Education for all: Broadcast Academy's Ekta Hutton on creating a lasting legacy By Heather McLean, Editor
Wednesday, August 21, 2019 - 09:06
Print This Story
The Broadcast Academy's Ekta Hutton
Sports broadcasting is all about the fan experience, encouraging the viewer to care and magnify the emotion. To make that possible, people in the television industry need education, and for those looking to get into this area, training needs to be made available.
While this type of educational resource is readily available in some countries, for some people it is harder to access, for instance, women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, the Broadcast Academy, part of Host Broadcast Services (HBS), is helping to level that playing field. The Academy is headed by Ekta Hutton.
Lasting legacy
The Broadcast Academy aims to create a lasting legacy, Hutton says. That legacy is a practical way of developing talent to make a positive change in the industry on an international scale.
She explains: We are trying to create a cross-platform learning initiative that can bring us closer to our counterparts in other parts of the world, be they in Africa, the Middle East or Asia-Pacific. We have three key pillars: train tomorrow's stars; encouraging women in leadership positions in our industry; and sustainability. Our objective is to take small practical steps in the right direction and our efforts combined with all our participants' efforts is creating a domino effect of a more diverse and skilled workforce.
We have a long way to go as we feel this is just the beginning. The more support we get from partners and well-wishers, the better we will be able to serve our community.
The Broadcast Academy has evolved since she became part of it. Its success is visible in the success of its participants. Vera Bichler, a BA graduate, is now the first woman director at ORF, Austria. Refat Hamid from Palestine will be attending IBC 2019 for the very first time and Josephine Mankfu Talla, the only woman football director from Cameroon, is breaking all stereotypes in her home country.
Says Hutton: From an operations point of view, we are serving our community through our programmes in London, Paris, Liege, Amsterdam, Tunis, Hanoi, Colombo, Miami, and Kuala Lumpur. Our courses are attracting participants from far afield and one participant even came from Peru to London.
However, there is a lot more work to be done, she adds: We have a long way to go as we feel this is just the beginning. The more support we get from partners and well-wishers, the better we will be able to serve our community.
Ekta Hutton with people from the Broadcast Academy's Tunis programme
Onwards and upwards
Taking the Academy forward is a team effort, notes Hutton. She says the team consists of dedicated individuals that have devoted their time and effort to establish the Academy to its current level, including HBS management, Dan Miodownik and Luc-Antoine Charial, who are both supporters of the Academy, and Hutton adds, are not only resourcing the project but also creating a very clear roadmap and vision for the Academy .
She goes on: Secondly, it is our technical partner, EVS, that provides all the equipment and the support required to deliver a high end learning experience. We are also proud of our partnership with UNESCO that helps us bring awareness to issues facing the broadcast community.
Skills, training and accessibility in sports broadcasting today are areas that need a lot more work, Hutton states. She explains: The sports media world is a fantastic industry and full of passionate and talented people. But just like other industries, we also have our own share of challenges. The primary challenge is how do we attract talent, how do we develop that talent and then how do we ensure that our industry fosters equality and has a diverse workforce?
With the big broadcasters now moving from in-house production teams to outsourcing freelance staff, the challenge has now become clearer; who is responsible for the development of the talent? Is it the broadcasters, is it the government? If not the government and the broadcasters is it the individual himself or herself?
The difficulty is the disparate nature of this industry, she comments: In every country there are different stakeholders but no one currently is leading the path in developing talent.
I have met many people who feel passionately about the subject but are not sure how to lend their support. Providing training, exposure and opportunities are ways that broadcasters can bring out positive changes in our industry.
Through our programmes, we are able to offer a limited number of bursaries for women and minority groups. As a result, the participants are able to build industry networks and acquire skills and confidence required to progress in their careers.
As to what the sports broadcasting industry needs to do to rectify these issues, Hutton concludes: A coordinated effort. I have met many people who feel passionately about the subject but are not sure how to lend their support. Providing training, exposure and opportunities are ways that broadcasters can bring out positive changes in our industry.
SVG Europe is a great promoter of diversity and, by highlighting the challenges, is spreading awareness about the issue which is also a great way of making people accountable in their roles, she notes. I definitely do not believe in quotas and think the best way for us to address any issue is through conversation and education.
Ekta Hutton helping to create a lasting legacy at the Asian Games
Adventure and travel
Globetrotting throughout her career, Hutton has moved from India to the Middle East, to the UK, to Singapore and now Paris.
On how Hutton made the move from her homeland of India to the Middle East, she say
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
29/10/2025
ESPN said it will produce animated telecasts for NFL, NHL, NBA and WNBA games across The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN platforms during the 2025-26 season under an a...
29/10/2025
WASHINGTON Despite the government shutdown, the Federal Communications Commission has passed, with some revisions, a previously announced Notice of Proposed Rul...
29/10/2025
29 10 2025 - Media release SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce 2025 Digital Originals Shortlist
The 2025 Digital Originals shortlisted teams. Photo credit...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
Governments everywhere are racing to harness the power of AI - but legacy infras...
28/10/2025
AI is moving from the digital world into the physical one. Across factory floors...
28/10/2025
NVIDIA is delivering the telecom industry a major boost in open-source software for building AI-native 5G and 6G networks.
NVIDIA Aerial software will soon be ...
28/10/2025
The race to bottle a star now runs on AI.
NVIDIA, General Atomics and a team of international partners have built a high-fidelity, AI-enabled digital twin for ...
28/10/2025
Along the Pacific Ocean in Monterey, California, the Naval Postgraduate School (...
28/10/2025
To democratize access to AI technology nationwide, AI education and deployment c...
28/10/2025
Leading technology companies in aerospace and automotive are accelerating their ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
Education for all: Broadcast Academy's Ekta Hutton on creating a lasting legacy By Heather McLean, Editor 
