Why I'll be watching the FA Cup on Setanta

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Screen capture by David Murray, all rights reserved. ITV HD © ITV 2009

How difficult can it be to broadcast a football match? I only ask because ITV have been determined on several occasions this season alone to make a ruddy-great hash of it. They've picked the wrong games to show, they've messed up scheduling, they've missed the only goal of a game... and now they've put on a truly shambolic display in high definition, too.

I say high definition, but for the majority of last night's Champions League final, it was actually upscaled-SD that we were watching on the ITV HD red button service (they haven't even opted to make it a fully-fledged channel). With poor quality audio. And no clock. We were even treated to a farcical montage of a bespectacled Steve Ryder, bemused Teddy Sheringham and boring shot of a studio floor - twice.

It's bad enough having to listen to their sub-standard coverage at the best of times. So from now on, whenever there's a choice - as there will be on Sunday for the FA Cup final - I won't be watching ITV Sport anymore. Setanta Sports will be showing the game unencrypted, so if you've got Sky, cable or Freeview, you'll be able to watch the game with them. That's John Champion, Saint and Greavsie, James Richardson, Macca and Les et al. You might even get to see the whole game, too.

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