Sports Report

Sports Report
GenreSports news and results
Running time30–60 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home station
Hosted byMark Chapman
Original release3 January 1948 (1948-01-03)
Opening theme"Out of the Blue" by Hubert Bath
Websitewww.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cx435

Sports Report is one of the longest-running programmes on British radio, and is the world's longest-running sports radio programme.[1] It started on 3 January 1948,[2] and has always been broadcast from 17:00 on Saturday evenings during the football season, for most of its history featuring two readings of the classified football results, although the length of the programme has varied in more recent times depending on whether the BBC has a commentary of a 17:30 Premier League match.

Originally produced by Angus Mackay,[3] it was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme until 25 April 1964. On 22 August 1964 it became part of Sports Service and moved to Network Three (which later became BBC Radio 3) where it initially started at the earlier time of 16:42.[4] On 4 April 1970, however, it moved back to what had by then become BBC Radio 2,[5] where it remained until 25 August 1990 as part of Sport on 2. From 1 September 1990 to 26 March 1994 it moved to the original BBC Radio 5, and since 2 April 1994 it has been broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live as part of 5 Live Sport.

In February 1969 Mary Raine was sent to report on the Chelsea–Sunderland league game for Sports Report, becoming the first woman to report on sport for the BBC.[6]

The start of the 2022–23 English football season saw the axing of the Saturday afternoon classified football results without prior warning or fanfare. This was confirmed on 8 August 2022 when the BBC announced it had dropped the results from the programme because it had been shortened ahead of the 17:30 Premier League match.[7][8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference 70years was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Andrews, Eamonn; Mackay, Angus (1955). Sports Report. London: Sportsmans Book Club. p. 10. OCLC 11471101.
  3. ^ Butler, Bryon, ed. (1987). Sports Report: 40 Years of the Best. Queen Anne Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-356-14863-7.
  4. ^ "Sports Service". Radio Times. Vol. 164, no. 2128 (London & South East ed.). BBC Publications. 20 August 1964. p. 13. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Sports Report". Radio Times. Vol. 187, no. 2421 (London & South East ed.). BBC Publications. 2 April 1970. p. 22. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Female Football Pioneers: Mary Raine and Patricia Gregory". 29 May 2019.
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 5 Live drops classified football results". 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Classified football scores end on BBC Radio 5 Live". 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.