Archives for February 2011

Hello, my name is Alice and I am a Broadcast Assistant - which is a great place to start off in journalism if you want to go on to become a Broadcast Journalist and beyond. I work on Richard Bacon 's afternoon programme. My job involves everything from doing all the administration a radio programme needs to run, to meeting some of the celebrity guests my friends are now bored hearing about.

I arrive in at Television Centre at 8am and start the day by checking the web, my emails, the papers and other outlets for good guest suggestions ahead of the morning meeting.

Alice with her childhood hero Andre Agassi

During the meeting we go through what's booked for the programme that day as well as discussing future planning ideas and big guest suggestions. This morning, I saw a great article about Vivienne Westwood and suggested we ask her to come on as Richard is a huge fan of her clothes. Knowing the presenter helps focus your ideas. Richard is always bubbly and engaged (and likes a good chat), so it's not difficult to get to know which interviews he would be excited about and do well.

As the rest of the team get to work and brief Richard when he arrives, I tend to work through some of the day-to-day administration that keeps the programme ticking over - keeping the programme inbox tidy, liaising with programme contributors, sorting out transport, organising studios.

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Rabiya chats to Gabby Logan before the programme goes out on air

My name is Rabiya Limbada and I am a Senior Broadcast Journalist on the morning strand of programmes at 5 live. My main role is output editor (someone who's in the studio overseeing the programme going out on air) or desk editor (sat outside the studio dealing with breaking news) on the Gabby Logan programme.



As desk editor my working day starts at 7am. Once I've labelled my breakfast and placed it carefully in the newsroom fridge (without a label it disappears in to the abyss) I work through the list of stories that may break bwtween 10am and 2pm. Today David Cameron is due to give a speech on the Welfare Reform Bill at 11:30am and our sports correspondent has an exclusive interview with Frank Lampard that should happen in our time.

On days when you stumble in to the office without a clear idea of what your 1:05pm lead story might be, the BBC News diaries can give you a helping hand. However, sometimes they just tell you that the important (read: long-winded and dull) policy announcement that you hope isn't going to fall in your time; is going to fall in your time and you have to take it. All of it. Live.

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Jonathan and the Victoria Derbyshire team

It's 5am and the Big Ben chimes of my alarm punch through the dull fug. Within seconds I'm at work - in my head at least. Our show starts in 5 hours and the sooner I'm up to speed with the agenda, the more I can contribute.

With one glide of the hand I cancel the alarm on my phone and bring up Twitter. What's happened overnight? Now I'm downstairs flicking through the BBC News and Sky News iPhone apps as I brush my teeth.

As I race through the streets of London I'm still scouring for stories. What will our listeners care about today?

When I arrive at TV Centre producers Liz and Madeleine are already logged-in and thumbing through the papers. Something irks me though, there's one person missing. Chris Warburton. He's due in as programme editor and has still not arrived. A chill goes through me. Without an editor our show will lack an auteur, a master director, someone to share the credit and absorb the blame. An even more horrific thought hits me: what if I have to do it?

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5 live Breakfast's Your Call running order

Morning, my name is Rachel and I work on the 5 live Breakfast show as a broadcast journalist. One of the shifts I regularly do is producing the final hour of Breakfast - Your Call. It's an hour long phone-in show hosted by Nicky Campbell between 9-10am every weekday. You might think an hour's worth of radio is easy to fill but a lot of discussion and heated debate goes in to making it really work on air.

I arrive into the 5 live newsroom just before 7'o'clock already thinking about potential contributors on anything from anti-semitism and DNA testing kits, to multiculturalism and football. I listen to breakfast during my commute, making a mental note of what stories I think will really get our listeners going. It's a rare occasion that I sit down at my desk and the topic's already been decided. Sometimes it's related to the lead story that morning, other times it could be a debate at 7.40am or an article in one of the newspapers.

Usually, one of us will pipe up with a suggestion while munching on breakfast and immediately, the Breakfast editor Scott Solder will ask: "So what's the question?" It's a great way of getting in the right mindset to think about what will sustain a debate for 60 minutes.

