Sky Sports targets new audiences for women's sport in 2020

Sky Sports to make even more women's sport available to new audiences on digital and TV

Live women's sport to be showcased to brand new audiences via Sky Sports YouTube channel

Events such as Women's Six Nations, WNBA, Netball Superleague, and women's cricket among those to be made available

Sky Sports to invest in more new, original, women's sport digital content and programming

Sky Sports has announced plans to increase its commitment to women's sport in 2020 by expanding its existing coverage and strengthening its digital output.

Over decades of committing to high quality coverage, Sky Sports has seen women's sport reach more fans than ever before, with sporting icons such as Katie Taylor and Fallon Sherrock bringing in big audiences.

24 years since first broadcasting women's cricket back in June 1996, more than 1.8 million people watched the 2017 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup final. Sky Sports was also the first broadcaster to show netball in 2004, over the following 16 years popularity has visibly increased as viewing figures saw 550k people tune in to watch as England's Vitality Roses were beaten in a thrilling Netball World Cup semi-final last year.

Now, even more of this incredible live women's sport will be accessible on Sky Sports YouTube channel, enabling new audiences to watch and engage with some of the world's best female athletes. This is supported by a full schedule of live coverage across Sky Sports channels, including Main Event, Action, Arena, cricket, golf and Sky Sports Mix which will show a number of key events this year.

So far in 2020, Sky Sports has live-streamed the Netball Superleague with plenty more to come including, women's cricket, women's major golf tournaments, WNBA and the Women's Six Nations, which is set to reach an exciting climax on 15 March.

Rob Webster, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: Sky Sports has been a long-standing partner and champion of women's sport and this is a natural next step to ensure that brand new audiences are able to connect with the drama and excitement created by the players and teams.

Sky Sports News will continue to be at the heart of this pledge and will ensure consistent 24-hour editorial coverage of women's sport across both linear and digital platforms. The evolution will mean no longer grouping women's sport collectively in a standalone programme each week, but instead ensuring it is represented across our output in our rolling 24-hour coverage.

We appreciate the responsibility we have, we know the platforms we own help sports grow and prosper, this is an important step in the right direction for our all-round coverage of women's sport.

By increasing its digital content output Sky Sports will take you to the heart of the drama, telling you the untold stories through a range of exclusive interviews, heated debates and long form content across all our platforms.

Georgina Faulkner, Head of Multisport, said: Sky Sports are investing in a 360 approach to covering women's sport. The live streaming will bring fans closer to the action, the 24/7 rolling Sky Sports News coverage will keep fans constantly updated and our world-class digital production and storytelling will peel back the layers of women's sport like never-before. This digital-led initiative will bring more sporting stories to new audiences with the ambition of creating long-term connections for both existing and future generations.

A new Extraordinary Women' series, Training with MMA Star Leah McCourt' and behind the scenes with Lucy Bronze My Life in Lyon' are just a few exciting pieces to look out for in 2020.

About Sky

With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe's leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 32,000 employees help connect our customers to the very best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own local, original content.

Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, we plan to double our investment in original content by 2024. We're also developing a new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is expected to lead to the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in UK creative sector in the first five years alone.

Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, we believe it is our responsibility to do it safely. That's why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. We're committed to being Europe's first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 - two decades before we have to - and we're an inclusive employer recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity.

LINK:	https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/sky-sports-targets-new-audience...
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