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Media Links

This page will tell you how to best follow the fortunes of Reading FC using the media. There are a few links to relevant websites, but mostly you will have to go elsewhere to actually see what you want. By "elsewhere" I mean as far as your TV set or the local newsagent, for example.

Television

1. Meridian - the ITV1 region in the South of England. Coverage is as follows (exact times for (a) and (b) vary from week to week, though):
   (a) 5.05pm, Saturday - usually a brief report on the game and goal action for home games. Occasionally action from the early part of the game for away matches.
   (b) 4.45pm, Sunday - usually a brief report on the game and goal action
   (c) 6pm, each weekday - as part of the programme Meridian Tonight, various coverage usually including goal action in the programme following a game, a preview in the programme preceding a game, and news stories when relevant
   (d) 10.20pm, after home midweek games - usually a brief report on the game and goal action
   (e) Soccer Sunday at 2pm on Sunday afternoons contains highlights of one game (which will undoubtedly not be Reading except when we happen to play against a South Coast team) and goals from the others in the region
   
   Note however that Meridian splits programmes between three subregions. If you are tuned to a transmitter outside the Thames Valley subregion or if you are watching via a Sky digibox, you will not be able to see the action listed in (a), (b), (c) or (d) above. Soccer Sunday is however the same programme across each subregion.
   
   To get Meridian on the digibox, tune into R5 2-5.
   
   
2. BBC South - the BBC region in the South of England. The only coverage is at 6.30pm each weekday as part of the programme South Today. This usually includes goal action in the programme following a game, a preview in the programme preceding a game, and news stories when relevant. Overall the coverage is very poor. If you have a Sky digibox, you can pick up BBC1 South on channel 954. Also, BBC1 Oxford is on channel 955 but I don't know if they have any Reading coverage.
   
   
3. Carlton - the ITV1 region in the South of England. Very occasional coverage in the programme London Tonight at 6pm on weekday evenings. Their Soccer Sunday programme (2pm each Sunday) has goal action from Reading and occasionally patronising chat about the club.
   
   To get Carlton on the digibox, tune into R1 1-1.
   
   
4. National ITV1 - goal highlights in Nationwide League Extra after midnight each Monday night / Tuesday morning (the exact time varies from week to week). Programme is repeated at an even later time on Tuesday night / Wednesday morning.
   
   
5. BBC - the BBC have the contract to show the FA Cup, and so may cover Reading games in either Football Focus on Saturday at 12.20pm or on Match of the Day on Saturday night at 11pm (repeated Sunday morning at 7am). Exact times will vary from programme to programme, and Reading can only expect any coverage beyond goal action if we are seen as potential giantkillers in a given tie.
   
   
6. Sky Sports - coverage on Sky Sports News on the day of a game. Goal coverage in both "Goals on Sunday" and Football League programmes during the week.
   
   
7. Sky Digital - as described above, you can view regional BBC and ITV1 stations via a digibox. BBC1 regions are found on channels 942 to 956, with BBC2 regions from 957 to 962. Depending on where you live, there may be nearby ITV1 regions on 963 and 964, whilst it is also possible to tune into all other regions.
   

Teletext

1. Ceefax BBC South - occasional news stories on the regional sports page 390. Weekend match previews on page 394 from Friday onwards, plus midweek match previews on the day of the game (more detailed previews than those on the national Ceefax pages).
   
   
2. Ceefax BBC London - occasional news stories on the regional sports page 390, usually (but not always) identical to those shown on BBC South
   
   
3. Ceefax national - Division 1 league table on page 325, subpage 1 (hopefully!) or 2. Weekend match previews on page 306 from Friday onwards, plus midweek match previews on the day of the game. On Saturdays the latest scores and scorers are on page 305 with results on page 315, subpage 1 and reports on page 306. Midweek results are on page 313 on the day of the game. There are also occasional brief news stories on page 312.
   
   
4. Meridian - occasional news stories, mostly straight from the official club website, on the regional sports page 470. You can also read most of these by following this link to the Teletext website:
   Teletext local sport South region
   
   
5. Carlton - occasional news stories on the regional sports page 470, usually (but not always) identical to those shown on Meridian. You can also read most of these by following this link to the Teletext website:
   Teletext local sport London region
   
   
6. ITV Teletext national - Division 1 league table on page 429, subpage 1 (hopefully!) or 2. Previews and match reports on page 410. Latest scores and scorers are usually on page 417. For 2003/04, they have started a regular feature with Division 1 news stories on page 411. There are also occasional brief news stories on page 413.
   
   
7. Skytext via cable - latest score and scorers on page 202, Nationwide League news stories on page 601 which very, very occasionally includes Reading
   
   
8. Skytext via Digibox - Nationwide League news stories on page 260 which very, very occasionally includes Reading
   
   

Radio

1. Reading 107fm - on 14/3/2002, it was announced that New City FM had been successful in their bid for the small-scale commercial radio licence for Reading and the immediately surrounding area. The station is now called Reading 107fm and their offices are between the South and East Stands at Madejski Stadium. The station launched on 22/10/2002. On Saturdays they plan a football show from 2pm to 6pm, and the other main coverage looks as if it will be part of the news from 6pm to 6.15pm each day.
   