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Nick Duncalf in the studio with 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire

My name is Nick Duncalf-Five-Live-Travel. At least sometimes I think that's what it is. That's the name I say at the end of 15 traffic reports every morning, and after five years here at 5 live, that's a lot of mentions for my quadruple-barrelled name.

The first thing I do after I get up (very early) is turn on the TV, and watch the weather forecast while I'm drinking my tea. Especially at this time of year. What's happening with the weather can dictate how busy I'm going to be at work. Heavy snows over the past couple of winters can mean that not only am I delivering long, detailed reports on 5 live, but also extra bulletins on the TV, and fielding endless phone calls requesting snow updates.

I love being busy, but not every day thanks. So I'm quite pleased that this morning's forecast is good.

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The 5 live Breakfast day team prepare for the midday meeting

0320: My alarm goes off. This is clearly a mistake and I ignore it.

0327: My alarm goes off again. I accept, reluctantly, that this is my fault as I set it the night before - and get up.

0330: In the shower, I remember that I am Chris Hunter, Assistant Editor of the 5live Breakfast programme; welcome to my day.

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The 5 live newsroom is a very, very busy place. There's always a programme on air, or a team working toward a broadcast, or someone frantically putting in calls on a breaking story. And that's 24 hours a day, every day of the week.

So, over the course of the next couple of weeks we will be putting up posts from a range of 5 live staff across the network to give you an insight into 24 hours in the life of 5 live. The idea is to introduce you to some of the people who work here - from a Broadcast Assistant all the way up to our Deputy Head of News - and give you an insight into the role they play in keeping the network ticking over.

I began the process of begging blog posts from my colleagues a couple of weeks ago and asked each blogger to write about a day of their choosing in that period. Each post had to explain what they did, who they talked to, decisions they made, frustrations they encountered and how they contributed to what ultimately went out on air.

We also asked the entire newsroom to consent to being filmed as part of the time lapse video above - which charts the tides of the newsroom - as people arrive and depart, and programmes go out - over 24 hours.

The first post will go up tomorrow morning - hopefully in synch with the arrival of Breakfast's assistant editor, Chris Hunter, at 4.30am. I hope that you find these posts informative, interesting and, sporadically, funny. But more importantly that it gives you a look at the day-to-day life of 5 live by the people who work here.

Imogen Crump is a senior broadcast journalist with 5 live.

It all started when I heard a story about a thief who electrocuted himself while trying to steal cable from an electricity substation. Who would want to risk life and limb for a few metres of cable? The answer lies in the copper inside.

Recently, there's been an increasing number of court cases involving cable theft from rail networks. When a court case came up in Nottingham I thought it was time I had a closer look at the issue and found out just how bad the problem is.

Hearing the court case told me all I needed to know. The two thieves only stole a few metres of cable from the East Coast Main Line at Newark in Nottinghamshire but more than one hundred trains were affected, with thousands of passengers delayed. The two men, in their mid twenties, were sentenced to three years each.

5 live's Sarah Sturdey with Sgt Philip Bentley of the British Transport Police

The courts are taking the crime very seriously.

It's not just the theft, but the repercussions. People are prevented from getting to work because their train is delayed by copper theft. Electricity supplies are disrupted. Gas supplies targeted. Even small copper parts stolen from outside homes can create gas leaks. Telecoms cable is also on the hit list. Customers are left without phones, again potentially dangerous if emergency calls are needed. The deeper I looked into the issue the more widespread the theft of copper was evident.

What's fascinating is that it's all linked to the price of copper. It's now at record levels and when the price of copper is high, so too is cable theft. China is at the forefront of demand. So a thief trying to grab some quick cash by hacking through a few metres of cable in Newark and selling it on at a scrap metal dealers is linked to the global economy.

