Broadcast Sport speaks to TNT Sports’ cricket presenter Kate Mason, who became the first woman to lead national TV coverage of a men’s test series earlier this year
TNT Sports has moved further into cricket over the past year, broadcasting the England men’s team tours in India, the West Indies, and New Zealand.
At the helm of the broadcaster’s coverage has been lead presenter Kate Mason, who spoke to Broadcast Sport about how she and the production are hoping to bring new viewers to the sport.
Mason made history as the first woman to lead national TV coverage of a men’s test series during England’s India tour this year, and is aware of the problems cricket has with drawing new audiences from her own experiences with the sport, “One of the reasons I’m so hyped to be working on the cricket is because when I was a kid I wanted to play and it was not possible.
“I went to play at an all-boys team down the road from me, and the coach was not welcoming, plus it was too stressful to be the only one. And I really loved cricket. I was trying to play in my garden with my parents and an occasional friend, but when I tried to go and play in a team environment, it was too isolating.”
With this in mind, Mason is keen for TNT Sports’ coverage to be open to all, especially The Edge highlights show that she also presents. “It’s about breaking up the coverage so that there’s an accessible bit. We might spend five minutes on a masterclass, where we can say, ‘if you’re 11 then you can try this out’.
“But it’s not something that’s only for people who are 11. Lots of other people think they know the rule or the deal about something, then when someone gets you to fully explain it, there’s so much assumed knowledge that you can’t.”
For example, a particularly popular piece of content from the India series earlier this year involved former England international Steven Finn explaining an LBW decision, which explained the rule to novices and veterans alike.
There is a desire to be open during the live coverage too, with the BBC’s Test Match Special noted for its ability to go from serious analysis to talking about cake. This has an effect both on and off camera, with Mason revealing that the production crew’s togetherness ended up with pundit Jason Roy having a go with the jib camera earlier this year.
Speaking of the production crew, Mason noted the changes that the industry has made, but urged it go further. At the beginning of her career, much like her childhood cricket team, she had been the only woman in the room, but she now believes it has become closer to a 70/30 split.
However, she, “would love,” for that to reach 50/50. “Ideally, you want to have a whole variety of people making the decisions because there’s loads of evidence that that is better.”
“You want to have that represented across both the editorial team behind the camera and on air.”
The idea would be for this to then translate to the screen and further the work TNT Sports and Mason are currently trying to do with cricket: “Opening it up and making it welcoming to people who may not have thought of it as a space they could be in.”
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