Modernisations
During its last few years there was no longer a main presenter for Grandstand so from the start of the 2001/02 season Final Score was broadcast as an individual programme with Ray Stubbs as the regular presenter. At this point, Final Score became a football-only programme. The half time round-up remained part of Grandstand until the start of the 2004/05 season when the extended version of the programme was launched. Initially called Score Interactive, the programme is broadcast from 1430 on the BBC's interactive service BBC Red Button. The show starts its broadcasts to digital television viewers with pundits analysing the games in progress and all goal flashes and incidents are broadcast on screen when the vidiprinter appears at 1500. It is a rival show to Sky Sports' successful Soccer Saturday which pioneered the Saturday afternoon football scores service in 1998.
In November 2007 a midweek version of the show was introduced. Rather than being a programme in its own right, it is a simulcast of BBC Radio 5 Live with graphics and the vidiprinter. The midweek version is shown when there are a lot of games taking place. It is a red button exclusive, and does not appear on BBC1 or BBC2 near the end of the matches. Since October 2012 Midweek Final Score has not been seen on a Tuesday. This co-insided with the BBC deciding to broadcast just a single Red Button feed on all platforms as opposed to multiple feeds on the internet and cable and satellite.
In the autumn of 2011 the programme moved to new BBC studios in Salford from studio TC5 at TV Centre in London, which had been its home for many years. The last programme from TC5 was broadcast on 19 November 2011.
At the end of 2011, a high definition simulcast of the pre-4.30pm Red Button coverage was launched on the BBC HD channel although the final part of the show, when the programme moves back to the Red Button, is not available in high definition.
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