BBC Radio Tees interview – ‘women’s sports on TV’

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Mike Buchanan

[Note added 6.3.14: ‘A Voice for Men’ have just published this piece, where we hope it will attract plenty more comments:

http://www.avoiceformen.com/gynocentrism/should-there-be-more-coverage-of-womens-sports-on-television/ ]

[Note added 28.2.14: edited piece now posted on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMvPbalEM3o&list=UUKhX1c3ow6BrzdzP3ydpeZQ&feature=c4-overview ]

I much enjoyed an interview this morning:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01rrcrv

We’ll get an edited piece on our YouTube channel as soon as we can, but the key content is the following. There may be more related content after 1:14:15 as the interviewer was inviting people to call in. The programme will be available online for a week.

49:05 – 58:10 Mike Parr interviews Shona Malcolm (head of The Ladies’ Golf Union) and myself.

1:07:25 – 1:10:20 Pre-recorded interview between Mike Parr and Steve Hewlett, a broadcaster and media commentator.

1:10:21 – 1:14:15 Mike Parr interviews Eleanor Pinder, who works on a number of projects with Middlesborough football Club, and is a netball player.

At 1:12:24 Mike Parr asks Eleanor Pinder, ‘Is the quality of women’s football as good (as men’s football)?’ Her response:

‘Erm… it’s a different level, I suppose, not so fast potentially, but that doesn’t mean it’s not watchable.’

‘… that doesn’t mean it’s not watchable’. Priceless. Just after the end of her interview there’s a very brief exchange between Mike Parr and ‘Nick’, the man who reports on the traffic. It’s the last thing in the section ending at 1:14:15. Don’t miss it.

About Mike Buchanan

I'm a men's human rights advocate, writer, and publisher. My primary focus is leading the political party I launched in 2013, Justice for Men & Boys (and the women who love them). I still work actively on two campaigns I launched in early 2012, Campaign for Merit in Business and the Anti-Feminism League. In 2014 I launched The Alternative Sexism Project, aiming to raise public understanding that the sexism faced by men and boys has far more grievous consequences than the sexism faced by women and girls.
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  • I’ve seen women’s football and I’d say based on merit alone, Sunday League would be televised long before women’s football.

    I watch football and I am not ashamed to say that I love it. I also enjoy many other sports on TV, including cricket and both forms of rugby. The gender of the competitors is not why I enjoy it – it’s the quality of the play and the skill of the players that makes me watch.

    I don’t watch women’s football for the same reason I don’t watch lower non-professional football. It’s crap.

    • Good points. The case for televising Sunday League football is stronger, but nobody would ever suggest that. Like women’s football, it would only attract small audiences. I didn’t have the time in this interview to say something I wanted to, that the only two women’s sports I ever watch are tennis (big fan of Maria Sharapova) and ladies’ beach volleyball. I imagine men’s beach volleyball is faster and more exciting. I honestly don’t know, never having watched it…

  • I think in order to justify women’s sports being shown on TV, women need to show an interest in watching sport. Anyone who watches sport on TV does so because they enjoy the spectacle of sport and frankly women’s football has a long way to go before it can be considered entertainment. I do watch some women’s sports, especially Alpine skiing events where the levels of skill involved are roughly equivalent if you factor in differences in size and weight between the male and female skiers. I also watched some of the women’s events at the London Olympics and I occasionally watch women’s tennnis. So women’s sports, where they are of a high enough standard of competence, do get television coverage and sports. Where they lag behind, they get none.

  • vadark

    Cracking interview, Mike; a really great job. These BBC interviewers are starting to get on my nerves but I think you came out with the upper-hand there. You’re really standing your ground these days and it’s giving you a clear advantage with your well presented arguments. Great stuff!

    • Thanks Vadark. I really enjoyed that one, I must say, though I’m not keen on giving radio interviews over the phone. Apparently I stammered quite a bit, as I sometimes do. It’s more because I’m trying to collect my thoughts, than stress. The final 17 seconds (from 15:30) are, to me, comedy gold. Two BBC people trying to reassure listeners of their political correctness. Priceless!

  • vadark

    Mike, seriously I wouldn’t even worry about any stammering, which I didn’t notice by the way. In fact, I know several people who stutter with their wording and apart from being incredibly nice and decent people they are exceptionally intelligent and logical people who I have a lot of admiration for. As long as you keep delivering interviews packed with factually based arguments and you don’t allow your self to be undermined by white-knightism then you’re onto a winner and garnering more and more support as time goes on.

    • Thanks Vadark, much appreciated. I think it’s giving interviews over the phone that’s a problem (though Ray Barry is very good at them). All male BBC interviewers, at both the national and local level, are white knights. I imagine it’s something the BBC checks for in the recruitment process.