BBC Sports Report: A Celebration of the World's Longest-Running Sports Radio Programme

Sports Report is a BBC radio institution that has been chronicling the way sport is covered for 75 years, and Pat Murphy pays tribute to the program in his book. The program is the longest-running radio sporting program in the world and has been a window on the sporting world all over the globe. Murphy has been a reporter on the program since 1981 and highlights memorable moments from Sports Report, details the challenges faced in getting live interviews on air, and celebrates the feat of a small production team in the studio.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 29 September 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Sports Report is a BBC radio institution that has been chronicling the world of sport for 75 years, making it one of the longest-running radio sporting programs in the world. Since 1981, Pat Murphy has been a reporter on the program, and in this book, he delves into the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. Murphy has unique access to the BBC Archives Unit, which allows him to highlight memorable moments from Sports Report, detail the challenges faced in getting live interviews on air from draughty, noisy dressing-room areas, and celebrate the feat of a small production team in the studio who manage to get the show up and running every Saturday, with the clock ticking implacably on.

Sports Report is not just a program; it is a 75-year history of sport, a BBC radio institution that is still followed affectionately by millions. It has been a window on the sporting world, packed tightly into every Saturday evening for the bulk of the year. First broadcast in 1948, Sports Report is the longest-running radio sporting program in the world and one of the BBC's hardy perennials.

Pat Murphy has been a reporter on the program since 1981, and in this book, he sifts comprehensively through the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. He hears from commentators, reporters, producers, presenters, and the production teams who regularly achieved the broadcasting miracle of getting a live program on air, without a script, adapting as the hour of news, reaction, and comment unfolded.

Drawing on unique access from the BBC Archives Unit, Murphy highlights memorable moments from Sports Report, details the challenges faced in getting live interviews on air from draughty, noisy dressing-room areas, and celebrates the feat of a small production team in the studio who somehow manage to get the show up and running every Saturday, with the clock ticking implacably on.

Sports Report has been a constant factor in chronicling the way sport is covered, in all its many facets. It has been a window on the sporting world, packed tightly into every Saturday evening for the bulk of the year. It has been a testament to the dedication and hard work of the production teams, reporters, commentators, producers, and presenters who have made it a success for nearly 75 years.

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves sport, and for anyone who has ever listened to Sports Report and been inspired by the stories and the passion of the people who have made it a success. It is a tribute to the power of radio to bring people together, to celebrate the world of sport, and to inspire generations to come.

Weight: 604g
Dimension: 162 x 243 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472994226