BT Sport has unveiled two brand new football shows that will bookend its live coverage of Saturday Premier League games in its new 5.30pm slot for the 2016/17 season.
Almost 10 hours of continuous live football programming on BT Sport 1 every Saturday will begin each week with a live match from either the Scottish Professional Football League or the Vanarama National League, kicking off at 12.15pm.
This will then lead into a brand new results programme – BT Sport Score – which will begin the channel’s the new-look line-up for its Premier League coverage every Saturday from 2.30pm.
Going head-to-head with established opposition in Sky’s Soccer Saturday and BBC’s Final Score, BT Sport Score will be hosted by ITV and BBC Radio 5 live presenter Mark Pougatch and will keep fans up to date with all the latest live scores from across the UK, as well as European leagues and the FA Women’s Super League.
Pougatch will be joined by a host of BT Sport pundits, including as Jermaine Jenas, Robbie Savage, Harry Redknapp, David James, new signing Harry Kewell and former World Cup referee Howard Webb.
Further guests for the show, which will also incorporate regular fantasy football updates, will include current managers, recently retired players and former referees, as well as ex-players and leading figures from the women’s game.
Following the conclusion of BT Sport Score at 5.00pm on Saturdays will be the build-up to BT Sport’s live 5.30pm Premier League game, presented by Jake Humphrey, starting with Manchester City v Sunderland on Saturday, August 13.
Once the live match coverage has concluded at 8.00pm, Humphrey and BT’s regular match day pundits will bring the curtain down on the action with an hour-long discussion show Premier League Tonight, which will feature extensive analysis of the day’s key headlines and stories.
BT Sport Score and Premier League Tonight replace Fletch & Sav, which was axed after two seasons on Saturday mornings, as the channel’s flagship support programmes for its live football coverage, while its Matchday Live brand has been dropped after three years.
As a result of the new-look Saturday football line-up on BT Sport, the network’s live Aviva Premiership rugby union games will now move to BT Sport 2.
Commenting on the channel’s new line-up, Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “Football fans can look forward to a topical feast of football on Saturday on BT Sport with exciting new shows alongside fantastic exclusively live action.
“This season we will show more Premier League games than ever before at the new kick off time of 5.30pm.
“BT Sport Score will keep people up-to-date with all the news whilst offering diverse opinions in a relaxed and informal way.
“Premier League Tonight will also talk about the best action and dissect any controversial moments from the day from 8pm on a Saturday evening.”
The new season will also see BT Sport showing more Ultra HD games than ever before on its rebranded BT Sport 4K channel, with at least three live games each week from football and rugby union.
This will include every Premier League game, at least 60 Aviva Premiership rugby games, at least 30 Vanarama National League games and ten WSL games.
Home matches for British teams in the UEFA Champions League will also be shown at least once during group stages and the UEFA Europa League will also be broadcast in Ultra HD, as well as live speedway, hockey and the popular weekly studio show Rugby Tonight.
Alongside extensive UHD coverage, the new season will see BT Sport showing more Premier League games than before, in addition to its exclusive coverage of elite European competitions including the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
BT Sport is also showing its first international cricket, with Australia taking on South Africa during the autumn and winter months.
An enhanced version of the BT Sport app is also available to download, with further information available here.
