RTÉ Sport’s work on the 20 x 20 campaign has been shortlisted for the SVG Europe Women Award for Diversity in Sports TV.
20 x 20 set out to create a measurable shift in the perception of women in sport in Ireland, so that this would be seen as something strong, valuable and worth celebrating. RTÉ was the campaign’s principal media partner.
The SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021 will be announced as part of a celebration of the best of European sports production and broadcasting during the Sports Production and Technology Summit on Thursday 28 October at Chelsea F.C., Stamford Bridge in London.
The Awards recognise and honour the outstanding companies, teams and individuals that pushed sports broadcasting and production forward within the 2020 calendar year.
The judges look to reward people, organisations and projects, big or small, that have led by example, experimented, taken risks and achieved results that can contribute to the continuing forward momentum and success of the industry as a whole.
There is little doubt that this campaign delivered on its promise, even in the midst of Covid.
66% of those surveyed in an RTÉ Impacts poll said that RTÉ had influenced them to watch more live women’s sport, and 23% said they would attend more women’s sports matches.
The best thing though is the realisation that this was never about getting to a line in the sand and thinking equality was achieved when the number was less than 50 per cent.
Led within the Sports Department by Cliona O’Leary and at the highest level of the organisation by Director General Dee Forbes, RTÉ has pledged for 2021 that there would be a 25% target for Women’s Sport as part of overall television sports coverage, and 20% in the online arena. Going further the targets are 30% of all analysts should be women on TV and 25% on Radio, and that 30% of presenters should also be women across TV, Radio and News content.
Targets are only of use if someone is watching and we will continue to do that to as great an extent as we can in the months and years ahead.
Knowing you have a problem is the first step towards fixing it. 20X20 was a great way to get that process underway and RTÉ was one of the lead organisations in getting it out there.
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