|
''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (long wave), Five Live Sports Extra (digital) and via the internet to the United Kingdom and (where broadcasting rights permit) the rest of the world. TMS provides ball-by-ball coverage of most Test cricket, One Day International, and Twenty20 matches and tournaments involving the England cricket team. ==History== BBC Radio was the first broadcaster to cover every ball of a Test match. Live cricket had been broadcast since 1927, but originally it was thought that Test match cricket was too slow for ball-by-ball commentary to work. However, Seymour de Lotbiniere ('Lobby'), who was responsible for live sports coverage and who went on to become an outstanding head of outside broadcasts at the BBC, realised that ball-by-ball commentary could make compelling radio. In the mid-1930s he got Howard Marshall to begin commentating on cricket, rather than only giving reports. From the mid-1930s to the 1950s the amount of ball-by-ball commentary gradually increased, but it was not until ''TMS'' was launched in 1957 that every ball was covered for their British audience.〔However, according to EW Swanton full ball-by-ball coverage was first tried experimentally in 1939, with himself, Howard Marshall and Michael Standing as the commentators, but the full coverage only went to the West Indies. EW Swanton, ''Sort of a Cricket Person'', Collins, 1972, p281 of the 1974 Sportsman's Book Club edition. Similarly, in 1948 the BBC provided full ball-by-ball coverage for Australia.〕 Of those BBC commentators whose careers wholly preceded ''TMS'', Howard Marshall is the most notable. Robert Hudson was responsible for the launch of ''TMS'', writing to his Outside Broadcasts boss Charles Max-Muller in 1956, proposing broadcasting full ball-by-ball coverage of Tests rather than only covering fixed periods, and suggesting using the Third Programme (as BBC Radio 3 was then known) frequency, since at that time the Third Programme only broadcast in the evening. ''TMS'' became a fixture on BBC Radio 3 on AM medium wave until Radio 3 lost its MW frequency in February 1992. The programme moved to Radio 3 FM that summer and the following summer the morning play was on Radio 5, switching to Radio 3 for the afternoon session. The start of Radio 5 Live meant that ''TMS'' moved to its present home on Radio 4 long wave (198 LW, plus various localised MW frequencies including 720 MW in London and 603 MW in the North East). At times of cricket matches, the normal BBC Radio 4 schedule continues on its FM frequencies, whilst longwave is taken over by the cricket. Digital Radio was seen as the solution for "where to put" ''TMS'' and a way for cricket fans to avoid broadcasts of the Shipping Forecast, Daily Service and Yesterday in Parliament which would otherwise interrupt the cricket. Since 2002 it has been broadcast on Five Live Sports Extra, which is the network the BBC primarily cross-promote on air. Five Live Sports Extra is also streamed via the Internet (though sometimes only available in the UK due to rights issues). Full commentaries are now available for 30 days on the BBC iPlayer and since late-2015 a "live-rewind" feature is available.〔https://media.info/radio/news/bbc-quietly-launches-live-rewind-for-radio BBC quietly launches 'live rewind' for radio, James Cridland, 22 September 2015〕 Many spectators who are present at Test matches listen to ''TMS'' via headphones attached to portable radios. Fixed frequency radios with radio and/or TV commentary are sometimes available for purchase at grounds (). There is an occasional "dialogue" between the commentators and those present at the ground who text or email in. Many television viewers watch muted action on their TV sets with ''TMS'' commentary. From 1973 to 2007, ''Test Match Special'' was produced by Peter Baxter. Halfway through 2007, Baxter retired and was replaced by Adam Mountford, previously the Five Live cricket producer. Mountford was aged just one when Peter Baxter became involved with TMS.() Format changes include the addition of daily live weather forecasts and reports on the domestic county championship for home series, plus an end of day summary with Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott that is also podcast. Calypso-tinged theme music from the track "Soul Limbo" by the American soul band Booker T. & the M.G.s is played at the beginning and end of ''TMS'' coverage each day. The music was originally used as the theme for cricket coverage on BBC television for almost 30 years until the BBC lost the broadcasting rights in 1999. Several years later, the theme was resurrected by ''TMS'' and it is still used whenever the BBC shows international cricket highlight packages. The distinctive tune is instantly recognisable to many cricket fans around the world. "Soul Limbo" was introduced as the theme after a West Indies tour when many of their supporters in the crowd knocked tin cans together, and the piece's introduction is highly reminiscent of that peculiar sound. In December 2008 the BBC won the UK radio rights up to 2013.〔http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/media-releases/bbc-sport-gain-radio-rights,303608,EN.html ECB media release regarding 2010 - 2013 UK radio rights〕 On 26 January 2012 the ECB announced a further six-year deal covering home Tests until 2019 (the next UK Ashes series).〔http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/16737334 BBC Sport and ECB agree six-year live radio deal〕 The BBC currently covers all winter series too, but did at one stage lose certain rights to TalkSport – broadcasting rights for tours are controlled by the host country and it is not uncommon for there to be disputes. In 2001, Jonathan Agnew was forced to broadcast by mobile phone from Galle Forte, overlooking the ground, when the BBC were locked out.〔http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1323898/Test-match-lock-out-fails-to-stump-BBC.html Test match lock-out fails to stump BBC, Telegraph, 24 Feb 2001〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Test Match Special」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|