To get to the root of the problem, I accompanied British Transport Police (BTP) on the ongoing Operation Drum. A 13-year-old boy and an 18-year-old had been apprehended on the rail line at two'o'clock in the morning. The boy was carrying a pair of bolt croppers. British Transport Police found a hole in the fence and, not far away, the cable. And now police were hoping to catch up with a third suspect.



A British Transport Police Detective Inspector led the arrest. The teenager was still in bed. His mum wasn't happy about recording inside the house so I waited outside while the police went in.

Glancing over the fence down the side of the house and, there, lying on the ground in a heap was a pile assorted cable, of varying colours, in clear view. A few minutes later the teenager in jogging bottoms, t-shirt and trainers was being escorted in handcuffs to a police car. Then the search with three other uniformed BTP officers began. It wasn't long before they appeared with 30 metres of thick cable and two well-filled holdalls. All taken away to be assessed for evidence.

So how common is this? It's been around for a while. British Transport Police were able to provide figures which show cable theft on the rail line this Janaury is twice what it was the same time last year. And already well beyond the last high in January '08. The Energy Networks Association, which represents the electricity companies, told me they expected it to get even worse as there's a predicted world copper deficit.

Although copper prices are soaring, the return for criminals is often relatively small. The two Newark thieves only received £44 for their copper haul, despite causing chaos on the London to Edinburgh line on a busy commuter Friday.

BTP also took me along to a reputable scrap metal yard for one of their routine checks. Inside, beyond the high mound of a mass of mangled metal in the main yard, were huge sheds. In the first the BTP officer spot-checked some cable, to see if it had Network Rail coding. The officer told me it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. In the next shed, pile upon pile of recycled copper - all wrapped in plastic and looking like a pack of dried noodles, minus it's usual shiny copper colour. Close by a large container full of tiny bits of very bright, shiny copper - much of it was heading for China.

So, from the rail line at Newark to an arrest in South Yorkshire, to the scrap dealers, I'd followed the copper chain. Maybe next stop China.

The latest estimates put the cost of cable theft to industry at £770 million pounds. So next time you're wondering why your rail ticket costs so much, or your electricity bill has gone up, the often illegal quest for the finite resource of copper could have something to do with it.

5 live will be looking at the issue of copper theft throughout the day on Thursday 17 February, 2011.

Sarah Sturdey is 5Live's East Midlands reporter.

Some of the businesses cashing in this Valentine's day are florists. This week on 5 live's On The Money, Declan Curry sent me to do a Sunday shift with Funky Flowers, in Barnet which has a slightly different focus.

Here's my report from this week's programme:

Do you have suggestions for other Sunday shifts? If so, please leave a comment below.

On The Money goes out between 8 - 9pm on Sunday nights on 5 live.

Related links

On the Money

5 live's Victoria Derbyshire brings listeners face-to-face with politicians as part of an outside broadcast on crime

I've picked six reflections. They are, I fear, neither definitive nor comprehensive and I am sure I have forgotten lots of important things but I hope they will provide some insight into where I hope our news programmes are going and what we are trying to do.

1) In a way that I had failed to grasp before I arrived, 5 live is all about its audience. Compared to the rest of BBC News, 5 live is shaped, driven and often delivered by its listeners to a much greater extent. Your contribution in terms of calls, texts and emails are crucial to what we do and in the light of that, I am encouraging new ways to help that inform our journalism.

This involves capturing and re-using the best of it and allowing you to help guide us to what matters most to you. This does not mean we give up editorial control though. Throughout we need to bring our journalistic creativity, rigour and sense of fair play.

2) What counts as news on 5 live, you may have noticed, embraces pretty much anything and everything. I know that frustrates some folks but I believe it is a real strength. It means there is nothing happening anywhere in the UK or the world that is out of bounds.

So, at the beginning of last week Peter Allen on Drive was talking to the owner of Bodhi, the skateboarding dog in Brighton, about the threat of fines from his local council if Bodhi didn't step off his board (no, really...). By the end of the week Peter was reporting live from Tahrir Square in Cairo as President Mubarak announced he was standing down as the President of Egypt, conveying the sights and sounds as a moment of history unfolded in front of his eyes.

