It's a bit complicated Nifty. The BBC used to own the rights to the saturday highlights and all the games. That was a long time ago, and the rights to the games themselves were sold to Sky (satellite channel), but the BBC highlights show still had first dibs on showing those highlights. Sky would generally just show the odd Sunday and mid-week games.
Now, the EPL (geez, that sounds so weird
) asked for more money, and the BBC refused to pay and the rights went to ITV, which is a commercial terrestrial channel. It lost a lot of viewers though - the BBC show was much better. Sky still holds the rights to show games not played on the saturday.
That's how I understand the chain of events, but I might be wrong.
If you can watch the Newcastle game live, the agreements must just cover the UK.
A certain proportion of England internationals have to be shown on terrestrial television - as opposed to subscriber services like Sky. This means 15 million people can watch us play like lame donkeys compared to just 2 million.
As for taking a leak - I've not had a problem. Although, I avoid drinking too much beer when watching England play because I become a little too loud and loutish if they do badly.
I suppose the half-time commentary would not be missed a lot of the time - although the BBC tends to be entertaining. They have Alan Hanson (Scottish hard nosed defender), Ian Wright and Gary Linekar as anchorman. Ian Wright is the most passionate England supporter you could think of - very funny.
BTW, did you see the England v Turkey qualifier? If not, you missed a good 'un!
