Boxing clever: Sky Sports' Jennie Blackmore on balancing being a parent with the thrill of live sports production International Womens Day 2021 focus By Heather McLean, Editor
Monday, March 8, 2021 - 10:45
Print This Story
Sky Sports' head of production for football and boxing, Jennie Blackmore on site for Mayweather versus McGregor in Las Vegas 2017 [seen here in sunglasses]. The team were on the roof of the Manadalay Bay Hotel, overlooking the Vegas strip, filming one of Sky Spots' build up shows
Inspired by her love of cricket, Sky Sports' head of production for football and boxing, Jennie Blackmore, has gone from climbing gantries with donuts for camera crew strapped to her arms, to the top of her game.
Her passion for cricket inadvertently led her to a career in sports broadcasting: While at university, I had a job as a steward at Lord's on match days, which required me to be on site from 7am. So I would sit in the stands, drinking my morning coffee while watching the set up by the TV crew, and instantly became fascinated by the process; envious that this was their full time job.
Today, her love of sport combined with her role at Sky Sports keeps her coming back for more. She comments on what draws her to sports broadcasting: The reactive nature of the job plus the thrill of a live event are amazing. You never lose touch with that no matter how many events you do. I still get blown away when we're at a packed Wembley Stadium or an iconic, stunning venue like Augusta for The Masters; whether I'm there in person or watching the output at home knowing that it's our teams' hard work that is bringing it to our screens.
Persistent attitude
When she left university with a degree in English Literature and Media, my love of playing cricket inspired me to repeatedly hound the executive producer of Channel 4 cricket (Sunset+Vine) on the first day of every month, like clockwork .
With the production executive role and now my head of production role, I had to look at everything with a wider perspective. I was no longer immersed in just one sport or event at any one time; I had a whole team of people with varying roles to think about and multiple sports to take into consideration with every decision that was made. That mental switch took time to adapt to
This determination worked in her favour, she says: I'd send him my CV, a copy of my dissertation on, The Language of Cricket Commentary in TV and Radio' (which I'm sure he enjoyed immensely,) and a plea for any available role on his team. So that was where it all started. After seven months he called to ask me in for an interview and subsequently gave me the role of production secretary.
Blackmore comments: The production secretary role was a combination of administrative work and being a runner on site at OBs. I loved every second of it, even climbing ladders to gantries with bags of tea and coffee in my mouth, and doughnuts strapped to my arms.
Jennie Blackmore, Sky Sports' head of production for football and boxing
During the cricket off-season she worked for Visions OBs now known as NEP as a production coordinator, crewing outside broadcasts. Blackmore goes on: After three years at Sunset+Vine on the cricket they won the BBC Horse Racing contract and I moved over as production coordinator on that for two years. It was an incredible sport to work on and included producing the Epsom Derby, Grand National and Royal Ascot.
When Setanta Sports started in 2007 I had my first opportunity to work as a production manager, first on the Conference Football League and then onto Premier League and the England Football contract. Unfortunately Setanta Sports folded in June 2009, but I was lucky enough to get a job as a production manager at Sky Sports in July 2009. I've been at Sky ever since with a variety of strands under my belt as production manager, including football, rugby union and boxing.
New opportunities
After eight years as a production manager at Sky Sports, the production team created new opportunities including three production executive roles. Blackmore was successful in getting one of these roles, all of which were, incidentally, taken by women.
Yet the move was not an easy leap for Blackmore, who was torn between the opportunity and her passion for being on the road. She explains: Honestly, it was a difficult decision to move from being an on-site production manager into an off-the-road leadership position because I loved the buzz of being in the thick of a live event. However, I could see that it was a fantastic opportunity to apply for a role that had previously not existed within our department.
She spent the next three years as a production executive overseeing cricket, golf, boxing and sports news, after which she took her current role. She adds that the transition to management took time: I didn't think I would get the production executive role when I applied for it. We've all probably suffered from imposter syndrome at some point in our careers and there was certainly an element of that when applying for such an important, new position. With the production executive role and now my head of production role, I had to look at everything with a wider perspective. I was no longer immersed in just one sport or event at any one time; I had a whole team of people with varying roles to think about and multiple sports to take into consideration with every decision that was made. That mental switch took time to adapt to.
Sky Sports' Jennie Blackmore in her new world; working remotely from home with two young children
Exhilarating role
In what she enjoys about her role, Blackmore comments: It's the most exciting, challenging, diverse and exhilarating role that I've ever worked in. I don't miss the constant on-the-road as
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...
Boxing clever: Sky Sports' Jennie Blackmore on balancing being a parent with the thrill of live sports production International Womens Day 2021 focus By Heather McLean, Editor 