It is all part of the weft and weave that makes 5 live what we want it to be - compelling listening, day in and day out.

3) If it's important and it's happening now, it should be on 5 live. Big, breaking news will always be a priority on my watch, whenever it happens. We don't want simply to cover the obvious stories, though; we also want to generate some of our own. In some parts of the schedule we are already doing this well - do check out 5 live Investigates on a Sunday evening if you can - but I am keen to drive this forward across all our programmes.

In particular, 5 live should be the home of the best and most insightful sports news and this is a priority for me.

4) We want to bring those in power face-to-face with the people they have power over. This is something 5 live does instinctively and I have come to believe is fundamental to our mission.

When the Victoria Derbyshire team last week managed to persuade Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division of the High Court, to come on to 5 live for his first live interview - and just as importantly to take calls from our listeners whose lives have been changed by decisions made in his courts - then 5 live is, I believe, doing something profoundly important.

5) We also want to be a place that gives voice to people and views that are not always heard elsewhere. That's why connecting to and reporting the whole of the UK in all its variety and diversity is central to our vision and we have a team of reporters based around the UK tasked with doing exactly that.

But it is not just about geographical diversity. We have delivered some brilliant radio by hearing from people like Tony Nicklinson, who has locked-in syndrome and can only communicate via eye movements, and a large number of listeners with speech impediments who contacted Your Call because they wanted their voices to be heard. We hope that people, whatever their age, experience or background, will feel that 5 live is a place that welcomes and is interested in them.

6) Finally, drum roll, we want 5 live to be fun. Oh yes! Fun to work on and fun to listen to. I think it is fair to say that for many people there is a lot in their lives at the moment which isn't much fun and we need to expose and air their concerns and the big issues behind them with the help of the best journalists that the BBC has to offer.

But we also want to be a place where people enjoy coming to because there is a warmth, humanity and humour; a sense of community that means the audience feels it belongs.

And my experience has been that amid the doom and gloom the world throws up, there is nearly always something to smile about.

Related Posts

Reporting a Revolution: 5 live in Cairo

Steve Mawhinney is 5 live's Head of News

Until now attempting to convince rock god Alice Cooper that I wasn't Jude Law would count as my most surreal sports broadcasting moment. That has been comfortably eclipsed last weekend when two days of commentating and filming at rugby league's Millennium Magic Weekend threw me into an even more unexpected situation.

One minute I was sat pre-match on the players' bench chatting to Leeds players ahead of their derby game against Bradford. The next I was being dragged away by an adrenaline-filled producer exclaiming:

"Mickey Rourke's here," he said. "And you're going to interview him now!"

The Hollywood A-lister was a surprise attendee at the weekend's 7-match rugby league extravaganza in Cardiff as he embarks upon a new project. He will portray Gareth Thomas in a film about the life of the gay Welsh rugby player.

Rourke had flown in to watch the former British Lions star in action for Crusaders RL against Salford to research the role he has decided to play. Rourke duly arrived from the players' tunnel to gasps and cheers from the thousands of rugby league fans who have descended en masse to Wales, flanked by boxing legend Joe Calzaghe.

I've never really struggled with nerves but standing in the middle of this famous sporting theatre awaiting the arrival of a global movie celeb is a little different to a chinwag with the Harlequins RL chief executive. Fortunately Rourke was warm and engaging.

His brown-leather fingerless-gloved handshake was also one of the firmer that I have experienced. I opted to stick with what I knew - rugby league, and quickly found Rourke knew nothing about it at all!

"We are in no rush to make this film," he said, as he explained his surprising new role. His interest in learning about the sport appeared genuine however, and he's vowed to train non-stop until he's in the same incredible shape he got himself in for The Wrestler. Joe Calzaghe is going to help Rourke get in shape for the role and told me he now wants an acting career too, so his new friendship with Rourke will no doubt help.

