主播大秀

Emotions were running high in SW19 and Paris last weekend as  and  reached their conclusions.  Portugal claimed their first European Championship while Andy Murray was one of four British winners on Wimbledon’s final day. In total more than 31 million people across the UK watched the 主播大秀’s coverage of Wimbledon; 45 million watched the 主播大秀’s and ITV’s coverage of Euro 2016.

Sport has the power to inspire and enthrall in equal measure, so ‘Super Sunday’ was a timely reminder of the importance of ensuring it is made available to everyone. The 主播大秀, ITV, Channel 4 and five last year accounted for 5% of all the hours of sport on TV but delivered a staggering 60% of the viewing.  It’s going to be even higher this year.

Many of the biggest sporting events are protected by a ‘Listed Events’ regime that’s designed to ensure they are made available, without charge, to every household in the country. But the regime is underpinned by a piece of legislation that is becoming outdated and must be made fit for purpose for the long term.  

The 主播大秀 is determined to provide the best possible mix of events with the resources we have available. It is difficult when the costs of rights are going up and licence fee funding is going down. We have secured long term partnership deals for events such as the , the World Cup to 2022, the Six Nations to 2021, the FA Cup to 2021 and Wimbledon to 2020.

In doing so we have had to make tough choices over the last 12 months or so, relinquishing live TV rights to Formula 1 and the Open Golf. , they are not decisions we wanted to have to take.

We have been steadfast in our commitment to maximising the impact of sport even in these tough financial times. We are doing that in partnership with sports bodies who share our desire to making sport available to all, regardless of ability to pay.

Credit must go, for example, to the England and Wales Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council for making clips to England cricket and the major international tournaments available free-to-air in the UK. Within minutes of the action taking place, the best shots, wickets and key moments are now available, without charge, on the 主播大秀 Sport website. It has been a hugely popular service for cricket fans and a very effective means of expanding the reach of the sport in the UK.

We’ve done a similar clips deal for the Open Golf Championship this week alongside our live coverage on national radio. We’ve also secured TV highlights in a prime-time slot – that’s been possible because of their ‘listed event’ status.

And in a little over three weeks’ time the greatest show on earth gets underway in Rio de Janeiro. The 主播大秀 will broadcast more than 3,000 hours of coverage from the Olympic Games – this extraordinary summer of sport is far from over.

Barbara Slater is Director, 主播大秀 Sport

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