Mark Sharman is a self-confessed bad loser, the kind of man who hates to lose even at Scrabble. So it's no surprise that ITV's director of sport, who replaced the Soho Square-bound Brian Barwick 18 months ago, visibly winces when the subject of the World Cup final is brought up. "It still rankles with me now," he admits.
Nothing to do with any Gallic roots, more that ITV received its biggest pasting in a live head-to-head since records began. The BBC had five times as many viewers as ITV. And though advert breaks and the tradition of viewers turning to the BBC for big events played a part, he concedes they should have done better.
"If you've played to audiences of 21m, why wasn't there enough special and different about our coverage to persuade more people to stay?" he says. "It would be complacent to blame all those outside things. You've got to look at what we did."
It was also infuriating that the ratings drubbing became the defining factor in coverage of their respective performances. "Overall, we had a terrific World Cup," he insists, pointing to consistently high ratings and the best figures of the tournament in the 21m who tuned in for the England v Sweden match.
"Generally, our commentary, our co-commentary, our reporting and most of our montages were better than the BBC's," says Sharman, a likably bluff sports TV executive of the old school. "I thought we had more energy and more drive." Where he concedes the coverage fell down was in its presentation and punditry. Gambles on new recruits like Jay-Jay Okocha failed to pay off, leaving the ITV team dominated by the likes of Terry Venables and Sam Allardyce and with something of the look of middle-aged golfers on tour.
"Given that there wasn't a breakout pundit, you would have to concede they shaded that side of things," he says. "Which is why our job now is to bed in a team that will stand us in good stead up to 2008 and then 2010 and create an entity that is ITV Football."
While ITV passed on the Premiership rights, it will look closely at the FA deal for England home internationals and the FA Cup that comes up for renewal next year. The BBC currently shares those rights with Sky. "We will certainly be doing our sums on that one," he says emphatically.
Football is the "litmus test" for any broadcaster's sports coverage. "We are still perceived as being in third place," he admits. "Sky Sports is the market leader, the BBC have the kudos they always do in sport. And yet, our formula one, our boxing, our Boat Race, our Tour de France are covered as well as anything out there. But you're always judged ultimately on your football and the perception is that [it] isn't as good as the other two."
To counter that he wants to create an authoritative roster comparable to the BBC's Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson. Steve Rider has replaced Gabby Logan as the main football anchor and it is telling that Sharman rates poaching him from the BBC and extending his contract this summer as two of his most significant deals.
"For me, he's the best. He gives us a certain heavyweight presence. He brings a new level of gravitas and professionalism, together with Jim Rosenthal." Those two are, he insists, "the best in the business" and they will be busy. He has handed them anchor duties on all ITV's premier sports - formula one, Champions League, boxing and next year's Rugby World Cup.
Which is bad news for Logan and Matt Smith, who prior to Sharman's arrival were battling to succeed Des Lynam as the face of ITV Sport. "It's not so different from being the manager of a football team. You have to pick the best team from what you've got available," he shrugs, but adds he has "huge praise" for Logan, who has been demoted to Uefa Cup, Boat Race and Superbowl duties. "If she's lost her place, then she's determined to win it back."
He has had to make these changes against a background of turmoil at ITV, its chief executive having to stand down as ratings and revenues went into freefall. So sport is even more important as something that can consistently deliver big audiences. One of Sharman's most intriguing moves has been to restore boxing to prime-time terrestrial TV via a deal with Frank Warren's Sports Network. He hopes to revive the glory days of Barry McGuigan and Frank Bruno but concedes much will depend on Amir Khan's development and rates it only a "qualified success" so far. With most of ITV's big rights deals tied up until the end of the decade, the focus is on using the digital channel ITV4 and the internet to forge a bigger presence.
This year it has launched a new, hour-long Champions League show on Tuesday nights and there will be other shows in the same vein, as well as more boxing, Uefa Cup football and other sports on the digital channel. "We want to start involving fans more. It's a perception thing. I wasn't here at the time, but people tell me there's still a residue of the ITV Digital thing out there," he says, referring to the decision in 2002 to rip up its £315m contract with the Football League, plunging many clubs into financial freefall. "It's not just about getting the programmes as good as you can, it's about building up that trust and delivering on your promises."
As the man who helped revolutionise football during a lengthy spell at Sky and did the same for cricket when head of sport at Channel 4, he feels ITV still punches below its weight. "There is a lot more sport on ITV than people think. The aim is to create an image, an identity and a togetherness of all these different sports."
