 | |
| Genre | Phone-in |
|---|---|
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 5 (1991–1994) BBC Radio 5 Live (1994–present) |
| Hosted by | Robbie Savage |
| Starring | Chris Sutton |
| Recording studio | Media City UK, Salford / BBC New Broadcasting House, London |
| Original release | 1991 – Present |
| Audio format | MW, Digital radio, Digital TV and online |
| Opening theme | "Psycho" byMuse |
| Website | Official Website |
| Podcast | Official Podcast |
606 (pronounced six-oh-six) is a weekend early eveningfootballphone-in programme, broadcast onBBC Radio 5 Live throughout the British football season. It covers topics relating to the current affairs of football in the United Kingdom.
The programme got its name from the approximate time the show started on a Saturday evening – six minutes past six – followingSports Report.[1]
Since the start of the2022–23 season, the programme is broadcast between 19:30 and 21:00 on Saturdays, and 18:30 and 20:00 on Sundays, and has been produced by Shooting Shark Productions Limited since 2015: it was formerly made by Campbell Davison Media from 2003, thenSomethin' Else Productions from 2009. As well as listeners phoning in, a selection of texts and e-mails to the studio are read out.
The programme was inspired by long-running BBC Local Radio football phone-ins, such as theBBC Radio Sheffield programmePraise or Grumble.[2]
606's current theme tune is an arrangement of "Psycho" fromMuse.
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The original host wasDanny Baker in the 1991–1992 season. Baker also hosted the show in the 1996–97 and 2008–09 seasons.David Mellor then presented 606 from 1992–2001 and was for a long time the regular Wednesday evening presenter. Other previous hosts have included:
Danny Baker returned to606 to present sixEuro 2008 specials and proved such a big hit with the listeners that he was invited back to present regularly on Tuesdays.[3]
Under Baker in the 1990s the show favoured bizarre and obscure but amusing topics, often avoiding the matches played and headline football news. On occasions other sports would be included. It also included music in its first years. However, from Mellor onwards, the show became established as a more mainstream phone-in, mainly focusing on Premier League teams.
Between 2007 and 2009 the programme was hosted byDJ Spoony andGabriele Marcotti. From the 2009–2010 seasonAlan Green presented on Saturdays, as he typically commentated on an evening match before presenting the Saturday show. Tim Lovejoy joined to present on Wednesdays while Danny Baker continued to present on Tuesdays from 10–11pm.
AftertalkSPORT took the rights to Saturday eveningPremier League matches from the 2010–11 season, the Saturday edition returned again to 6:06pm. The hosts became Mark Chapman and Robbie Savage, in his final season as a professional footballer. Savage won the Rising Star in RadioSony Radio Award for his plain speaking.[citation needed] Sunday's show was hosted by Alan Green. The Tuesday and Wednesday shows were dropped, only appearing on international nights.
In 2011–12, as Savage was taking part inStrictly Come Dancing, he was replaced on Saturdays byJason Roberts. Savage instead joined Green on Sunday. In 2012–13, Savage returned to the Saturday evening program, alongside either Darren Fletcher or Mark Chapman. Green again hosts Sunday on his own.
From the 2013–14 season, there were two teams hosting between the two nights.Darren Fletcher andRobbie Savage hosted on Saturdays whileKelly Cates and former footballerIan Wright hosted on Sundays.
From the 2016–17 season, the Saturday team changed, withJason Mohammad joining Savage, due to Fletcher'sBT Sport commentary commitments. Cates and Wright continued to host on a Sunday.
From the 2018–19 season, the Saturday show was hosted by Jason Mohammad with Robbie Savage and the Sunday show saw Alistair Bruce-Ball andChris Sutton take over from Cates and Wright.
From the 2019–20 season, Alistair Bruce-Ball and Chris Sutton moved to the Saturday evening show withSam Quek and Emma Jones alternating each week to present the Sunday evening show alongside Robbie Savage.
From the 2020–2021 season, Robbie Savage transitioned to the presenter role for both the Saturday and Sunday shows, alongside Chris Sutton.
After the BBC won the right to broadcast the Saturday 17:30 Premier League match from the start of the 2022–23 season,606's start time was moved back to 19:30.
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The 2009–10 season saw the launch of the606 Soapbox outside grounds. Fans can drop into theSoapbox and speak live to presenters Spoony and Gabriele Marcotti in the 5 Live studios. Every three weeks the Soapbox visits a league football ground in various locations around the country.
Sunday's606 also has a weekly celebrity fan, reporting on the game they have been to that day. Celebrity fans so far have includedRay Winstone (West Ham United),Alan Davies (Arsenal),Beverley Knight (Wolves),Norman Jay (Spurs),Trevor Nelson (Chelsea), Tony Jeffries (Sunderland) andJames and Oliver Phelps aka Fred and George Weasley from the Harry Potter films (Birmingham City andAston Villa).
When Alistair Bruce-Ball andChris Sutton started presenting, they introduced a game called "Sutton Death" in which both take it in turns to give answers to a certain category each week, in a given a time (usually around 15–20 seconds). Other features on their show included, "ABB" in which both Bruce-Ball and Sutton share what has "Amused", "Bugged" and "Baffled" them during the week, and, "The Simulation Game" in which they play a clip of the song "Free Fallin'" byTom Petty and also play the commentary from the times during the week when players have been caught diving.
SinceRobbie Savage took over as presenter, features include "six times six", giving six callers, six seconds to state their name, the team they support and their point, as well as "Gone in 60 Suttons".
In addition to the phone-in programme, there was also an online version of606 in the form of an internet message board, although in June 2006 the site was forced to temporarily close due to the large amount of web traffic and forum threads. Football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, snooker, motorsport and several other sports had message boards embedded into 606.
On 24 January 2011, it was announced the606 forum would close at the end of the 2010–11 football season, due to cuts in the BBC's online budget of 25% .[4] The forum finally closed on 31 May 2011.[5]
606 also has an activeFacebook group, for fans to chat, and view behind the scenes pictures of the show. Listeners can follow606@bbc606 onTwitter.
Other sports occasionally get the606 treatment. These include Tennis, where the show became6 Love 6 presented byJohn McEnroe, Cricket's6-Duck-6 presented by former England captainMichael Vaughan andFormula 1's Slicks–0–6,[6] whichMurray Walker presented.
