FA Cup rocks for ITV

Regular readers of twofootedtackle will know that ITV has impressed me with its stance since winning rights to this season's FA Cup.

Back in July, their guys sent me some information about what it would be doing (namely screening games that otherwise would not be shown, and generally supporting the early rounds of the Cup in the manner it deserves).

In August, they took myself and Chris Oakley of Some People Are On The Pitch on a fantastic jolly visit to Wembley Football Club, for their super-early tie against Royston Town.

So with money being generated for the clubs involved, grassroots football being shown to all and sundry, and televised games being well attended, how's it working out for ITV?

Well, with a combination of games streamed live and highlights of others, it's going rather well. Over 300,000 ITV FA Cup videos have been viewed this season across ITV.com and ITV Local.

It's a great result for ITV, but it's also valuable exposure for the clubs involved. It would be interesting to see how it's helped some of them out in the longer term.

One of the guys who accompanied Chris and I to Wembley in August was ITV.com's football mad Head of Content, Marc Webber. Here's what he has to say about yesterday's stats:

"We’re delighted with the new figures that show there is massive interest in grassroots football. By making available the early round FA Cup games and allowing clubs to upload video from matches all over the country we have firmly established our websites as must-visit destinations for football fans."

Thank god they've recommended twofootedtackle then!