hings are changing in the sports space. The global attention drawn to the Uefa Women’s Euros this year was emblematic of that; a statement that the world’s eyes are finally opening to women’s achievements, strengths and all-round place in sport.
THE PANEL
What about the women behind the broadcast? The engineers, managers, presenters, sound technicians – you name it. They all exist and have the right to be celebrated for the fantastic job they are doing bringing sports to our screens, in a still stiflingly male- dominated sector. We got to sit down with a small selection of hugely talented professionals, to ask them about their experiences and insights as women in sports production.
FEED: How did you enter the sports broadcast space?
EMILY BERGUN: While finishing my degree in broadcast systems engineering, I asked my lecturer what I could do to get a job in the industry. She told me to attend an upcoming networking event with her. During this, she stood up and announced to everyone that a student of hers was at the event and looking for a role! While I was slightly mortified at the time, it did lead me to meeting my current manager, and I started a job as a broadcast engineer in the broadcast graphics and data shift support department at Sky. This involved answering support calls and ensuring all on-screen Sky Sports News and Studios graphics worked as expected 24/7. After three years, I very recently moved over to the graphics and data project delivery team, specialising in delivering AR and VR solutions to Sky Studios and Sky Sports News. SARAH ADAMS: My first job was at an OB company where I worked on different sports, alongside entertainment productions. I also worked on some Sky Sports events. I then applied for a job at Sky, knowing they were building a new set of studios, which I wanted to be a part of. I was lucky to get involved in testing them and found out about how Sky use technology to tell the story of sports. I am not a sports fan as such, but I do love the fast pace. Each day is different – another venue, team or event. This is why I love working in live sports broadcast. MEL McDERMOTT: My entry was quite unexpected. I had been working in operations for a linear broadcaster for some years and had never considered working purely in sports. Then, in 2016, DAZN came along, which was not only 100% sports-focused, but also an OTT product. I was approached by the hiring team on a few occasions and eventually took a role in live operations.
This was a leap into the great unknown, doing something nobody had ever done before, delivering that scale of sport on an OTT platform. Since launching in 2016 into DACH, closely followed by Japan and eventually worldwide, I have covered a number of roles that have seen me travel globally – while building the product and platform that viewers see today. ANNA LOCKWOOD: Sports have always been a part of my life, and I’ve been incredibly lucky to work in sports broadcasting. At the beginning of my career, I worked on documentaries in India, including several mountaineering films where I did the photography, sound and producing! My first official job in this field was when I joined Avid Technology and immediately started working on large and complex sports workflows for major events around the world. Sports customers drove a lot of the innovation and product roadmap development at Avid while I was there. When I joined Telstra, I continued working with sports and major events as a speciality of our business, that’s including esports and gaming. Our sports customers continue to challenge and motivate us every day!
Sarah Adams Senior technical supervisor, Sky
Emily Bergun Technical specialist, Sky
Anna Lockwood VP international, Telstra
Mel McDermott Presentation team lead, DAZN
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