EFL on Quest

History

From the 2018-19 season, a four-year agreement gave Quest the rights to 90 minutes of extended highlights from the English Championship, League One, and League Two. Colin Murray hosted the Saturday night show, which aired in primetime at 9pm. Quest announced an HD version would debut in July 2018. It first appeared on Virgin Media channel 217 on 21 July 2018 but was removed just three days later.

The HD channel officially launched on 2 August 2018 on Virgin Media, followed by Freesat and Sky on 3 August, and Freeview on 14 August. A duplicate version also ran on Virgin Media channel 194 from 22 July to 11 August 2018, temporarily replacing Dave HD after UKTV channels were pulled. The EFL stated on 4 May 2018 that the partnership would ensure free-to-air coverage that was accessible and high quality. When the first programme aired on 4 August 2018, many viewers saw frequent picture breakup and a screen reduced to the outdated 4:3 ratio.

Complaints poured in, and Digital Spy investigated the technical issues. Quest acknowledged that "some" viewers had problems, but Digital Spy's findings strongly indicated that everyone was affected. Quest said they were working on a fix. Starting 30 March 2019, the show expanded to two hours, adding a second pundit and more coverage of League One and League Two.

On 23 February 2022, the EFL announced that ITV had won the highlights rights from the 2022-23 season, ending Quest's run. The final episode aired on 29 May 2022, and Quest's HD channel on Freeview closed a month later.

Presenters and pundits

The programme was usually presented by Colin Murray, formerly of BBC and Channel 5, though Jacqui Oatley or Michelle Owen presented on certain weekends. Two pundits from a rotating group appeared alongside the presenter, including Ian Holloway, Dean Ashton, Stephen Warnock, Michael Brown, Sue Smith, Curtis Davies, Sam Parkin, Ali Maxwell, George Elek, Michael Appleton and Gary McSheffrey. Guest pundits such as EFL managers sometimes appeared. Commentary came from Pitch International world feed commentators such as Paul Walker, Nigel Adderley, Kevin Keatings, Dan Mason, Jon Champion, Steve Wilson, Dan O'Hagan, John Roder, Chris Sharples, Dave Farrar, Joe Speight, James Fielden, Jon Driscoll, Martin Fisher and Sam Matterface.

Quest also used their own commentators on certain games, including Simon Watts, Jonathan Legard, Andy Clarke, and world feed regulars. Reporters largely matched those of the BBC's The Football League Show and Channel 5's Football League Tonight, including Sue Thearle, Chris Ford, Georgie Bingham, Dave Beckett, Matt Williams, Nick Halling, Jack Woodward, Tom Skippings, Jonathan Legard, Danny Jamieson, Ollie Wilson, Alison Bender, Will Cope and Tim Long.