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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
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 
