50% female sport on bbc news and tv

[Girlofgold]

Whilst the bbc are at addressing pay disparity and diversity for their public pound. I would like to see 50% female sport coverage and reporting. It could be the start of a really great movement. Do you think?

Sky Sports has women commentators, also a woman is on match of the day

It would be nice.

I keep wondering if I could raise a simipoint with my local paper. Usually 10 pages of local sport in the back pages.

Pretty much all male sports every single week with the odd piece about the local Running Club.

I can just imagine the responses though.

But I cannot see how things will change if girls don’t see people like themselves doing sport.

I think you’ll be lucky to see 50% female competitors in women’s sport, let alone 50% of commentators.

AlwaysComingHome is right - women’s sport will be destroyed in a generation by transgender biological males taking it over.

Sky Sports has women commentators, also a woman is on match of the day

They're really spoiling us.

I don't see why there isn't more women's sport on TV. They seem to manage it with the Olympics without anyone complaining.

But 50% of sport is not female.

Sky do a good job covering the netball and the LPGA golf. BT have the rights to WTA tennis.

Yeah. I guess I'm wondering if there are any good reasons why the BBC couldn't make this a commitment over a few years. It should become an expectation?

But 50% of sport is not female.

And it won’t be if there’s no visible women’s sport to inspire girls into sport.

Yes I think they could report a lot more. Great to see more regular screening of women's football which we watch, but they frequently don't cover women's sports in bulletins.

Whether a sport gets on TV is done to the audienxe size.

Lots of people want to watch - it gets on TV.

Not many people - it stays off TV

Tennis is on TV lots squash never is.

But @TeeJay1970 do you think the lack of TV audience is down to the fact that either:

a) women's sport has been systematically under-funded and left un-professionalised for decades, thus there has always been less to show on television, and misogynistic attitudes which include those where "it's not ladylike to play rugby" and the idea that the default sport is mens (see: 'England football team' vs 'England's women's football team', 'The World Cup' vs 'Women's World Cup'), and that these attitudes have reinforced the idea that women's sport is less interesting and less worthy. After all, the country is represented on the global stage by MEN and the women's game is just a PC sideshow. Or the fact that from an early age boys are encouraged to be footballers and rough and tumble, and girls are still funneled down the delicate sparkly princess route? Or that fact that in many competitions the women's prize money is still significantly less than that of the men's, thus dis-incentivizing women to train to become elite? Or the sheer fact that it doesn't have much of an audience because it simply isn't being broadcast to an audience? Or;

b) women are rubbish at sport so people don't want to watch it.

I can guarantee if squash was given the elitism and the prize money of sports like tennis / golf it would be huge. It's not that it's a shit sport, it's just not professionalised like others are.

Why is it the BBC's job to promote unpopular sports?

Because it would help address the gaping inequality in the way women's and men's sports are perceived, @TeeJay1970.

It would help put pressure on sporting leagues to professionalise women's sport in the same way that men's are, allowing more women to forge careers from sport rather than have to hold down a job and compete.

Because it would help encourage more girls into sport rather than leaving men as the only footballers, rugby players, golfers etc they will see on their screen.

Because you have completely ignored the reasons I outlined as to WHY it is unpopular, one of which is a significant lack of platforming and funding. Why do you think women's sport is unpopular?

All good things.

But that isn't the BBC's job

Well as it's a publicly funded UK broadcaster, @TeeJay1970, and given that 51% of the UK's population is female, I'd suggest it IS their remit to promote a wide range of content, including women's sport.

It's not as populat because fewer women support women's sport than men supporting men's sport.
Lots of women follow the mem's worls cup. Very few women watch the women's. No doubt you'll find a way to blame for the actions of women; first rule of misandry - men are to blame.

The only radio station my car will pick up is radio 2 and the only time I listen to it is on my way to park run on a Saturday morning. However getting to the point the sports reporter on Dermot O'Leary's show is excellent for talking about women's sport. We need more of this!

It is exactly the BBC's job, it is a public body, funded by the public and regulated by the government. Personally I'd be delighted if as a starting point they stopped talking about 'football' and 'women's football', much in the same way they say the premier league and the Scottish premier league. It's a small thing but just adding a 'men's' to the introduction to each sport, would go such a way to highlighting the imbalance.

Which words in the BBC' s charter are you refering to?

This is a brilliant idea. I don't watch men's sport at all but I would definitely watch women's sport if there was any on. It is the sort of thing the bbc should be doing. They spend enough time giving batshit viewpoints airtime for a 'balanced' view. And the excessive religious programming.

I bet the rights would be really cheap as well 😞

Jugzy

You've just shot yourself in the foot -twice.

I wrote a letter to "The Times" a couple of days ago about their lack of coverage.

Not published (yet) but fingers crossed.

Tee jay, do you not think the lack of numbers attending female sport events is partly down to lack of coverage/representation in our media and cultural lives and it's high time for change. A change that will benefit the fabric of society and the health of men and women. The BBC is a natural target to drive this movement due to how they get their money.

I listen to 5 Live quite a bit and they obviously made an editorial decision to cover more women's sport and have more women covering sport a few years ago. It is noticeable that women's football and rugby get more mentions in the sports reports (as I write, they've just announced the Man Utd women's team winning the league in the sports headlines). And there are more women reporting, both in the studio and in the grounds (but, yes, largely on men's sport). After the spurs v man City game this week, there were only female fans being interviewed on 5 Live the next morning. And the coverage of the women's rugby in the last Olympics and the football in the euros was great - no different in terms of commentary and analysis than the men's games. Just not as much of it, but that's not going to happen overnight.

It's changing for the better and credit where credit's due.

Our local paper has equal coverage of the men's and women's rugby teams and that is something I never thought would happen in this town.

Too much sports reporting on the mainstream news already. I am even less interested in women's sports than I am in men's.