Needless to say I've offered to assist Rourke with guiding him into the great sport of rugby league. He said he'd call me rather than vice versa...

George Riley is 5 live's sports presenter

Every journalist wants to cover the biggest stories, of course. But actually doing so is often nothing to do with finely honed news instincts, or meticulous planning. Sometimes you just get lucky, and just try and make the most of it.

I was working on some stories that were supposed to be broadcast sometime in the next few weeks. It was about 4pm, and I had a couple of hours of phonecalls and emails left to finish off. A few desks down, I could see 5 live's most senior editors talking about something that was clearly important, and I wondered who was about to get told off.

Like many of you, I'd been following the events in Egypt, and had seen that President Hosni Mubarak was reported to be on the verge of stepping down. I'd known I might have to go there for a couple of weeks, so when Stephen Mawhinney and Jonathan Crawford, 5 live's head and deputy head of news respectively, called me over, I knew what was coming.

They told me I'd be travelling with 5 live's elder statesman Peter Allen and Phil Mackie (5 live's West Midlands reporter).

I had two hours before I'd have to leave for Heathrow. The first thing to sort out was the kit. I always take a laptop, a portable satellite dish and receiver, a digital recording device, and a small mixing desk. Peter told me he first used this type of equipment nearly 20 years ago, and despite heavy usage and plenty of repairs, they're both still going strong.

After we checked in at Heathrow, we found out that Mubarak had decided to stay till the end of his term. We seriously considered turning back, because it looked as though everyone had got it wrong. But, given the size and duration of the protests, we decided that this announcement would only mean more people on the streets pushing for Mubarak to go. The story was still big - and it was worth Peter, Phil and I being there to cover it.

We got here after an overnight flight, and had to find somewhere secure to broadcast from. That's 'secure' in both senses of the word: we needed to be safe, and also make sure we had a constant, stable line to the studio back home. This took all day, in an unfamiliar city. Incidentally, our hotel was near the site of the old British cantonment, where Phil's great grandfather was posted in the late 19th century. He didn't know Peter though.

When Drive went on air, we didn't think we had enough material, and the story didn't seem strong enough to justify all the airtime we were about to devote to it. We weren't happy.

Then, just two minutes into the programme, Hosni Mubarak quit.



We legged it to Tahrir Square, the centre of several weeks of protest. We decided to ditch the bulky satellite kits, so Phil and Peter could walk more freely among the crowds, and report on their mobiles. Even though the sound quality isn't as good, the strategy worked.

We found ourselves in the middle of the world's biggest party. No point in complex analysis at that point (revolution? coup?) - we just wanted people to hear the atmosphere. Peter and Phil were brilliant, just doing what great reporters should do, simply describing what they could see. Sounds easy, but it's not.

We spent the weekend covering the celebrations, and with the help of people far more knowledgable than us, tried to put the whole event into context. Mubarak had ruled with a firm hand for 30 years. Five more before Sir Alex can match that.



On Drive this afternoon, we'll look back over the dramatic last few days. Peter said he wished he'd been there when the Berlin Wall fell, and maybe he's seen something similar here.

Related Links

5 live Drive

The latest news from Egypt on the BBC News site

Hasit Shah is a senior broadcast journalist at 5 live.

Rachel Burden is going to be the new co-presenter of 5 live Breakfast when Shelagh Fogarty moves to the lunchtime slot in May. It's been a big decision to make because Breakfast is such a successful programme and Shelagh has built up a great following in her seven years presenting the show.

We've looked hard to find the best person, thinking about lots of possibile presenters all of whom had huge amounts to offer. We needed someone who could handle serious news and big interviews but was also comfortable with the whole range of subjects the programme covers.

Rachel has shown over the last few years she can do this and she's also someone who completely understands radio as a medium and what makes 5 live special. She's already worked a lot with Nicky and I'm sure that together they'll go from strength to strength creating great listening each morning.

