Club claim making money was not the main motivation for ending free audio commentaries on Peterborough United matches

The club have ended their contract with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire a year early in favour of taking the commentary ‘in-house.’ This commentary will only be available to subscribers to the club’s Posh Plus service at a cost of £5 per match, but It’s £6.50 per month for the full Posh Plus package which would give audio access to all matches.

The decision brings to an end a run that that has seen BBC Radio Cambridgeshire deliver live commentary from every game in every competition for the last 25 years, beginning during the 1995/96 season.

Radio Cambs sidelined

It’s understood BBC Radio Cambridgeshire paid between £10k and £20k per season for the broadcast rights. BBC Radio Cambridgeshire listening figures between 3pm and 5pm on a Saturday in recent football seasons have hovered around the 15,000 mark which included those listening to live Cambridge United commentaries, which are set to continue.

The news received a near-unanimous negative reaction from Posh fans on social media when it broke yesterday. Supporters were worried about older fans who relied on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for their match coverage.

A petition has also been launched by some disgruntled fans that passed 280 signatures.

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire are still expected to attend matches and they will be giving six live updates during games as well as running pre and post-match shows.

Negative reaction

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony declined a PT request for comment on Friday morning, but did deliver a tweet in the early evening which read: “I understand the outrage/disappointment (never some of the online vitriol) re match day audio & effect re our older fans with no wi fi. Solutions/Compromises will be found & shared next week.”

Meanwhile head of media and content Phil Adlam appeared on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s breakfast programme.

He confirmed the local station would still have a presence at Posh and would conduct pre-match and post-match interviews. He insisted the new paid commentary team of Chris Dowsett and Nilesh Patel would be free to air any personal views, not matter how critical.

Adlam said: “If it was about money, we’d still be in the contract with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. It’s not about how much money we make. It’s not designed with money in mind. We feel the platform of Posh Plus provides great value for money already and anyone who has signed up will agree with that.

"People’s listening habits have changed.

"We are trying to create a top subscription service and taking control of match commentaries will help to provide that.

“Chris Dowsett and Nilesh Patel are going to provide the commentaries and trust me they would never have agreed to take on the role for us if that was the case. We’re not gagging anybody. We’re not saying they need to be 100 per cent positive all of the time. They’’ll be able to express their opinion like anybody else.

“It is also not a case of us banning BBC Radio Cambridgeshire from attending our games. They will still be providing updates during games. They’ll still have pre-match and post-match interviews and have a presence in the stadium.

“It’s a decision we feel is the right one. Over the last 24 hours we’ve listened to quite a lot of feedback from supporters who feel it’s the wrong decision and everybody is always welcome to give feedback.

“The audio passes are £5, but the monthly pass is £6.50 for which you’ll get every game of that month so it works out at about £1.50 a week.

“We understand it is difficult for certain people in life at the moment, but £1.50 is not extortionate. A lot of clubs will go down this route, within the next two or three years. Not every other BBC radio station has been doing commentary of games.

“It’s one of those things that’s not going to please people and I totally get that. We are planning events at the stadium where we can introduce technology to those who are not familiar or very able to use it. We will make them available to attend in-person and for free as we appreciate that it is not an easy thing for some people to do.