clubs...

'Neither Carlton nor Villa have yet officially informed the stock exchange about any talks between them but Villa's finance director Mark Ansell told the BBC that such talks had begun. Mr Ansell said all the top Premiership clubs are being approached.'

But it seems likely that if Carlton get their first choice, they'll end up in some sort of deal with Arsenal. In a joint statement on 10th September, Arsenal and Carlton said that they had had a

"very preliminary discussion on ways in which the two companies can work together"

and that

"These talks are too preliminary in nature to assess the probability of any outcome. One possible outcome could be an offer being made by Carlton for Arsenal."

Rumours in the city are of a takeover bid of £275 million.

Many thanks to the MANY correspondents who have helped us gather the information for this page.