   There are also news and sports bulletins during the day that will presumably cover Reading FC. They have a website at:
   Reading 107fm
   and are planning at some stage to broadcast over the internet, although I doubt if that will include football commentary.
   
   
2. BBC Radio Berkshire - live commentary of games as part of a wider football show. On Saturdays the show is from 1.05pm to 6pm, on weekdays the programme starts at 7.05pm. There is a phone-in from 6pm to 7pm each Tuesday. Also has sports news items, heavily featuring Reading FC, every hour at half-past the hour on weekdays, and every hour on the hour on Saturdays. There is a weekend sports preview at 5.45pm each Friday. You can view the station schedule by following this link:
   BBC Radio Berkshire Schedules
   The radio station now has a decent Reading FC section on their website, which includes an audio file of the latest news and sports bulletin.
   BBC Radio Berkshire Loyal Royals
   
   
3. Classic Gold - not known
   
   
4. 2-Ten FM - not known. None at all when I've listened to it!
   
   
5. Blast 1386 AM - the radio station of Reading College. Exact coverage not known but there are news and sports bulletins during the day that might cover Reading FC. They have a website at:
   Blast 1386 AM
   
   
6. Radio 5 Live - the best chance is of live commentary, perhaps of the second half only, for a midweek game when there are no other games on at a higher level. You can listen on the web by following this links:
   Radio 5 live
   You can also listen to Radio 5 on channel 855 on a Sky digibox.
   
   
7. Five Live Sports Extra - will occasionally include live commentary on Reading games. The best chance is midweek when not much else is going on, and we are playing a "big name" opponent. You can check the schedule and listen on the web by following this link:
   Five Live Sports Extra index
   
   
8. Regional radio stations - the local station of a team that Reading are playing against will often provide coverage of the game, and sometimes live commentary. There are too many stations to list, and in any event I can't comment on what each station provides. If you want to try this out, I recommend looking at the "Local Radio Stations" section of the following webiste:
   Media UK Directory
   Alternatively the following link will take you to a website which shows how to get commentary on games, some of which is from local radio stations:
   Socceraudio
   
   

Local Newspapers

1. Reading Evening Post - publishes daily from Monday to Friday, and will include news stories about Reading every day. Also has an Academy supplement each Thursday. You can read the main news stories each day by following this link to the sport section of the Evening Post website:
   Reading Evening Post sport
   However, the website never includes match reports or the Academy supplement.
   
   
2. Reading Chronicle - publishes each Thursday, and will always include news stories, match reports and match previews.You can read some of their coverage by following this link to the Reading FC section of the icBerkshire website:
   icBerkshire Reading FC page
   However, updates can be erratic, and sometimes the Reading FC items end up in the general football or general sport sections instead.
   
   
3. Reading Central - a free newspaper published each Wednesday and delivered erratically in the Reading area. Copies to take away are also left at Reading Central library. Includes coverage of Reading FC but always the same as in Evening Posts from the previous week.
   
   
4. The Midweek - a free newspaper published each Tuesday and delivered erratically in the Reading area. Copies to take away are also left at Reading Central library. Typically contains a half page of sport, including coverage of Reading FC but usually the same as is in the Reading Chronicle.
   
   
5. Thames Valley Sports Focus - a monthly free newspaper covering sport in the Thames Valley. Typically has one page about Reading. They are developing a website that may in future contain their stories, but which does not yet:
   Thames Valley Sports Focus website
   However, I have not seen any copies of this for some months (this sentence written in October 2002) and it may have gone out of existence.
   
   
6. Newbury Weekly News - publishes each Thursday and contains some Reading FC coverage. You can read the sports section of the pape by following this link to their website:
   Newbury Weekly News Sports section
   They have changed the format, so that it is now much easier to follow and to read.
   
   
7. Basingstoke Gazette - publishes each Friday and includes high quality Reading FC match reports and some news items. You can read some of their coverage by following this link to their website:
   Basingstoke Gazette Sport Index
   However, I have never seen a Reading story on the website.
   
   
8. Maidenhead Advertiser - publishes each Friday and has been known to include Reading FC news. You can read some of their coverage by following this link to their website:
   Maidenhead Advertiser Sport Index
   However, I have never seen a Reading story on the website.
   
   

National Newspapers

1. The Times - has a club-by-club section for Division 1 clubs each Friday. However, this hardly ever contains any information that a Reading fan with internet access will not have learnt from some other source at least a couple of days earlier. They also have a match report from some Division 1 games most Mondays, and Reading will occasionally feature in this. You can read all of their coverage by following this link to the sports section of The Times website:
   The Times sports section
   (will require free registration to get to all pages)
   
   
2. The Observer - match coverage on a Sunday includes a fan's view of the game.
   
   
3. Sport First - the Sunday edition always includes a match report and the Thursday edition includes a preview.
   
   

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