International Women's Day: The future for sports broadcast is female By Heather McLean, Editor
Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 16:17
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While there are many women working in the sports broadcast arena today, they are still far outnumbered by their male colleagues. Friday 8 March is International Women's Day, 24 hours in the calendar dedicated to highlighting and celebrating the women's rights movement. With SVG Europe Women events going from strength to strength, it is apparent that there is still a lot to be done for women working in the sports broadcast sector.
SVG Europe's Heather McLean chairs women's initiative panel, Inside the Toolbox, with guests Sunset Vine's Adeline Lee, head of broadcast services, BT Sport's Gemma Knight, director for BT Sport football, Kylie Jenner, director, BT Sport Score, and Timeline TV's Roisin McKeniry, media systems manager and Nikki Lushington, lead MCR engineer, at the SVG Europe W winter networking event 2018
There are many challenges for women looking at moving into sports broadcast as a career today, states Lise Cosimi-Breant, chief of external relations at HBS and chair of SVG Europe Women. Right from the start, there can be problems for women just looking at the logistics of working in this area: Trying to get into this area as a freelance can create issues, as you have to work weekends because of the nature of sports. This means if you want to have kids, you can end up with both money insecurities, and the problem of finding babysitters for the kids all the time.
Once you are in the industry however, a dearth of female role models can not only be dispiriting for women working their way up, but it can also mean women are overlooked, Cosimi-Breant says. She explains: Due to the lack of women already in this industry, particularly in leading roles, not enough women feel comfortable to join a broadcast school, and there are gaps in the professional ladder where there are no women working at all. Sports is mostly a male industry, so men help other men naturally as they are their mates. This can lead to perfectly able women being overlooked.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Angell, head of broadcast operations at ITN Productions, comments: It's a fact that women are underrepresented across the broadcast industry, and sports in particular. I see that as an underlying issue which has an impact on the younger generation of women being attracted to the sports world.
Broadcasters need to do a better job of attracting a more diverse workforce by setting diversity targets, claims Angell. Start with putting more women in leadership roles; ITN is a great example having recently appointed Anna Mallett its new CEO.
Changing perceptions of women in sport
Attendees networking hard at the SVG Europe Women event on 15 November at BT Sport in Stratford
The biggest issues for women trying to get into or working in sports broadcast today, says Kylie Jenner, freelance director, is other people's view of women and sport. She explains: I think the biggest (and oldest,) issue facing women in sports broadcasting is the perception that they have a lack of knowledge of sport. It means that women have to work harder to prove they know their stuff in order to even get a foot in the door. Another problem is one not just facing young women but also men; the industry is becoming more and more freelance based and therefore the opportunities to train in new jobs is becoming harder.
Inga Ruehl, head of studios for Sky Production Services, agreed: I don't really think there are any big issues apart from that people might not naturally associate women with sports roles and therefore not suggest or push them. But I actually think it is probably the best time for women to get into sports broadcasting as everyone has woken up to the fact that having diverse (in every sense of the word,) view points coming from people who look at it differently is good for business and creates much more interesting, innovative outcomes. And whilst in the past sports broadcasting could feel like a boys club, I definitely feel there is a real sense of wanting to change this and encourage more women into sports production.
Paula Rigby of PG Productions and international broadcast consultant at Noah Media Group, meanwhile says the issues in sports broadcast surpass gender. She comments that, it's the same for all . She continues: Industry wide and particularly with some global companies, there has been a lack of foresight into how we can attract new talent. Working your way up from being the PA, runner or in the mailroom doesn't seem to exist today. The industry as a whole needs to address this.
Rigby strongly supports mentoring programmes. She notes, why hold on to knowledge when you can share it with someone else? She says she freely gives out contacts and recommendations to other people within this industry. There are a number of amazing women in our industry who feel the same, Rigby adds. Anna Lockwood at Telstra and Caroline Ramsey at NEP are just a couple, but there are so many more.
She adds that for young women today a recognised scholarship programme, such as an internship without pay, is the best option to gain much needed experience. She adds: But there are few companies who are actively doing this. The old school' way of offering an apprenticeship is no longer available to either men or women. There are a number of universities worldwide who are offering technical programmes, but I'm yet to see an industry initiative (with global reach) that addresses this issue. With the exception of HBS and OBS offering programmes specific to major sporting events, I'm not aware of any others, Rigby states.
Creating opportunities across all roles
Technical jobs need technical people, yet young women often drop o
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International Women's Day: The future for sports broadcast is female By Heather McLean, Editor 
