I’ve been in two minds about the recent experiment of online broadcasting that limited the live audience for England’s World Cup qualifier in Ukraine last weekend.

There was outrage at the confirmation that the qualifier was only going to be available online, even though it’s probably the shape of things to come.

In this age of the internet and iPhones, it’s only a matter of time before all televisions are web-connected and mobiles are linked in at the same standard and resolution quality.

With Sky Sports fans paying upwards of £40 a month to watch football and other sports events, is it any wonder that we finally had a game available solely online?

Is it really that much different to pay-per-view sports events on Sky such as boxing fights that happen in the small hours?

It’s all very well football fans being outraged at the online-only option, and the limit on the number of viewers to just 1m to prevent the service from crashing is less than ideal, but that will no doubt change.

But it provokes the wider question of why certain ‘crown jewel’ sports events are not available on terrestrial television.

The online or iPhone option is great for the traveller or the fan who wants to watch events in the park or somewhere else where television is not an option.

But I’m delighted to see that the next Ashes cricket series in the UK is now likely to be on free-to-air television.

Even those of us who are not cricket addicts can remember the 2005 Ashes series with nostalgia and recall just where we were when England won the final Test to win the little urn back again.

The same cannot be said of this year’s Ashes, which failed to capture the imagination in quite the same way because it was only available on subscription-based Sky.

There is no doubt that Sky has played a massive role in updating and inspiring sports coverage, not to mention the investment in sports at all levels due to their generous coverage fees.

But if events such as the FA Cup, England football qualifiers and tournaments, Wimbledon, the Olympics and the Six Nations, for instance, remain on terrestrial television, it will have so many positive effects.

More people will be inspired by sport, participating and watching local teams and providing a boost to economies as well as potential reduction to their wastelines and the community benefits sport is known to provide.

And why not follow the FA Cup model, where the final is screened both on terrestrial TV AND Sky, with fans given the choice of who to watch.

Would everyone switch off Sky because there is a free option? I don’t think so. And if it makes them raise their game by improving their own coverage even more, it can only be of benefit both for viewers and the sports who are seeking new followers.

The High Definition element, analysis with a wide array of top experts and all-round presentation that Sky offers is not often equalled by terrestrial TV.

But the option of choosing between Sky or terrestrial TV would benefit everyone and ensure sport does not fall further down the list of priorities where funding is concerned. 
 
 
I have a confession to make. I like Ryanair.

Yes, sometimes you have to pay more than you were led to believe you would for your flight.

Sometimes the staff can be jobsworths regarding the luggage allowances.

But if you have an Electron card, pick the right days and the right flights in advance, don’t buy food on the flight and don’t mind sometimes being a bit further from your target destination than you might wish, Ryanair is a bargain.

That’s the reason why so many people use the airline.

I’ve booked trips to Dublin and Rome for later this year and a total 12 flights have cost me less than £70. You can’t get that anywhere else.

In fact, it can cost more to get to Manchester from London.

I ignore the sometimes stroppy cabin crew, the often indifferent landings or the cost of food and suchlike that I just don’t buy.

The old adage that you get what you pay for comes to mind.

Like any flier, when suggestions are made about charging for toilets, I consider them to be a step too far and thankfully, so does Ryanair when the dust settles.

If you want more courteous staff, more frills, compensation or understanding for missed flights and putting the customer first every time, Ryanair is probably not for you.

Last night, Panorama broadcast a report about the ‘hidden charges’ Ryanair supposedly charge and other issues with their level of service.

I’m a big fan of the BBC and despite all the criticism of it by other media organisations, I think it does a pretty decent job as a public service broadcaster.

But as far as last night’s report on Ryanair was concerned, it undermined its credibility in a number of ways.

Starting off with a rant about luggage check-in desks being understaffed, the fact that ‘ruthless’ Ryanair had paid compensation may not have been ideal for the family who ended up missing their flight and having to rebook, but it was hardly the absolutely unsympathetic response the programme seemed to want to portray.

Later, there was a clip showing Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary’s resistance to taking part in an edited or recorded interview rather than a live or uncut interview.

As a former journalist myself, I appreciate his anxiety to ensure the interview is not edited and I am surprised that the BBC, so keen as it appears to have been to have an interview with Mr O’Leary, chose not to agree to that.

Even notwithstanding the potential for a ‘hatchet job’ as Ryanair feared, all journalists can edit or cut quotes and, even without intention, portray responses in a manner which distorts the interviewee’s opinion.

I can fully appreciate that Ryanair, based on the wealth of criticism about their service, including on a number of different BBC platforms, wanted their interview to be live or uncut.

The irony is that the BBC even posted an uncut interview with Michael O’Leary, which deals mainly with the debate between both parties regarding a live or unedited interview for the programme.

It makes a mockery of the BBC’s refusal to include an uncut interview which would have been best spent dealing with their concerns or points of interest and doesn’t paint them in a particularly positive light. You can see the clip here.
Ryanair’s initial response to the BBC’s request for an interview, assuming a ‘hatchet job’ and refusing to co-operate, is not the way a big company should deal with potentially aggressive media inquiries.

When the media come knocking, to refuse to offer your voice is to give the impression that you have something to hide, not to mention give more airtime to potential critics and dissenting voices.

Being proactive is the key – the fact that the Panorama journalist complained about Mr O’Leary dominating their interview says much for the CEO’s competence.

When undertaking media training, taking control of the interview rather than being boxed in by the journalist is one of the key skills PR consultants try to teach.

Whether criticism of Ryanair is justified or not, it was imperative of Ryanair not to be defensive and assume the worst, but to be as co-operative as possible.

To be fair to Ryanair, it mellows during the as time goes on, providing responses to detailed questions and even being brave enough to post all correspondence between themselves and the BBC on their website (see here)

What Ryanair has to realise is that, regardless of its customer service standards or additional charges which inflate the headline prices of apparently bargain flights, it is a company which has enjoyed a dominant market share because of its offering.

Ask any company CEO, pop star, sportsman, politician or celebrity and they will testify that the media will build them up and just as happily knock them down.

That’s the nature and consequence of success.

Are any of the Dragons in the Den or other famously successful entrepreneurs ruthless or simply commercial? Finding ways to cut costs and make money is a businessman’s raison d'être.

And while Ryanair offer such cheap flights, even doing a new free promotion today in response to the Panaoram debacle, I won’t be complaining too much.

Just don’t start charging for using the toilet please Michael.