BT Sport & Boomerang to produce new Clare Balding sports chatshow

DC13-225 11 July 2013

BT Sport & Boomerang to produce new Clare Balding sports chatshow

BT Sport has teamed up with production company Boomerang, part of production group Boom Pictures, to co-produce a new live and unique sports chat show presented by BAFTA award-winning broadcaster Clare Balding. The weekly sports magazine show will feature interviews with major sporting icons and discussions of newsworthy and stimulating sporting issues.

Each episode will feature interviews with sporting stars, and will scratch beneath the surface' of the personalities involved and tell the untold stories of their lives and sporting careers. Using anecdotes from family and friends, tributes from sporting peers and embracing social media and other forms of interactive technology the programme will feature compelling, human-interest stories.

The new show will also feature slick, stylish reports reflecting the diverse sporting world; it will discuss topical issues and cover a mix of sports stars and stories from around the globe. The series will also place an emphasis on women's sport, giving the next generation the chance to fully embrace a variety of sports and sporting stars.

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: We are very excited to be co-producing the new Clare Balding show on BT Sport. Working closely with Clare, we want to shine a spotlight on a variety of different sports and really give the viewers the inside track on their sporting heroes.

Gareth Rees, Managing Director, Boomerang, said: We are thrilled to be working with the unstoppable Clare Balding together with BT who are driving in an exciting new era of sports broadcasting. We have had fantastic success with our sports-related programming and content over the last few years, and are delighted to be building on our existing relationship with BT with this show.

The programme will launch on BT Sport on 8 August 2013, and will be recorded in front of a studio audience in BT Sport's brand new 14,000 square foot studio at the iCITY development at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. BT Sport and Boomerang will co-produce 30 live episodes per year split into three blocks of 10 shows.

This is the latest collaboration between Boomerang and BT. Working with BT and Channel 4, Boomerang devised, created and produced three series of short form films, which aired in primetime slots on Channel 4, the host broadcaster of the Paralympic Games. Boomerang also created a series of BT sponsorship idents for Channel 4 during the Paralympic Games, a range of narrative based films that aired 900 times during the 10 days of the Paralympics.

BT Sport will be free to any consumer BT broadband customer. The three channels BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN - will be packed with world class sport. There will be 38 live and exclusive football matches from the Barclays Premier League including 18 first pick' matches - and up to 69 live rugby matches from the Aviva Premiership where BT will be the sole and exclusive broadcaster. There will be live football from several other top leagues around the world including Germany, France, Italy and Brazil. There will also be FA Cup ties, the UEFA Europa League, Scottish Premier League plus WTA women's tennis and action from the UFC. BT Sport will also show Moto GP, Women's Super League football, Australian A' league soccer and action sport and lifestyle programming from Red Bull Media House.

Interested customers can order BT Sport by calling 0800 400 440 or they can register their interest at www.btsport.com.

-Ends-

Enquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 20 7356 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.bt.com/newscentre

For Boomerang, please contact Franklin Rae Communications 0207 490 4050. Richard@franklinrae.com or melanie@franklinrae.com

About BT

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

In the year ended 31 March 2013, BT Group's revenue was £18,017m with profit before taxation of £2,501m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com

About Boomerang

Established in 1994 Boomerang, a Boom Pictures company, is a highly experienced, multi award-winning producer (Gold Cannes Lions, BAFTA, RTS). It delivers large scale productions in the genres of Sport, Entertainment, Live OB and Factual Entertainment for some of the world's biggest broadcasters and brands, including BT, GT Academy, Quiksilver and Bacardi.

Boomerang has a strong track record in delivering highly complex productions. With expert production teams and a large company infrastructure, it produces and delivers ambitious large scale, high volume programming and has worked with the likes of Nike, Disney, Red Bull, Nissan and Manchester United.

LINK:	http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=ED6EE4B1-...
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