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First XI
Lovejoy to leave Soccer AM
Ben Dowell
Tuesday June 5, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Tim Lovejoy is leaving as presenter of Sky Sports show Soccer AM after 10 years, bringing to an end one of the longest-running screen partnerships on UK TV, with co-host Helen Chamberlain.
Lovejoy is understood to be leaving Soccer AM to present a new entertainment show for Simon Fuller's 19 TV.
He is said to be on verge of signing a deal with Mr Fuller to host a new celebrity TV show that will have a strong internet element.
Lovejoy is understood to have already filmed a pilot for the new show, which 19 TV is pitching to various UK broadcasters.
He is also believed to be planning to take a handful of colleagues to his new show from Soccer AM, which attracts around 300,000 viewers to Sky Sports 1 every Saturday morning.
However, a Sky Sports spokesman confirmed that Soccer AM would be returning with Chamberlain and a new co-presenter at the start of the 2007-08 football season.
"Tim goes with our best wishes and we'd like to thank him for his work on Soccer AM. We understand that he wants a change of direction," the spokesman added.
Among those who form part of Soccer AM's "zoo TV" on-screen team are interviewer Peter Dale, known on the show as Tubes, and John Fendley, known to viewers as Fenners.
Other Soccer AM regulars include Joe Worsley, also known as Sheephead, and James Long, nicknamed Rocket.
An announcement about Lovejoy's move to 19 TV is expected "imminently", according to a source close to the Soccer AM presenter.
"He is close to signing a deal with a broadcaster for a pilot which would mean he would have to stop presenting Soccer AM," the source added. "He thinks it's time to branch out."
Lovejoy has also co-presented Channel Five's motoring show Fifth Gear and last year fronted a documentary on David Beckham for ITV1, A Footballers' Story, for which he spent five months following the then England captain in the run-up to the World Cup.
The success of Soccer AM has led to several other spin-offs for Lovejoy, including stints as a DJ on Xfm and a Sky One music and chat-based TV programme, Showtime, which was dropped after just one series.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2095306,00.html
Ben Dowell
Tuesday June 5, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Tim Lovejoy is leaving as presenter of Sky Sports show Soccer AM after 10 years, bringing to an end one of the longest-running screen partnerships on UK TV, with co-host Helen Chamberlain.
Lovejoy is understood to be leaving Soccer AM to present a new entertainment show for Simon Fuller's 19 TV.
He is said to be on verge of signing a deal with Mr Fuller to host a new celebrity TV show that will have a strong internet element.
Lovejoy is understood to have already filmed a pilot for the new show, which 19 TV is pitching to various UK broadcasters.
He is also believed to be planning to take a handful of colleagues to his new show from Soccer AM, which attracts around 300,000 viewers to Sky Sports 1 every Saturday morning.
However, a Sky Sports spokesman confirmed that Soccer AM would be returning with Chamberlain and a new co-presenter at the start of the 2007-08 football season.
"Tim goes with our best wishes and we'd like to thank him for his work on Soccer AM. We understand that he wants a change of direction," the spokesman added.
Among those who form part of Soccer AM's "zoo TV" on-screen team are interviewer Peter Dale, known on the show as Tubes, and John Fendley, known to viewers as Fenners.
Other Soccer AM regulars include Joe Worsley, also known as Sheephead, and James Long, nicknamed Rocket.
An announcement about Lovejoy's move to 19 TV is expected "imminently", according to a source close to the Soccer AM presenter.
"He is close to signing a deal with a broadcaster for a pilot which would mean he would have to stop presenting Soccer AM," the source added. "He thinks it's time to branch out."
Lovejoy has also co-presented Channel Five's motoring show Fifth Gear and last year fronted a documentary on David Beckham for ITV1, A Footballers' Story, for which he spent five months following the then England captain in the run-up to the World Cup.
The success of Soccer AM has led to several other spin-offs for Lovejoy, including stints as a DJ on Xfm and a Sky One music and chat-based TV programme, Showtime, which was dropped after just one series.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2095306,00.html
