TY - JOUR
T1 - BSkyB and the 1991 World Student Games
T2 - The Transformation of Live Sports Television Acquisition and Coverage in the UK in the Early 1990s
AU - Fenwick, James
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - In 1991, Sheffield was the host city for the XVI Summer Universiade, better known as the World Student Games (WSG). Studies of the 1991 WSG commonly assert that it received little to no television coverage. This article intervenes to demonstrate that the WSG did receive substantial television coverage on Sky Sports and across the ITV network. The article draws on new archival sources to provide perspectives on the negotiations and interactions between the WSG organizers and the broadcasters, focusing on BSkyB. The article serves as an instrumental case study on how newly available television archival collections can be used to reframe perspectives of television history. In particular, the article considers the early history of Sky Sports, its approach to sports acquisition, its relationship with public service broadcasters, and the impact of satellite television on live-sports coverage and a rapidly changing media landscape in the UK in the early 1990s.
AB - In 1991, Sheffield was the host city for the XVI Summer Universiade, better known as the World Student Games (WSG). Studies of the 1991 WSG commonly assert that it received little to no television coverage. This article intervenes to demonstrate that the WSG did receive substantial television coverage on Sky Sports and across the ITV network. The article draws on new archival sources to provide perspectives on the negotiations and interactions between the WSG organizers and the broadcasters, focusing on BSkyB. The article serves as an instrumental case study on how newly available television archival collections can be used to reframe perspectives of television history. In particular, the article considers the early history of Sky Sports, its approach to sports acquisition, its relationship with public service broadcasters, and the impact of satellite television on live-sports coverage and a rapidly changing media landscape in the UK in the early 1990s.
KW - British television history
KW - BSkyB
KW - regional television
KW - satellite television
KW - Sky Sports
KW - television archives
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133897922&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/15274764221110194
DO - 10.1177/15274764221110194
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133897922
SN - 1527-4764
VL - 24
SP - 336
EP - 355
JO - Television and New Media
JF - Television and New Media
IS - 3
ER -