This week the country has been recognising Women’s Sport Week and we at Sky have supported and contributed to the initiative’s aims. We kicked off the week with a launch event at Lords to celebrate that we are showing even more women’s sport right through the year - not just this week -  and have also launched our #myinspirationalwomen campaign which asks the question which woman has inspired you? We got the conversation started with some big names including Carl Froch, Rachel Riley and Will Greenwood – and lots of you joined in too. But here at Sky Sports women’s sport isn’t just something we think about this week, and there isn’t a quick fix to ensure women’s sport gets the visibility and support it merits. 

I can readily acknowledge that back in the early 90s and the first few years of Sky Sports women’s sport was perhaps not given the time it deserved. But in the time I’ve been at Sky, the industry has improved dramatically and I’m proud of our commitment and investment today. But there is still more work to be done and I’m calling on everyone across the industry to support us to achieve this. 

Women’s sport is anything but box ticking. In fact our schedules include women’s sport because our viewers expect and want it. Six million women watch Sky Sports every month. Over half of Sky Sports subscribers are interested in watching it so it’s imperative that we at Sky and the industry get it right. 

Our commitment to  women’s sports goes beyond the rights we invest in and put on screen. It’s our focus on our programming, people, partnerships and participation which work together to raise and build awareness of why women’s sport is so important. 

Firstly let’s take programming. In 2015 we scheduled women’s sport on over 270 days of the year and in 2017 we’ll show the Solheim Cup, all five of golf’s Majors, England Netball, rugby, cricket - the list goes on. We will give all of these events the full Sky Sports treatment with the highest level of production possible from award-winning directorial and editorial teams to new technological innovations such as Sky Cart, pro tracer and hawk-eye. Our comprehensive support for these sports includes regular editorial content on our digital and social outlets as well as regular blogs from past and current sports stars. 

And it’s not just the exploits on screen and around these big events that we value so highly. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the exceptional work of our female colleagues. At Sky we employ over 10,000 women and out of our leadership team, 38% are women. But why settle there? Our aim is to reach a 50/50 split across leadership roles through our Women in Leadership initiative which would make Sky the leading female employer in the UK in the industry. Sky Sports plays a crucial role in this.

In sports we have many women working as producers, directors and in other senior roles on key shows such as Soccer Saturday, Super Sunday, pay-per view boxing, tennis and darts to name a few. From presenters and production teams to finance, strategy and marketing, women occupy many critical and highly influential positions at Sky Sports. But as all of us know this hasn’t always been the case and still isn’t in some areas of sport. Within Sky Sports, we’re pushing to ensure there’s an even bigger pool of women sports journalists across the industry. We drove the initiative that led to training course sign ups reaching a target of 25% women students on accredited sports journalism courses. 18 months ago, figures were less than 1 in 10. What this tells us is when we focus, we can drive important change. 

Our close partnerships with governing bodies have also played an important role both on and off screen. An example of this is our partnership with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board). Together we have seen the introduction of professional contracts, improved standards, increased sponsorship, bigger crowds, the formation of the new Super League and England becoming the number one team in the world. 

The promotional work we’ve put into the sport also hasn’t gone unnoticed. It’s now regularly covered in national newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines with the likes of Charlotte Edwards as household names. Its partnerships like this that have enabled us to bring women’s sports to the forefront of the media. Increased promotion has a positive correlation with increased participation  - and participation in sport at the grassroots level is one our biggest aims as well as inspiring girls and women of all ages to take up sport. 

The work of all of the partners of Women’s sport week will help to ensure we raise the profile of women’s sport, but without a doubt we all still have a lot of work to do. Women’s sport and women in sport is at an incredibly important stage. We can either rest on what we’ve achieved as an industry so far, or we can keep the momentum going.  Here at Sky Sports we will definitely be pursing the latter.