As you'd expect, Rachel is thrilled by the prospect of the early start each day - to quote from our press release this morning she says:

"It's a brilliant opportunity to join what is already a hugely successful team. Shelagh is the mother of all breakfast broadcasters and I can only hope to match the impression she's made on the early mornings of millions of people. My family is already gearing up for the move to Salford and I am really excited about working alongside Nicky and the rest of 5 live in our new home in Salford Quays".

Of course this leaves a gap on Weekend Breakfast which Rachel co-presents with Phil Williams - who takes on that role is a decision I'll be making over the next few weeks.

Adrian Van-Klaveren is the controller of BBC Radio 5 live.

There's some very good news today for 5 live and 5 live sports extra's coverage of London 2012. It's been announced today that we've been awarded the radio rights for coverage of the 2012 London Paralympic Games. This will sit alongside our coverage of the London Olympics and will mean that 5 live is able to tell the full story of London 2012 from beginning to end.

The Paralympics run from 29 August until 9 September 2012. 5 live will carry around 25 hours of programmes and news from the Games featuring the key moments and stories with including shows presented from the Paralympic venues. BBC Radio 5 live sports extra will carry live commentary and analysis of the events and will be the best place to keep up with all of the action.

The steady growth of the Paralympic movement and the fact that the games are taking place in London mean there's likely to be more interest in these Paralympics than ever before. We want to tell the stories of the competitors both before and during the Games and in doing so raise awareness of disability sport.

Our coverage will draw on the unrivalled expertise of the BBC Sport team but we also look forward to bringing listeners new voices including previous Paralympic medallists.

It's an exciting opportunity for us to build on our previous work in this area, to make a real difference in shifting perceptions and to make some great radio for all our listeners.

Related Links

London 2012 - official BBC site

London 2012 site

BBC wins radio rights to Paralympic Games 2012

Official site of the Paralympic Movement

Adrian Van-Klaveren is the controller of BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra

It's hard to believe but the record prices for copper could be the reason you've been held up on a train, all because someone's thought they could make a bit of easy cash by stealing a few metres of signalling cable.

The cable contains copper.

And it's not just here in the UK - copper is in high demand around the world.

The metal has just reached around US$10,000 a tonne for the first time and is still rising. And it's all down to the Chinese. In 2010, the country accounted for about one-third of total global demand. And their consumption continues to increase. So global markets are linked to small-time thieves or even organised gangs in this country.

But how does the theft of copper affect you?

If you've been delayed on a train because of 'cable theft on the line' and you've missed an important appointment or meeting, or been seriously inconvenienced, we want to speak to you..

We're planning a day looking at the issue of copper theft and how it affects some of our day-to-day activities - catching a train, making a call or receiving a regular electricity supply.

If you've been affected - email me. Or feel free to tell us your story here on the blog.

Sarah Sturdey is 5Live's East Midlands reporter.

The price of fuel has gone up nearly 15% since last year . This week on 5 live's On The Money, Declan Curry sent me to do a Sunday shift with haulage firm Youngs, in Essex who like many others, has been badly hit by the rising cost. To tackle the difference between the price of fuel here and abroad - the government has announced that they want introduce a charge on foreign haulage companies coming into the country, who currently avoid the high costs we pay at UK pumps.

Here's my report from this week's programme:

Do you have suggestions for other Sunday shifts? If so, please leave a comment below.

On The Money goes out between 8 - 9pm on Sunday nights on 5 live.

Related links

On the Money

Earlier this week, I wrote about 5 live Best Bits.

Several of you suggested that listeners should have some say in what clips get posted online, so here's your chance.

Over the last week, the two most popular clips were both from the 2-4pm slot:

- Professor Brian Cox (ex D:Ream keyboard player) talking to Richard Bacon about why things can't actually get better.

- Mark Kermode's review of The Mechanic.

We now want your thoughts on what material we should use, from today through to Sunday.

I'm not going to promise we'll put every single suggestion up. We'll read them, assess them in the normal way, and if we think they'll work, up they go.

