This is probably the longest running show at HRI. Football commentary from Portman Road started in 1971, and is still going strong today.
Every major Ipswich Town FC home game is broadcast live by a dedicated commentary team. This team is made up from members of Hospital Radio Ipswich and the Ipswich Town Supporters Club.
The 2006/7 season saw three changes to our commentary:
- The commentary team now has a place in the Press Box in the Britannia stand. This means that they have access to all the same facilities as all the rest of the media at Portman Road.
- The sound is now brought to you digitally over an ISDN link with similar equipment to that used by many commercial broadcasters. This was obtained from Glensound. This equipment automatically puts the commentary on-air without anyone having to be present at our studios.
- The commentary team now have a laptop computer which allows them to keep the Patients informed on up-to-date information about all the other matches and sporting events that are also going on.
This picture shows Terry Betts (left) Tim Ward (middle) and Steve Robbins (right) ready for action.
The season 2007/8 saw our first link up with Hospital Radio Colchester when we had a member of the Hospital Radio Colchester commentary team join us at Portman Road. Consequently, we linked the two Hospital Radio Stations for the broadcast of the commentary.
Also, in the 2009/10 season we linked up to a Hospital Radio station in London where one of our Portman Road commentators gave us away commentary to the patients of Ipswich Hospital from the ground of Crystal Palace. It was a remarkable moment in the history of football broadcasting.
Midweek games replace our normal evening schedule.
Matt Carr, Gemma G and David Hopely take it in turns to look after things in the studio by providing music and information before and at half time.
If you would like a dedication you can call Matt, Gemma or David in the Studio on 01473 704666 or *800 from a Hospedia unit.
