Speaking at the Broadcast Sport Tech Innovation Forum, BBC Sport director Barbara Slater revealed a willingness to work together on smaller sports
BBC Sport director Barbara Slater has hinted that the public service broadcaster could be open to working alongside OTT streamers on certain sports.
Speaking to Broadcast editor Chris Curtis at the Broadcast Sport Tech Innovation Forum this week, Slater made clear that the BBC wants to work with governing bodies and others to bring more eyeballs to sports with smaller audience.
“We work with governing bodies and they ask how they get oxygen to our events, and we make streaming services available,” she said while taking part in a panel that included head of LiveScore Rob Brown, and Sports Channel Network and Planet Knowledge head of content strategy Giles Goodwin.
“We can be complementary to governing bodies that want to be d2c themselves or other streaming services…there is a role for many different players in the broadcast industry.”
The BBC has a busy year of sport ahead due to competitions being rescheduled during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Among the biggest events taking place in 2021 and 2022 include the Tokyo Olympics, and the men’s and women’s European Championships.