BBC Sport retains SPOTY production contract following tender

BBC Sport’s in-house production team has secured the contract to provide the event staging and TV production element of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) for the next three years.

The contract starts this year and ends in 2021, but there is an option, at the BBC’s discretion, to extend it for a further two years.

The award of the contract follows a competitive tender process that forms part of the ‘Compete or Compare’ strategy launched by the BBC in 2014. As a result, the BBC invited pitches from all producers, internal and external, with detailed eligibility and shortlisting information shared with bidders.

All the pitches were assessed against five criteria – the quality of editorial proposals, the strength of event staging plans, fit with the BBC’s strategic priorities, risk and value for money. BBC Sport’s in-house production team scored highest against these criteria amongst the eligible producers who submitted proposals to stage and produce BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The evaluation panel was made up of two senior members of the BBC Entertainment team; head of business Matthew Travers and commissioning editor Jo Wallace alongside two senior members of BBC Sport’s commissioning team, director Barbara Slater and head of TV sport Philip Bernie. Sports production consultant and panel Chair, Jackie Myburgh, completed the panel.

SPOTY is the first BBC programme to be competed for in this way in the sport genre, ahead of the removal of the in-house guarantee next year.

Panel chair Myburgh said: “The evaluation panel was very impressed by the quality of the proposals and their individual credentials. Ultimately we felt that BBC Sport’s in-house team put forward the most creative, robust and complete response to the requirements of the tender.”

Director of sport at the BBC, Barbara Slater, added: “SPOTY is widely considered to be the most prestigious award ceremony in UK sport and it remains incredibly popular with BBC audiences. I look forward to seeing how the programme will evolve in the coming years to ensure its place on the sporting calendar remains as strong as ever.”