Behind the scenes: Talksport’s TV push

Talksport launched its own 24/7 FAST channel earlier this year, continuing its push into visual content. 

The broadcaster has seen success with YouTube and social content over the past years, beginning by simply filming its radio content. However, it has since diversified that output, and is now producing shows visual first - making use of the small studio complex at News UK’s offices, which includes two main studios, a green screen space and a newly-installed podcast studio.

These studios are currently going through a refurbishment, aimed at continuing to improve the quality of the station’s output, as well as that of the likes of TalkTV and Times Media, which is also produced there. 

As Derek Brown, News UK’s director of digital for news broadcasting, explained to Broadcast Sport, “With the CTV move we’re elevating the look and feel of our content. We’re on version two of the content now, and version three will follow soon.” 

This, “version three”, will include more formats, such as trivia shows, behind-the-scenes shows, and documentaries. There has been some experimentation on the latter already, with Life After Sport, a series looking at what sport stars do after retirement.

More live, “watchalongs,” such as the Monzo-branded live show Talksport produced for transfer deadline day, are expected, as well as other branded content - with the studios and channel seen as an extra incentive for companies to sponsor. For instance, The Line Up, a talk show sponsored by BetMGM, had previously only been available through YouTube but now has another distribution option. 

There are also plans to cover major competitions through shows on site, similar to the FA’s Lions Den and Lionesses Live shows that follow the England teams. The upcoming women’s Euros and Men’s World Cups are options for this - particularly the latter, with hopes to grow a US audience and existing links to US broadcaster Fox Sports. 

Other strategies for growing the Talksport audience include leaning into the popularity of YouTube creators. Brown said, “YouTubers bring their audience with them. Our ‘perfect’ combination for a [football] club show would be a presenter with a social media following, a YouTuber and an ex-pro.” An example is the Inside Spurs show, which is presented by broadcaster Abbi Summers alongside former Tottenham player Pascal Chimbonda and YouTuber Expressions Oozing. 

The speed of production is seen as key, with shows produced on the back of breaking news at times. Arsenal player Kai Havertz’s recent injury saw a show looking at the Premier League club’s potential options to replace him produced within 24 hours. 

An example of Talksport’s commitment to the FAST channel is that all of its content is now produced to be a TV hour or half hour, which Brown admitted has been an adjustment for the team - which had previously made shows without a hard time limit. All content is also produced in-house, head of Talksport Liam Fisher explained, and, “we would only commission for something we didn’t think we could do in-house. Producing it ourselves allows us to keep our tone of voice and helps with cross-promotion across our other [News UK] brands.” 

Programmes aren’t only focused on football, with boxing and darts pinpointed as two other sports where there are, “synergies.” In addition, it has already announced plans to create dedicated programmes for this year’s Lions rugby tour.

The FAST channel is also seen as a source of content for Talksport’s other platforms. Its CTV content is cut into near-live eight-minute segments for the YouTube channel and other social platforms, and social media allows for more freedom around its match commentary - which it has radio rights for but can’t show on TV. A recent video of its NFL commentator at the Super Bowl went viral, with the NFL itself sharing the content.