The amount of researchers in MOTD is not clear by the credits however I would like to have a rough guess at about 8 researchers in my episode. To justify this prediction I think that for every highlighted game for the episode there will be one researcher. This means that seen as though there is 8 games of highlighted football on MOTD for that days programme, there will have been 8 researchers.
Each researcher will have slightly different researching techniques but they all need to seek out the information one way or another. The sort of information which the researchers will have to look for are individual records, (i.e. if a player is only 3 goals away from reaching 100 goals or to be the clubs highest goal scorer) club records, (i.e. if they win this game it will break the clubs record for most consecutive victories) latest news of the club (i.e. takeover news) and they would have to look up any interesting facts about the teams playing one another (i.e. if a team hasn’t beaten the opposition in so many years).
The research which is obtained is used by both the presenters (Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Mark Lawrenson) which either introducing the game or when analysing the game once the highlights have been watched. However it is not just the presenters who need the information, it is also needed by the directors, the producers and graphics team. The directors and producers need the research in order to see what interesting stories they can insert into the programme. The graphics team need the research in order to get the research ready in case it is to go on the programme, listing the research for the viewers.
Recce
A recce would have to be done before the live broadcast of match of the day. A recce is where they will look at the studio and work out how much daylight is going to come in, where the plugs are and where all the equipment is going to go. They will sketch the layout of the studio and sketch in where all the equipment will go in the room. They will have multiple cameras in the studio along with the chairs and table of the presenters.
Schedules
Schedules are an important part of research as I stated before. A schedule is needed for every part of the programme/production. A researcher needs a schedule in order to get all the information they need in only a short period of time. If the researchers do not have a schedule and negligently don’t get some research which is needed then the show maybe won’t run as smoothly and may even lose some of its audience figures. Also if the researcher doesn’t have a schedule and does get something wrong then it can push all the other parts of the production backwards. This can be a problem for the whole show seen as though it is on at more or less the sae time every week.
Research Time
Research time for match of the day is very strict. During the football season match of the day is on every Saturday at around the same time. This means that it only gives the researchers a week in order to get all the information they need.
Researchers will be given a brief of everything which the show needs. This however will only be brief and the researcher will have to use their own common knowledge to know that more information is needed. They may have to look in newspapers for stories about the clubs and do extra work in order to help the show.
Seen as though there is not enough time for new researchers to learn the trade by themselves and be taught by another researcher they will “tag along” with an experienced researcher taking in everything which they need to find and where to find it from. The reason why they will not get very good training is because there simply is not enough time. They could get another researcher in to teach them but this will run up more budget costs.
For every week they will look through the database and get all the information they can. After some experience in the job it will become quite routine. They will know exactly where to look in the database and some researchers will also already know some of the stats which they need before they even go and search for them. Also some stats could also go on from one weekend onto another if a certain player is only one goal away from breaking a record.
