Sportsmedia Broadcasting
Sportsmedia Broadcasting Ltd is a UK broadcast news agency providing sports audio content to radio stations and internet websites. The company uses live editorial and commentary to activate sports sponsorships through the UK and world. Sportsmedia’s client base includes sponsors, governing bodies and agencies. TV and radio broadcaster Jonny Gould formed Sportsmedia in 1992, which has a client list boasting over 40 sponsors, governing bodies and event managers in 20 different sports.
Sportsmedia Broadcasting first went to air in 1991 providing sports bulletins to the fledgeling Jazz FM in London, but came of age a year later when the company won two prestigious contracts which laid the foundations for it to become the UK's biggest independent sports radio production company.
Sportsmedia won the news supply contract to provide IRN’s sports desk for three years, and won the rights to promote Save and Prosper’s rugby internationals involving England at Twickenham. From there, Sportsmedia developed a reputation for providing bespoke sports programming for PR companies, blue-chip sports sponsors, governing bodies, radio stations, multimedia news networks and retail chains. The company's client base reads as a Who's Who and includes McDonald's, VISA and Bloomberg LP.
In 1994, Sportsmedia pioneered and launched the packaged sports bulletin feed to UK Radio stations with the establishment of The Sportsmedia Bulletin Network. This enabled radio stations of all sizes to provide their listeners with sports bulletins, outsourced to and provided by Sportsmedia. The service today numbers 80 radio station affiliates and produces up to 1,000 packaged sports bulletins every week. Sportsmedia provides this service free of charge to each radio station, while retaining the rights to broadcast commercial messages on behalf of its sponsors.
The service transformed Sportsmedia from a simple radio PR service to a business which owns tangible media assets.
Sportsmedia has covered every European Football Championship on-site since 1996, Wimbledon since 1994 and The Open Championship since 1995.
In 1996, Sportsmedia pioneered the provision of audio content on the Internet by providing live coverage of the Wimbledon Championships. This proved to be the forerunner to on-demand audio as Sportsmedia launched www.sportonair.com, the world's first example of a website dedicated to the provision of on-demand sports news and interviews. This was created in partnership with internet company Datanet Marketing Services and later, the 365 Corporation.
Between 2000 and 2003, Sportsmedia emerged as a forerunner in the business-to-business provision of audio content to the emerging multimedia platforms created by the dotcom boom. Among lucrative contracts provided during this dizzy period, Sportsmedia delivered on-demand audio content to Sporting Life, Freeserve, Tiscali and Real Player and live streamed broadcasting to Sporting Life and Tote Bookmakers. The firm also developed a Premium Rate telephone service selling its audio content direct to consumers for the very first time.
In 2006, Sportsmedia moved to brand new state-of-the-art studios and offices in west London to accommodate the growing demands of its client and product-base. They were officially opened by Sir Geoff Hurst and Kenny Dalglish.
Sportsmedia's latest business-to-consumer offering will be launched to co-incide with the start of the 2006/7 season when www.footballaudio.com aims to address the growing demand among the public for podcasts.
Jonny Gould remains the managing director and driving force behind the business and the company's majority shareholder. His aim for Sportsmedia is to maintain its reputation for product innovation while consolidating market position in its sectors of involvement.