DCMS Select Committee questions BBC decision to broadcast MMA

The BBC has agreed to broadcast Bellator exclusively in the UK on BBC iPlayer in 2021 The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee (DCMS) has questioned the BBC’s decision to broadcast MMA competitions in the UK. Citing fears over the effect of concussions, DCMS chair Julian Knight MP has written to BBC director-general Tim Davie […]

Premier League TV schedule: March 2021

Here are the confirmed Premier League fixtures, and where to watch them, for the rest of this month. The Premier League campaign is being televised across four broadcasters this month, with Amazon Prime and the BBC picking up a game each, alongside all the games on Sky Sports and BT Sport. Below is the full […]

Formula E broadcast in over 150 countries

Over 40 broadcasters aired the opening race in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia Formula E broadcast its opening weekend to over 150 countries, with more than 40 broadcasters showing the racing. In its first season as an FIA sanctioned event, the competition has expanded its broadcast partnerships so that it is in more than 30 languages around […]

Revealed: The BBC’s plans for Bellator on iPlayer

Head of radio and digital, BBC Sport, Ben Gallop, tells Broadcast Sport about what the broadcaster has in mind for the MMA competition MMA competition Bellator will be shown on BBC iPlayer throughout 2021, thanks to a deal agreed by the free-to-air broadcaster. This comes after Bellator Paris was shown on the platform back in […]

Rugby League World Cup appoints RDA for international media distribution

The 2021 edition of the competition will be taking place in October and November of this year Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) has appointed UK-based agency RDA to support it with the handling of international media distribution rights. The agreement covers all territories outside of the UK and Ireland, where the BBC will be […]

BBC Sport secures clean sweep of World Indoor Tour rights

All five of the upcoming World Athletics World Indoor Tour meets will be covered by the BBC BBC Sport has secured the rights to the next five World Athletics World Indoor Tour events. All meetups will be streamed exclusively on BBC iPlayer, red button, and the BBC Sport website. There will also be highlights shows […]

Premier League reveals initial TV schedule for February

Sky Sports, Amazon Prime Video, the BBC and BT Sport have had their match choices revealed The Premier League has revealed more of its TV schedule for February, confirming that all games weill be televised until at least 1 March. Sky Sports will be happy to have gained several of the highest profile matches, with […]

BBC Sport reveals ‘Mark Wright: The Last Chance’ documentary

The programme will follow the celebrity after his return to football with the League Two club BBC Sport has revealed its latest documentary, iPlayer mini-series Mark Wright: The Last Chance. The programme follows the TV personality and presenter on his final attempt to make it as a footballer, after he signed for League Two Crawley […]

WATCH: Day 1 of the Broadcast Sport Tech Innovation Forum 2020

WATCH AGAIN: Sessions with BT Sport, BBC Sport, Motorsport Network, Sky Sports, MediaPro, Sunset+Vine, Whisper, Aurora, Timeline TV, NEP and more The Broadcast Sport Tech Innovation Forum 2020 was held on the online conferencing platform Hopin on 11-12 November 2020. It was an exclusive event for the sports production sector where attendees could engage with […]

BBC Sport open to working with OTT platforms for niche sports

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 […]

Behind-the-scenes: A Question of Sport returns with some Covid tweaks

A Question of Sport executive producer Gareth Edwards reveals the changes made to shoot the new series at Dock 10 studios. A Question of Sport returned to dock10 studios this month to record 10 episodes – it’s first since lockdown. Coronavirus shooting guidelines meant the show had to shoot without an audience for the first […]

Noah Media Group reveals feature-length doc, Finding Jack Charlton

The documentary will premier on the BBC and Virgin Media Television early next year. Sports doc producer Noah Media Group has released a ‘first look’ image from its forthcoming production, Finding Jack Charlton, and revealed broadcast deals with the BBC and Virgin Media Television. The film was directed by Gabriel Clarke (Bobby Robson: More Than […]

BBC Sport to live stream the Monaco Diamond League

The BBC will live stream the athletics event, and then broadcast highlights on BBC One. BBC Sport will stream the Monaco Diamond League live from 7pm on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and the BBC Sport website this Friday (14 August). The action will be streamed live from Monaco, featuring some of the finest athletes in […]

Whisper to produce BBC cricket content as the sport returns on 8 July

Whisper wins BBC contract as cricket returns, and will also create online highlights for the ECB. Whisper has won the contract to produce the BBC’s peak-time cricket highlights, as the broadcaster begins showing cricket again from Wednesday this week (8 July). Whisper has won a multi-year contract with the BBC to produce TV highlights for […]

BBC to air 12 days of classic Olympics archive material

The content replaces the cancelled 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo. BBC Sport has scheduled 12 days of dedicated Olympics programming, to replace the cancelled 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Badged Olympics Rewind, and starting on 14 July, the content naturally relies heavily on archive material, through a daily highlights show looking back at some of […]

BBC1’s Premier League debut peaks with 4.1m

Match was the second most-watched non-news offering of the day. The first ever Premier League match to play live on BBC1  peaked at 4.1m (26.1%) around the 30-minute mark on Saturday night. Across its 150-minute run it averaged 3.3m (20.4%) – behind the 4m (23.3%) slot average but the second most-watched non-news offering of the […]

BBC to air 50 hours of Wimbledon archive programming

Two-weeks of classic Wimbledon coverage will replace Wimbledon 2020 on the BBC. The BBC is to host 50+ hours of classic Wimbledon content from 29 June, to replace the cancelled Wimbledon 2020 tournament. Every weeknight from 8pm, BBC2 will serve up Wimbledon archive material, hosted by Sue Barker. She will be joined by Tim Henman […]