If this works well, we'll look how we can make this a regular thing, but we'll probably have to simplify how we actually do it. For example, Nigel suggested a webform on the Best Bits page, so we'll look at that.

Related links

Richard Bacon show

Kermode and Mayo

Wonders of the Universe

Hasit Shah is a senior producer at BBC Radio 5 live

The latest Rajar figures, which were announced this morning, reveal that 5 live has enjoyed its biggest ever audience figures. In the last measurement period (20 September to 19 December) 5 live's average weekly reach was 7.09m. Many thanks to all of our listeners old and new.

Adrian Van Klaveren, the 5 live controller, spoke to the BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas about these record-breaking numbers for the BBC Radio blog.

Watch Adrian talk to Torin Douglas about 5 live's audience figures

You can find out more about how the figures are calculated in this RAJAR Primer on the Radio blog.

Adrian will write a follow-up blog about 5 live's Rajar success if you have any questions.

Related links

BBC Audio & Music's RAJAR press release

BBC Radio blog

RAJAR

The FA Cup pairing of Crawley Town with Manchester United might seem like the ultimate David vs Goliath battle - until, that is, you hear about the fight between Portsmouth publican Karen Murphy and the English football establishment. 

Karen claims to be a champion for ordinary fans, as she seeks to overturn a conviction for showing her customers live Premier League matches broadcast by the Greek satellite service Nova, rather than UK-based Sky.

If her appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is successful, many experts believe that the cost of watching football on television will plummet. We'll get the clearest indication yet of how the case may be decided when the Advocate General offers his legal opinion on Feb 3. 

Ms Murphy told 5 Live Investigates this week: "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't have a monopoly like Sky dictating to a person like me who would like to show football.

"They shouldn't dictate to me that I have to use that company and I have to pay a certain price for it. That's no free trade. I believe we are a democracy and I should be able to have a choice."

So should supporters be donning their lucky match day underwear and crossing their fingers in the hope that Karen wins? 

It's not quite as simple as that.

It is argued that if Karen Murphy wins her case, the commercial viability of English football is on the line because if TV rights have to be sold on a Europe-wide basis - instead of territory by territory - their value will dramatically fall. 

That will make it harder for Premier League clubs to attract and retain top players - as well as jeopardising youth and community schemes.

At its heart the dispute is a simple one.

Can the Premier League insist that UK citizens who wants to watch or screen live matches buys a subscription from Sky or one of their other approved partners like ESPN? 

Or do customers have the right to buy cheaper coverage from another provider elsewhere in the European Union?

So far, Karen has been on the losing side.

An English court ordered her to pay £8,000 in fines and costs for side-stepping Sky and showing Nova's broadcasts to customers at her Red, White and Blue pub.

Now she's taking the match into extra time by appealing to the European Court.

When 5 Live Investigates explored this issue last October, listeners were split between those who welcomed the prospects of cheaper satellite subscriptions, and others who feared that a change in the law could rob English football of a competitive financial edge.

The judgment could prove to be the broadcasters' "Bosman moment", ushering in revolutionary changes - just as a European court ruling in favour of the previously obscure Belgian footballer, Jean-Marc Bosman, led to unprecedented freedom of movement for out of contract players.

Frank Dunne, editor of TVSportsMarkets, who has followed the case, believes a compromise is more likely. He told 5 live Investigates:

"The arguments on either side are so strong, and they are fundamental principles of the European Union. You have the free movement of goods and services on one side, which is Karen's defence, and on the other you have the whole question of copyright protection.



"Both are such powerful arguments, it is really difficult to see a knock out, to use a boxing metaphor. I think it's much likely to be a points decision one way or the other."

UPDATE Thu 3 Feb

Premier League TV football choice 'upheld' by EU advice - BBC News report

Court of Justice of the European Union press release

Adrian Goldberg presents 5 live Investigates, every Sunday, 9-10pm. You can follow the programme on Facebook and Twitter, and download the podcast here.