BBC turns to 'family-friendly' fixtures as ITV winning World Cup rating battle

The BBC has hit back in the World Cup ratings battle with ITV by announcing exclusive live rights to “family-friendly” kick-offs in the first knockout phase, including England’s clash against Democratic Republic of the Congo.

BBC bosses said its priority for the round of 32 was to secure fixtures “falling in time slots to ensure children and their families can watch together live as the tournament steps up a notch”, as the battle for World Cup ratings continues.

With the BBC getting first pick of the 16 knockout games, the corporation opted for England’s first knockout game, which kicks off at 5pm on Wednesday, the first pre-watershed after two matches kicked off at 9PM, and Panama at 10PM.

New EU border checks should be suspended before peak summer, aviation industry leaders have said, after Brits reported huge delays due to the new Entry/Exit System (EES). 

The system, rolled out fully in April, involves people from the UK having their fingerprints registered and photographs taken to enter certain countries.

The EES is used to enter the Schengen Area, which consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU.

For most UK travellers, the process is done at foreign airports.

Severe operational consequences disrupting passengers and putting border authorities, airports and airlines under unsustainable pressure.

Senior figures at three major aviation industry bodies wrote to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission warning waiting times at border control had “increased significantly, now reaching up to five hours”.

Since it’s implementation, the EES has caused travel chaos for Brits.

Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with missiles and drones, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens more.

Russia launched a series of strikes on Kyiv, hitting residential ⁠buildings and ⁠triggering ​a fire in a hotel on a central boulevard.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko has said 13 people had been killed, ⁠with about three dozen locations across the city damaged in the attacks.

Many residents took shelter at metro stations after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, issued the first warnings of the attack.

Zelenskyy was forced to cut short a trip to Dublin on Wednesday, citing intelligence reports of a large-scale Russian attack.

Ukraine said on Tuesday it hit one of Russia’s largest satellite communication centers in north Moscow for the second time in just over a week.

Russian president Vladimir Putin also recently admitted Russia is facing fuel shortages after Ukraine launched repeated strikes on oil refineries, while Kyiv notably launched a large-scale attack on Moscow last month.

Sir Keir Starmer’s much-delayed Defence Investment Plan had one big bet at its heart: drones are the future of warfare.

American company Anduril makes the “Seabed Sentry“- a weighted cylinder that uses sensors and AI to monitor what is happening under the sea. They could be used to listen out for spying and sabotage by Russian submarines. They are far cheaper than crewed submarines using traditional sonar.

A dozen of the cylinders can be dropped onto the seabed at a time by an autonomous submarine, with the devices forming a network which communicate between themselves and listens out for undersea activity.

The UK is woefully unprepared with the Royal Navy in a desperate condition. Whoever sits in Downing Street come next September will need to address matters of defence, homeland and cyber defence especially, with urgency.

Officials have drawn up contingency plans to cut further green levies from energy bills if prices remain high this winter, The i Paper has been told.

Several options are now circulating among Burnham’s transition team who are believed to be weighing up how to deliver on that pledge. A Treasury source said work on a package was ongoing to help with rising costs.

Burnham could remove remaining green levies from energy bills, funded through general taxation instead.

One proposal would be to raise the bank surcharge from its current 3 per cent.

Replace stamp duty, loosen fiscal rules and tax the capital gains uplift on inherited assets.

A written statement published by the Chancellor said the remaining sum would be “confirmed at Budget 2026, in a fair and balanced way”.

The coronation of Andy Burnham is fraught with dangers. Never will a prime minister have arrived in Downing Street with so little scrutiny of what he wants to do.

Electric flying taxis could be above the streets of London by 2028, a manufacturer has claimed. Here’s what you need to know.

Vertical Aerospace is still testing the aircraft and it will need to be approved by both the approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA). But the company says the aim is for air taxis to become as cheap and convenient as ordering an Uber to the airport.

The BBC said it was “providing fans with the only free‑to‑air destination to watch the Three Lions as they begin their knockout campaign”.

The “family-friendly” BBC selections also include the 6pm match between Ivory Coast and Norway on Tuesday.

The punchy language indicates that the BBC is fighting back after ITV scored seven of the top 10 biggest TV audiences during the group stage of the World Cup, including England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, which was seen by a peak audience of 16.4 million.

England’s 2-0 win over Panama, which finished at midnight on Saturday, was seen by a peak ITV audience of 13.8 million viewers, 80 per cent of all those watching TV at that time.

The BBC did record a peak audience of 15.4 million for England’s second group game, the 0-0 draw against Ghana, which produced a record 8.3 million viewing requests on iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app.

However, the BBC has faced criticism for presenting its coverage from a Salford studio, employing a computer-generated backdrop of US skylines, whilst ITV’s Brooklyn base offers viewers a spectacular vista of Manhattan.

ITV’s pundit line-up featuring Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville have also been unafraid to deliver withering criticism of England where the team has under-performed.

Ex-BBC star Gary Lineker even made a guest appearance on ITV’s coverage, poking fun at his former employer’s Manchester studio, to plug his Netflix World Cup podcast, The Rest is Football.

Yet, the BBC believes former England goalkeeper Joe Hart’s observations and Wayne Rooney’s insights means it is holding its own in the pundit wars.

Key hosts and personnel are expected to travel to North America for the knockout stages following England’s progress.

A unique “non-aggression pact” between ITV and the BBC has seen the broadcasters point viewers towards upcoming games on the rival network for the first time – so ITV’s Mark Pougatch will tell viewers they can see the next game in a particular group on BBC One and vice versa.

The co-operation extends into the live game selection, with BBC and ITV executives working into the early hours of Sunday morning to finalise the round of 32 games split.

The BBC’s promotion of its “family-friendly” kick-off choices suggests the competition between the two networks is heating up as the tournament builds towards its 19 July climax.

ITV traditionally prefers the tournament guarantee of two England group games, delivering blockbuster ratings for advertisers, at the price of allowing the BBC first choice for the knockout phase.

ITV’s round of 32 picks include the game most football romantics want to see, Argentina vs Cape Verde’s heroes, as well as matches featuring Brazil and France, the most entertaining team so far.

BBC sources said the cross-promotion of games between BBC and ITV was expected to continue throughout the tournament.

Insiders say BBC head of sport Alex Kay-Jelski is relaxed about sharing games and talent with rivals, allowing star football presenters Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman to work for Sky alongside their BBC roles.

But the increased number of games at this World Cup presents a challenge for the BBC’s Sport team from Monday, when Wimbledon also begins.

The All-England Club expects the BBC to give prominent exposure to the tennis, along with new innovations to reach younger viewers, after agreeing a deal to extend coverage to 2033.

Live coverage of Wimbledon will shift from BBC One to BBC Two to accommodate the football on Wednesday afternoon with viewers directed to iPlayer for alternative matches.

The teatime Congo kick-off is also expected to spark an early exodus from the offices around the UK as workers head off in good time to watch the game.