Roundtable: How to Build A Fan Base

The rise in new sports formats has focused attention on the best way to combine traditional media with social and digital platforms to engage with and retain audiences. In recent years, a plethora of newly devised sports formats have launched. Formats like Sail GP, Extreme E, the Six Day Series and Roborace or major one-off […]

​Tech Talks podcast: BBC’s Gavin Ramjaun on reporting during the pandemic

Episode #4 of the Broadcast Tech Talks podcast series is with BBC sports and news presenter Gavin Ramjaun Up until a month or so ago, being a sports presenter was a fairly predictable role, reporting on the day’s live sports. Like everything else in life right now, coronavirus has turned the role of sports presenter […]

BBC director general expects Six Nations to ‘probably’ go behind paywall despite bidding plan

Tony Hall does not hold high hopes for stopping pay-tv providers BBC director general Tony Hall has revealed how the BBC and ITV hope to keep the Six Nations free-to-air. Speaking at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport hearing on the work of the BBC on Thursday, Hall revealed that the public broadcaster is currently […]

Extreme E agrees deal with BBC for digital coverage

The off-road racing series will be live and free-to-air for British viewers Extreme E has agreed a multi-year deal with BBC Sport to show the sport on its digital channels. First announced at the Broadcast Sport Content Summit on Thursday, the off-road racing series will be shown live and free-to-air to British viewers – from […]

MPs demand answers on Six Nations paywall deal

It has been reported that a deal is likely The Digital, Media, Culture, and Sport (DCMS) committee has demanded answers from the Six Nations on reports that a pay-tv deal is possible. It has asked Chairman of the Six Nations Council, John Jeffrey, to explain the timescale and operations of the bidding process. MPs have […]

Facebook to stream two FA Cup fifth round matches

Reading v Sheffield United and Leicester City v Birmingham City will be shown through the platform Facebook has reached an agreement with the FA to stream two FA Cup fifth round matches this week. The social media giant will show Reading v Sheffield United and Leicester City v Birmingham City through its Facebook Watch platform […]

Six Nations refuse BBC/ITV joint bid to leave door open for Sky

It would be the first time in two decades it has gone behind a paywall It has been reported that the Six Nations has refused to let the BBC and ITV make a combined bid for the competition in the next set of TV rights bidding. This could leave the door open for Sky Sports, […]

False start for UK Athletics in BBC renewal talks

Governing body set for tough negotiations with fears broadcaster will look for cut-price deal UK Athletics is facing trouble in its negotiations with the BBC over renewing its £3 million-a-year TV rights deal. The Guardian reports that the national broadcaster may be looking to lower the price for athletics coverage, after years of crises and […]

BBC Sport takes on young viewer crisis

Production staff to undergo training in drive to reverse downward social media trend BBC Sport is sending its production staff on a set of courses designed to help tackle the corporation’s youth viewer crisis. In an all-staff email last week, the division’s director Barbara Slater said the upcoming sessions will be designed to improve the team’s […]

BBC and ITV ‘confident’ of retaining Six Nations

Tender process for next rights cyle opens next month The BBC and ITV are confident of retaining the rights to the Six Nations when the tender process for the next rights cycle begins next month, according to a Daily Mail report. The Mail said that new investors CVC Capital Partners had hoped to take some […]

Peter Crouch turns comedy host for BBC1

Fulwell 73 nets 14-part studio show for next summer’s Euros Peter Crouch’s position as key BBC talent could be enhanced by a greenlight for a comedy entertainment show from Fulwell 73. The former England footballer and podcast host is fronting BBC1’s Crouch’s Euro Fest 2020 next summer. The BBC describes the 14 x 45-minute series as a “live post-match festival […]

All Formula E races to go free-to-air on the BBC

Fans in the UK can watch live Formula E races on different BBC platforms as well as Eurosport and Quest The BBC is to televise all of this season’s Formula E races live, on free-to-air TV and online. The Marrakesh e-prix in Morocco on 29 February and Rome e-prix on 4 April will go out […]

Six Day Series reveals broadcast plans for 2019/20 season

Global cycling event will be televised by Eurosport and through OTT app FloSports Madison Sports Group’s cycling tournament, the Six Day Series has revealed its broadcast deals for the 2019/20 season across linear, subscription, OTT and streaming platforms. The series will be available in 100+ countries with Eurosport (a long-term partner of Six Day Series) […]

BBC resolves SPOTY complaint with two sports indies

Sunset+Vine and Done and Dusted compensated for travel costs in failed bids The BBC has resolved a complaint from two sports producers over the Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) tender process, Broadcast understands. The corporation has given both Tinopolis-backed Sunset + Vine and live events firm Done and Dusted a small amount of compensation for their […]

Kipchoge marathon reaches 500m+ TV viewers

The INEOS 1:59 Challenge gets 4.9m YouTube views and reached 500m+ TV viewers Host broadcaster Sunset+Vine has revealed viewing figures for Eliud Kipchoge’s successful attempt at breaking the 2-hour marathon on Saturday morning. The marathon, which took place in central Vienna, saw Kipchoge finish in just 1h59m40s. It was streamed live on YouTube, broadcast on […]

BBC and Eurosport to live stream Ineos 1:59 Challenge

Broadcasters are the latest to pick up rights to Eliud Kipchoge’s attempt to run the first sub-two-hour marathon The live broadcast rights for long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge’s attempt to run the first sub-two-hour marathon – the Ineos 1:59 Challenge – have been picked up by the BBC and Eurosport (pan Europe and pan Asia). They […]

Noah Media Group forms global sales arm

Sports doc indie kicks off launch with Amazon and BBC sales of cricket feature film The Edge   Sports documentary specialist Noah Media Group has hired a former Atlantic Productions exec to head an international sales division. The London-based sales arm is led by Catherine Quantschnigg, formerly head of sales at factual indie Atlantic Productions. […]