Bath (UK)
A symposium titled Her Game, Their Audience was held at Bath Spa University’s Newton Park campus in Bath on 19th June 2024. Professor Georgina Andrews, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost and other members of BSU leadership welcomed delegates to the university. The event was moderated by well known BBC broadcaster and journalist Ali Vowles. Participants included Jack Tompkins, a Director and Producer specialising in sports documentaries, Amy Williams Britain’s first solo Winter Olympic gold medallist in 30 years, Lucy Ford Co-Founder and Director of Her Game Too, a volunteer-led organisation addressing sexism in sports, Dave Barto, Communications Head at Bristol Sporting Group, Marie Indge, Senior Journalist in Sport at BBC Radio Wiltshire, Nicola Mckelvey Is head of PR and communications at Women’s Sport Trust and Emily Liles, England women’s cricket team Communications Manager at the ECB.
Panel Discussion I: The Future of Women’s Sports Coverage
The panel began with a discussion of current trends and the increasing audience base for women’s sport. The importance of having a digital first strategy which complemented outreach through local media, especially radio, seems to have been particularly useful in the UK context in creating awareness of women’s sport. In the UK, the last 10-15 years has been particularly impactful for athletes in terms of opportunity, performance and visibility. The panel discussed similar trends in sections of Indian media including the first all women sports broadcasting team at NDTV, one of India’s major broadcasters. The similarities between Indian and UK experience underpinned the transcultural nature of the challenges faced in the coverage of women’s sport. This includes the experience of sportspersons, especially around gendered behaviour. The panel also discussed the importance of specific genres e.g. the sports documentary as a way of making significant impact on audience perceptions, and agreed on the need for women’s sports coverage to have a united aspiration: achieving equality.
Panel Discussion 2: Building Bridges, Collaborations that Change the Game
The panel discussed a number of topics surrounding the participation of women in sports broadcasting in India. Themes under discussion include commentary on the low numbers of women following sport in India, and its correlation with the low numbers of women sports broadcasters. There was discussion on the emergence of mixed gender events such as the armwrestling junior events to raise awareness and bridge the gender divide in sport among participants and audiences from an early age. Also under discussion was the role of market forces in determining the visibility of women’s sport. Speakers commented on the importance of corporate awareness, a cultural shift from competition to collaboration, and also the role played by the education sector, especially universities, as key drivers of this change. The panel discussed the changes already happening at the grassroots level, such as proactive role being increasingly played by clubs
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