5 Live Sport is the banner of live sports coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live. The regular presenters are Mark Chapman (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday), Kelly Cates (Tuesday), Steve Crossman (Thursday and Sunday) and Darren Fletcher (Friday). The programme is on air from Monday to Wednesday 7pm to 10:30pm, as well as Thursday and Friday 7pm to 10pm. It is also broadcast at weekends from 12pm until the early evening, depending on the events being covered.
History
5 Live Sport evolved from the Saturday afternoon radio sports programme Sport on 2, which started on BBC Radio 2 on 4 April 1970. The programme was also broadcast on most bank holiday afternoons. Afternoon-long sporting coverage on Sundays, using different names during the Radio 2 era, was introduced in 1984 although this was confined to the summer months and it took on a format mixing sport and music. It changed its name to Sport on 5 on 1 September 1990 following the transfer of BBC Radio's sports coverage to the newly launched BBC Radio 5. The programme continued to be called Sport on 5 following the replacement of BBC Radio 5 with BBC Radio 5 Live in March 1994. The 5 Live Sport name has been used since 2006.
Format
Original format
The original format featured the major sports events each Saturday afternoon, broadcasting between 1:30pm and 5pm, with updates from the major footballing fixtures and second half commentary on a top match. The location of the commentary game would usually be revealed around 3pm. Sports Report then followed at 5pm. During the summer, Sports Report was not broadcast, meaning that Sport on 2 ran from 1:30pm and 6pm, extended to 7pm during the Wimbledon fortnight.
Current format
The main focus of the programme, especially between August and May, is still on the football season, and in particular the Premier League. 5 Live Sport has live Premier League commentaries on Saturdays at 3 pm and 5:30 pm, Sundays at 2pm and 4:30pm and Monday nights at 8pm. They also have live commentaries from the Champions League and FA Cup. The programme also has extensive coverage of the England national team. Mark Chapman is the main presenter. Other major events such as the Formula One (European cities only), Six Nations and The Ashes are also aired. In the summer, major sporting events such as the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, Wimbledon and the Open are all given extensive coverage.
Football – John Acres,[7] John Bennett, Lee Blakeman, Chris Coles, Kenny Crawford, George Cummins, Ellen Ellard, Maz Farookhi, Gary Flintoff, Tom Gayle, Andy Gilles, Betty Glover, Becky Ives, Jane Lewis, Nesta McGregor, Connie Mclaughlin, Mike Minay, Henry Moeran, Pat Murphy, Rob Nothman,[8]Jonathan Overend, Aaron Paul,[9] Will Perry,[10] Flo Pollock, Naz Premji , Sheridan Robins, Sanny Rudravajhala, Nikesh Rughani,[11] Sohail Sahi, Shourjo Sarker, Mark Scott, Andy Sixsmith, Charlie Slater, Katie Smith, John Southall,[12] Kris Temple, Gavin Wallace, Chris Wise[13]