TVBEurope talks to Jo Finon, manager of responsible productions at Sky Sports, about the broadcaster's aims to make the new Premier league season as green as possibleBy Jenny Priestley
Published: August 12, 2021
TVBEurope talks to Jo Finon, manager of responsible productions at Sky Sports, about the broadcaster's aims to make the new Premier league season as green as possible
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While for some it might feel as though the football season has only just ended, the English Premier League kicks off its 2021-22 season on Friday night as newly promoted Brentford host Arsenal.
This season TV coverage of the Premier League will return to pre-pandemic levels, in other words not every match will be shown live. Instead, Sky Sports will broadcast 128 live Premier League matches over the course of the next ten months.
In February 2020, the broadcaster announced its commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, while all Sky Sports host broadcasts gained albert certification in January 2021. Sustainability is clearly a key issue at Sky, and that will continue during the new Premier League season. During the 2020/21 season, we introduced carbon neutrality, by understanding our footprint and offsetting our carbon emissions, Jo Finon, manager of responsible productions at Sky Sports tells TVBEurope.
For 2021/22 we are continuing our remote production set up and carbon neutrality, but we have also introduced a greener fuel into our outside broadcast generator, this means that until we're able to make the move to shore power, we are reducing our emissions by using a renewable diesel made from food waste. The biofuel will also be used to transport the trucks to the OBs, which is exciting and is further separating our industry from fossil fuels. We are also reviewing our ways of working for our people, making sure our crew feel supported by ensuring that we have mentally healthy productions. I could say more, but you'll just have to see! she teases.
data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Jo-Finon-profile-726x484.jpg alt= width=269 height=179 data-srcset=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Jo-Finon-profile-726x484.jpg 726w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Jo-Finon-profile-353x235.jpg 353w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Jo-Finon-profile-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Jo-Finon-profile-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Jo-Finon-profile-2048x1365.jpg 2048w data-sizes=(max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px />Jo FinonFinon oversees all things sustainable across all Sky Sports UK departments, including productions on Sky Sports News and Sky Sports Racing, and also Sky's Production Services department which provides crew and facilities for Sky Sports and other Sky departments.
While a large part of her focus is the environment, her remit also includes issues that could influence productions such as crew wellbeing, inclusive recruitment, modern slavery and also understanding and reducing carbon emissions. I've always been interested in trying to make a difference within my career by improving workflows or working practices and this was a natural extension to that, she says. The Sky Ocean Rescue plastic campaign in 2017 was the first significant environmental project I implemented. Removing single use plastic (SUP) from productions showed how we can introduce improvements to our operations and we enjoyed seeing that way of working ripple throughout the industry.
Even before Sky set its carbon neutral target, the company had implemented procedures to reduce its carbon footprint, including carpooling, the aforementioned plastic removal, and its first OB generator fuel switch in 2018. Another important practice has been working with suppliers to drive further change. Unlike other genres, sport facilities often have multiple year contracts, so during the RFP process we introduced responsible business questions, to understand where each company is on their journey to be more sustainable, explains Finon. We then awarded the contract and introduced responsible business targets, keeping sustainability on the agenda with suppliers, having annual calls to discuss where they are with improvements.
data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sky0-Ice-Cap-726x460.png alt= width=294 height=186 data-srcset=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sky0-Ice-Cap-726x460.png 726w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sky0-Ice-Cap-353x223.png 353w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sky0-Ice-Cap-768x486.png 768w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sky0-Ice-Cap-1536x972.png 1536w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sky0-Ice-Cap-2048x1296.png 2048w data-sizes=(max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px />She adds that it's hugely important for Sky Sports to work with media tech vendors who are also looking at sustainability. Sky Sports can't do this on their own, we need to work with our entire supply chain to make changes, she stresses. Part of Sky's overall ambition to be net zero carbon by 2030 is reducing our own and supply chain emissions. We hope that by sharing our knowledge we can encourage all those who work with us to make changes that can help drive us towards a zero-carbon future.
A lot of sustainability changes have to be implemented at the right time for the organisation, so some changes require setting targets, like updating fleet vehicles etc, Finon continues. On Sky Sports contracts as we often have multiple year deals, this allows us to review changes over the term. In February 2020, Sky Sports also introduced our Green Travel policy and we had no id
