- Gary Lineker will leave his role with Match of the Day at the end of the season
- Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates will present the show instead
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Match of the Day is set to retain its traditional format – although significant changes are afoot for Football Focus, Mail Sport understands.
As this publication revealed, a new presenting team of Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will replace the outgoing Gary Lineker from next season on the flagship Saturday-night highlights show, and further changes had been under consideration.
However, at a summit at Gary Neville’s Hotel Football earlier on Thursday around 200 – including all the broadcaster’s top names – were told that there would be few changes to a show that still attracts around 3.5 million viewers.
Thanks to a new TV deal, the BBC will show highlights and analysis of Saturday’s action online and on the iPlayer from the earlier time of 8pm next season. But the iconic show itself is unlikely to shift from its existing set-up.
At the meeting, headed by director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski and attended by the likes of Alan Shearer, Joe Hart and Alex Scott, those present were also told of planned changes to Focus which would see punchier debate and fewer soft features. Interviews with players are also set to be punchier than is currently the case with a focus placed on questions that fans want answering.
Twenty-four hours earlier, in what has been a big week at MediaCity, the BBC offered voluntary redundancy to the majority of staff in its sports department as it seeks to drastically reshape its sports news output and focus on digital content.
Match of the Day is set to retain its traditional format next season as Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan prepare to replace Gary Lineker in hosting the iconic show
The long-serving Lineker is set to leave his role with Match of the Day at the end of the season
Football Focus will be modified, with an emphasis on punchier debate and fewer soft features
Plans to reduce TV bulletins and programmes and replace jobs with new roles were shared with a stunned workforce.
As part of the proposals, set to come in from the summer, long-running news channel staple Sportsday is to be axed along with a series of presenting roles in significant changes one insider has claimed will ‘effectively kill sports news on television’.
The broadcaster believes the moves will allow it to focus on growing its audience. In total, it is seeking to close 27 roles and create 27 roles as it seeks to transform its sports news coverage with more emphasis on reactive stories via streaming and original journalism rather than traditional TV coverage.
At a meeting on Thursday plans to drastically reduce the number of sports bulletins and end the days of the flagship News at 6 and 10 programmes crossing to BBC HQ at MediaCity for sports updates at the weekends were shared.
In the short-term, three presenters and two correspondents are expected to be made redundant while there will also be job cuts to producers on the output and news gathering sides of what is set to be a significantly-altered operation.
‘It feels like they are killing sports news on television,’ a source claimed. ‘Those involved are distraught. It came as a shock and it’s fair to say that none of them saw it coming. They’re basically decimating the output of sports news on television.’
A BBC spokesperson said the ‘proposed changes’ would ‘allow us to enhance our storytelling and live event coverage to ensure we remain relevant and deliver more value for audiences across the UK’.
Talks are currently ongoing between BBC bosses and trade unions. The measures are part of a plan to cater to a bigger audience. Reactive stories on streaming platforms, along with more original journalism, are expected to feature prominently.