Editing Des Lynam (section)

===ITV: 1999–2004===
Lynam moved from the BBC to [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in August 1999, to present ITV's live [[football (soccer)|football]] coverage, including coverage of the midweek [[UEFA Champions League]]. Lynam said at the time: "Leaving the BBC after 30 years was not an easy decision to make, but it was time for a new challenge – and it's no secret that live football is what I love best." A month earlier, Lynam had complained in a newspaper interview about BBC1's late scheduling on a Saturday evening of ''Match of the Day'', which had sometimes been shown with a late start time of 10.50pm. Lynam said: "The moment you put it past 10.30 I start fuming."<ref>{{cite news |title=Des Lynam moves to ITV |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/1999/aug/02/newsstory.sport24 |access-date=16 February 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 August 1999 |location=London}}</ref>

ITV later gained a deal to air [[Premier League]] highlights. In 2001, Lynam presented ''[[The Premiership (TV programme)|The Premiership]]'', which was first aired on ITV at 7pm on 18 August 2001. After disappointing viewing figures in the first couple of months for ''The Premiership'' on ITV, a decision was made to shift the programme from its original 7pm slot to a permanent later time of 10:30pm, from 17 November 2001.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1511568.stm |title=ITV Premiership ratings plunge |work=BBC News |date=27 August 2001 |access-date=14 February 2013 }}</ref> The programme ran until May 2004.

Lynam continued to present football coverage for ITV until 2004. He decided to retire from presenting live sport after the [[2004 European Football Championship|Euro 2004]] football championships. Soon afterwards the BBC announced that Lynam would present a new weekly radio programme, ''Des Meets...'', on [[BBC Radio Five Live]] from August 2004.<ref>{{cite news |title=Des Lynam makes BBC radio return |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3882939.stm |work=BBC |access-date=16 February 2013 |date=10 July 2004}}</ref>