Gary Lineker has been left red-faced as his former employer, the BBC, has surpassed him in World Cup coverage viewership, despite his claims of rising podcast numbers. Lineker, now presenting daily episodes for Netflix from New York, has seen his podcast The Rest Is Football register around 100,000 to 140,000 streams per day, according to The Sun. In contrast, the BBC's Football Daily podcast is leading with nearly 250,000 daily streams, and episodes regularly top 100,000 views on iPlayer alone.
BBC's Remote Studio Strategy Pays Off
The BBC chose not to travel to the United States for the World Cup, instead broadcasting from a studio in Salford, Manchester. Despite initial criticism, this decision has seemingly impressed streamers. The BBC has surpassed its Euro 2024 numbers, registering 11 million streams of tournament highlights so far. On June 17, the day England beat Croatia in their opening match, 3 million viewers accessed the dedicated sports app.
BBC director of sport Alex Kay‑Jelski expressed delight at the climbing numbers. "On top of the millions flocking to live games - even in the middle of the night - it's fantastic to see the appetite for our on-demand World Cup coverage has sky-rocketed," he said. "Whether it’s our no-spoiler highlights, the visualised Football Daily podcast or our new shorts video tab, live pages and written stories, we are meeting audiences where they are, when they want. We’re delighted to see the influx of young audiences using our 3D tool and games alongside the loyal BBC Sport obsessives who are devouring cricket, tennis and more alongside the football."
Lineker's Digs at BBC
Lineker, who spent over two decades with the BBC, initially planned to stay involved in their World Cup coverage after leaving Match of the Day. However, he moved fully into podcasting alongside Micah Richards and Alan Shearer. On Saturday, he made a brief cameo on ITV's punditry lineup before Germany's clash with Ivory Coast, firing several digs at his former employers. He praised ITV as 'absolutely amazing' in contrast to the BBC's remote setup.
As ITV began their live coverage, Lineker said: "Thank you for joining us on ITV for this one, another day, another game, another channel..." Presenter Laura Woods interjected: "Woah, woah, woah Gary that's my job," before Lineker added: "Sorry, sorry, old habits Laura, old habits." Woods continued: "As you'll notice Gary Lineker is our very special guest, England's joint top goalscorer with Harry Kane. Gary, great to have you all jokes aside, welcome to the New York and welcome to ITV family, you have a new show which we'll be talking about in a minute."
Lineker's Criticism of BBC's 'Soulless' Setup
Ahead of the tournament, Lineker branded the BBC 'soulless' over its decision not to base a studio in the United States. "I am very surprised the Beeb are not coming," he told The Telegraph. "It doesn’t make sense to me. I understand that whatever they do they get criticised because that is the nature of the BBC. But I must say this World Cup is the biggest deal over the next five or six weeks. It will probably get the vast majority of the most watched television programmes of the year. Almost certainly therefore it justifies a presence. And they [the BBC] will cover it fine… but I have done many shows when we have not been able to go to tournaments and you are in a green box. Even if it looks like you are not at home – you are. And it’s soulless."
Despite Lineker's criticism, ITV reportedly has 'four of the top five highest audiences' so far in the tournament. Lineker's ITV appearance alongside Ian Wright, Gary Neville and Duncan Ferguson was brief, though he will make a full return to television when his game show The Box airs on ITV in early September.
