The BBC has issued its Invitation to Tender for Sports Personality of the Year, calling for ideas that will broaden the iconic show’s appeal to “younger and more diverse audiences”.
The coverage, currently produced in-house, incorporates event management and production for three years from 2019 to 2021, with an option to extend for two years. The Invitation to Tender asks indies to partner with a digital content producer to “maximise collaboration with BBC Sport’s digital team”.
Applicants must also put forward ideas for how the as-live show can be “of interest to young audiences across all platforms”, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
To qualify for eligibility, indies will have to have delivered at least one major awards ceremony or similar event – ideally including the running of a public vote – and demonstrate “proven depth of knowledge and editorial expertise” in sports and sports productions.
The show is currently produced from MediaCityUK and must remain an out-of-London production.
BBC Sport director Barbara Slater, who is part of the team overseeing the tender, said: “Plans must demonstrate an understanding of the complexities of balancing the delivery of a primetime TV entertainment show alongside a large-scale arena event.”
“We do not recommend making wholesale changes to the editorial scope of SPOTY in 2019 but welcome ideas for how the programme could evolve and increase its impact over the life of the contract.”
In September, the BBC announced that SPOTY was to become the first sports show to be put out to competitive tender as part of its latest Charter requirements. The Invitation to Tender is the formal start of the process.
It also asks indies to put forward ideas for a SPOTY preview show and Red Carpet Show, which will both run prior to the main coverage on the BBC News channel. These have not been accounted for in the budget, however.
A shortlist of three bidders will be identified in May, with the winner revealed in mid-June.
