Sportsworld (radio)
 | |
| Genre | Sport |
|---|---|
| Running time | ~180 minutes |
| Country |
 International(  United Kingdom origin) |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC World Service |
| Hosted by |
Lee James (BBC) Sarah Mulkerrins |
| Edited by | Matt Davies |
| Produced by |
Joanne Smith Ross Mitchell Ríain McAuley |
| Recording studio | MediaCityUK, Salford |
| Air dates | since 1959 |
| Audio format | Monophonic |
Sportsworld is the flagship weekend sports programme on BBC World Service radio and winner of two Sony Radio Academy Awards.
Sportsworld can be heard on BBC World Service radio, on many of the BBC's FM partner stations who simulcast the programme and from August 2010 online. Listen LIVE here [1]
Sportsworld is produced by BBC Sport for BBC World Service along with Sport Today, Sportshour, World Football and Stumped (radio)
History
The programme began life as Saturday Special for one hour in the summer of 1959. Slowly its scope expanded to include the winter months to cover football. The name was changed to Sportsworld in 1979. A Sunday edition was added in 1996. The programme is now broadcast for three hours every Saturday (1500-1800 GMT) and Sunday (1600-1900 GMT). In November 2011 Sportsworld moved out of BBC Television Centre with the rest of the BBC Sport department to MediaCityUK.
Content
Sportsworld brings the biggest sporting events to a global audience, using the full resources of the BBC. The programme features live commentary from the Premier League every weekend during the English football season. Correspondents in Spain and Italy cover La Liga and Serie A. Live sport is mixed with debate, discussion and analysis of the leading sport stories of the week by the Sportsworld Panel.
The big football events on the global sporting calendar always feature such as African Cup of Nations, World Cup and European Championships. As do the multi-sport events like the Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games. The regular events on the annual calendar are a feature point of the year such as the Grand Slam's in Tennis, the Golfing Majors, Test cricket, Formula One, Diamond League Athletics, the NBA, the Baseball World Series and Moto GP.
A global audience of 188 million, and the reputation of the programme, ensures Sportsworld is able to secure exclusive interviews with the biggest names in world sport.
The programme often leaves its base at MediaCityUK in Salford. In 2010 Sportsworld was presented from the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola, the Jamaican Schools Athletics Championships in Kingston, the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the European Champions League final in Madrid, the 2010 World Basketball Championships in Turkey and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Interaction
Sportsworld uses texts, e-mails, blogs, facebook and calls to interact with the audience. The programme text number is + 44 7786 20 2004. The programme e-mail address is [email protected] and you can call the programme on + 44 161 874 13 77
Presenters
Paddy Feeny presented the programme from the start in 1959 through to his retirement in 1995. Other presenters have included Martin Fookes, Mike Costello and Russell Fuller. The current presenters are Lee James (BBC) for Saturday and Sarah Mulkerrins for Sunday. The current producers are Joanne Smith and Ross Mitchell. The programme editor is Matt Davies.
Special programmes
A three hour daily Olympic Sportsworld has been broadcast from the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
A one hour highlights programme, Sportsworld at Wimbledon, has been broadcast from the Wimbledon Championships since 1992. The Wimbledon coverage was cut as a cost-saving measure in September 2010.[2]
