Results Service

History

Results Service began as a segment within World of Sport, airing around 16:45 when football matches were finishing, with Bob Colston reading the classified check. Results Service then began at 16:45. Horse racing coverage had moved to Channel 4 before World of Sport ceased.

Format

Elton Welsby usually presented Results Service, with Jim Rosenthal hosting when Welsby was unavailable. The early theme tune was a variant of the 1983 World of Sport theme by Jeff Wayne, with two other themes used later. Football was the main sport, but until the 1988/89 season results of rugby union, cricket and snooker also featured. After ITV gained exclusive live Football League coverage from 1988/89, the programme focused almost entirely on football and included goal action if video could be transported in time. The programme began with Welsby giving scores and sometimes goal action, followed by reports from ITV commentators and independent local radio reporters. Bob Colston read the classified results near the end, after which Welsby gave league tables and previewed the next day's live ITV match.

Demise and aftermath

ITV lost top-flight football rights when the Premier League formed in 1992, ending Results Service after the 1991/92 season. From 1992/93, several ITV regions broadcast their own Goals Extra programmes; Welsby presented the Granada version for much of its run. Goals Extra showed results and reports from the Premier League but only lower-division goals, as ITV retained access to the remaining Football League divisions. Where no Goals Extra existed, ITV incorporated a football round-up into the ITN teatime news bulletin around 17:00, with a sports specialist such as Graham Miller or David Bobin presenting a full classified check.

Bob Colston initially continued this role, later replaced by the bulletin presenter. The ITN teatime classified check continued into the new millennium. From 1998, ITV2's Football First ran on Saturday afternoons with goal updates and a results check; some ITV regions showed its latter part from 2000. In 2001 it was renamed The Goal Rush on the main ITV channel, but it ended before a full classified check, which remained in the ITV News teatime bulletin.

The Goal Rush was axed mid-season in 2003, and around that time ITN stopped providing a full classified check on the teatime news, though brief clips and major football stories remained.