"Women's sport could be a real opportunity for the BBC"

Sport For once, I'm on the same page as a BBC director general.  Here's what I said back in August:

"Well, forget about it, BBC. You're losing the battle. Instead, why not take the rather liberal step of giving Sky what you can get away with and then, rather like you do with drama and comedy development plough that money into building some of these other Olympic sports from the bottom up, showing live coverage of these Olympic sports with the same quality of presentation you bring to athletics championships, whose qualifying meets you did show us. The BBC should change the game. Or rather games.

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From there we move into other sports: shooting, volleyball, cycling, rowing, swimming, sailing even badminton and not just the major annual tournaments but the bits in between show us what happens to Wiggins or rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning do next. I had little clue who these Gold medal winners were before the Olympics began and that feels wrong, especially since their achievements are no less incredible than even the runners and throwers who do get some kind of national televisual recognition and don't require internet research to follow."

Here's what he's said in today's Radio Times:

"Entwistle, who started his job on Monday, said that the BBC could not compete with Sky to buy the rights to some sports – but added that he believed there may be an opportunity tap into the growing interest in women's sport, where the cost of buying up the rights is likely to be lower.

"While I am director general, the BBC will carry on having a serious commitment to sport. But look at the latest BT/Sky Premier League deal, that comes in at about £6.5m per football game. We are simply no longer in that class," he said, in an interview in the latest edition of the Radio Times.

"Look at growing interest in women's sport and what opportunities might there be for us in the future as different sports come to the public's attention. Women's sport could be a real opportunity for the BBC," Entwistle added.

Hi, George, thank you for reading.