Clive Tyldesley joined the NBC SN commentary team for the exciting run in to the EPL 2018/19 season, calling the Brighton v Manchester City game which saw the Citizens claim the title.
He is certainly a veteran in England and close to a legend, having been ITV’s lead football commentator during a 30 year career.
However after developing a way of doing things that clearly worked for that audience, did he feel he had to make any changes for the US audience?
In an exclusive interview in London, Prost Soccer talked to him about that and a range of other issues.
[VIDEO Clive Tyldesley: I’d love to work with the people at NBC a bit more]
He paid tribute to the great Englsih boxing commentator Reg Gutteridge who gave him some advise early in his career. That advise was to know his audience, a lesson that helped Clive greatly as he adapted to NBC:
“Most of the people who invest in watching football on NBC SN have an interest which goes beyond a quizzical scratching of an itch. They actually do follow the English game.
“They are emotionally involved in the race for the Premier League title.”
Perhaps recognising the early hours that many have to get up to watch live games at the weekend, he added:
“In many senses they are more committed than the average football fan in the UK.”
He concludes by adding that you have to show them that you recognize they are as educated as any football fan on the Eastern side of the Atlantic, as you can see in the video above.
