September 2021

dock10 to host The Broadcast Content Summit 2021

The Broadcast Content Summit 2021 will be held at the dock10 studios at Media City, Salford. It will bring together many of the UK's leading digital and traditional sports producers and broadcasters, sports rights holders and sport tech companies.

The event will look at different areas of sports production, providing a platform for sports content producers and broadcasters to discuss best practice in making and televising live sports, sports-focused documentaries and studio-based programming.

Speakers will include key players from across the broadcasts sports industry including Barbara Slater, Director, BBC Sport; Gavin Ramjaun, Presenter & Senior Journalist, BBC; Jake Bickerton, Editor, Broadcast Sport; Steve Smith, Executive Director, Sky Sports; Ben Welch, Lead Channel Manager, SportBible; Sharon Fuller; Chief Content Officer, eSkootr Championship.

Barbara Slater, Director, BBC Sport, will be talking with Gavin Ramjaun, Presenter & Senior Journalist, BBC, about the sports strategy for their channel. In this discussion we find out which sports and events work well on one of the biggest free-to-air sports channels in the UK; why free-to-air is important for key sports and 'crown jewel' sporting events; how free-to-air services partner with pay-TV and D2C platforms to maximise the reach and profile of different sporting events.

Jake Bickerton, Editor, Broadcast Sport, will be taking to Alexandra Willis, Communications and Marketing Director, AELTC, and Gavin Johnson, Group Media Director, City Football Group, about Fan Engagement For Rights Holders. Sports clubs and federations have been utilising digital, OTT and D2C platforms to get content to fans for many years, but the widespread adoption of OTT services such as Netflix and Disney+ has turned minority-interest platforms into universally accessed mainstream services. This has increased the opportunities for sports organisations to engage with a sizeable audience directly via digital services. Standout examples include Wimbledon's excellent Wimbledon Channel; Matchroom Boxing teaming up with DAZN to stream content to fans, while at the same time utilising its popular social channels (with 266k YouTube followers and half a million Instagram followers) to go direct-to-fans; and football clubs growing their D2C 'TV channels' with pre-season live content, exclusive pre- and post- match interviews, analysis and insights only available to members.

Gavin Ramjaun, Presenter & Senior Journalist, BBC, will be looking at Using Sport Media For Cultural Change together with Sara Butler, Managing Director, Shoot The Company and Steve Smith, Executive Director, Sky Sports. What are broadcasters, production companies and sports organisations doing to help facilitate cultural change and raise awareness of key issues such as gender and racial inequality, social media bullying and so on? This panel debates the efforts being made by the leading sports broadcasters and federations in trying to tackle challenging issues head on, through campaigns and initiatives, and what impact these are having in influencing change.

Sadie Groom, Managing Director, Bubble Agency, will be looking at Sport Content For Digital Platforms with Ben Welch, Lead Channel Manager, SportBible; Jack Genovese, Senior Analyst, Ampere. Sports rights holders are utilising social media platforms in a variety of ways to maximise the reach of live and on-demand content. What are the golden rules for social content, to ensure it's picked up by the algorithms and reaches as wide an audience as possible? How can you monetise this content, and make the most of the marketing opportunities available through each platform?

Sarah Mulkerrins, Presenter, BBC Sport, will be talking to Pete Andrews, Head of Sport, Channel 4; Mark Cole, Managing Director, Whisper TV; Ron Chakraborty, Lead Executive, Major Events, BBC Sport and John Murphy, Creative Director, Motion, BBC Sport, about Olympics & Paralympic Games. The delayed Olympics and Paralympics were produced and broadcast from Japan while the country was in a Covid-caused state-of-emergency and while a reported 80% of the population was in opposition to holding the Games there. All the events in or nearby Tokyo were held in spectator-free stadiums, while those elsewhere in Japan were in front of 50% capacity crowds.

Jake Bickerton, Editor, Broadcast Sport, will be taking to Sharon Fuller, Chief Content Officer, eSkootr Championship, about Launching the eSkootr Championship - the world's first electric scooter race. The prototype carbon-fibre S1-X eSkootr has been developed by YCom and Williams Advanced Engineering and is capable of over 100km/h (60mph). It features racecar design and manufacturing techniques – including a carbon-fibre chassis frame, environmentally friendly natural-fibre bodywork and bespoke, adjustable front and rear suspension elements CNC-machined from aluminium. The races will take place in city centres, on specially designed circuits between 400 and 1000m long.

Max Miller, Reporter, Broadcast Sport, will be talking to John McKenna, CEO, Noah Media; Sally Brown, Executive Producer, BT Sport Films and Duncan East, Managing Director, Buzz 16, about the Power of the Sport Doc. The rise of streaming services has brought with it the rise of the sports doc, with hugely popular series such as Formula 1: Drive to Survive; All or Nothing; The Last Dance; Last Chance U; and Take Us Home: Leeds United all capturing the public's imagination. Feature docs including Noah Media's Finding Jack Charlton and The Edge; and huge global successes such as Free Solo and Icarus have also brought in plaudits and punters aplenty, and the likes of BT Sport, Sky Sports and Rakuten also have a wealth of their own documentaries slated for the coming year.

Carrie Wootten, Managing Director, Rise, will be in conversation with Gary Hughes, Head of Football, Sky Sports, about Elevating Women's Sport. This panel discusses Sky Sports' plans for its coverage of the Barclays Women's Super League, which begins on 3rd September. It will show at least 35 Women's Super League games exclusively live per season, and has some "very exciting plans", with best-in-class on and off-screen production teams. The Women's Super League will get the "full Sky Sports treatment, with lengthy build-ups and reaction to all live matches, plus daily news across Sky Sports News and Sky Sports' digital platforms." Find out more about Sky's efforts to enhance coverage of the Women's Super League in this case study panel discussion from Sky and the Women's Super League.

See photos from the event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4QwwDoTLJu4gGVRW8

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