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Some staff fear digital approach will pull BBC towards commercial model built around football, leaving minority sports and older TV viewers behind
Earlier this month, the BBC conducted a sit-down interview with England’s captain, Harry Kane. In years gone by, a chance to quiz Kane about England’s tournament chances or his Champions League hopes would have made a respectable package for TV news.
On this occasion, however, the corporation took a different approach.
The journalist dispatched to quiz Kane was Umir Irfan, BBC Sport’s football tactics correspondent. Irfan proceeded to question the striker about how he was both scoring more, but often taking up positions further away from goal.
The interview was soon on the BBC’s new football YouTube channel, and clipped up on Instagram. An accompanying analysis piece appeared, complete with tactics board graphics and heat maps.
The Kane interview is seen by insiders as a prime example of the strategy being pursued by Alex Kay-Jelski, the director of BBC Sport, a TV novice brought in from the written media world with a mandate to modernise the broadcaster’s sporting content.
However, the BBC’s decision this week to end sports bulletins on its news channel as part of the latest round of cuts has fuelled an internal divide about Kay-Jelski’s revolution - in particular, the shift away from television and the general interest viewer.
“Many staff at BBC Sport have grown up in the tradition of public service broadcasting,” said one BBC insider. “Many people now running BBC Sport haven’t. Maybe that’s good, maybe that’s bad. But it’s a fundamental divide.”
That divide has pitched BBC Sport into the centre of a wider debate about the purpose of the BBC. With its ex-Google director general, Matt Brittin, also wanting to shift the corporation divisively into the digital age, it has left some asking what it means for the dwindling but loyal TV watchers, who are often heavy BBC users.
In a BBC interview this weekend, Brittin will confirm that some channels and radio stations “may well” have to go, as audiences are increasingly “getting things on demand”.
It was Brittin’s predecessor, Tim Davie, that appointed Kay-Jelski, then just 40. Despite already serving as editor-in-chief of The Athletic, a digital outlet catering for dedicated sports fans, he was a surprise appointment in 2024.
His mandate was clear. With social media providing instant access to important action and results, bosses wanted more focus on the BBC Sport assets that were increasingly the main port of call for sports fans - its website and app.
Kay-Jelski spent his initial months recasting what he wanted from journalists. A focus on the art of making sports packages for a general audience shifted to competing with commercial rivals for scoops and analysis, particularly on football.
While 41 roles are going at BBC Sport in the latest cuts, five new jobs include an executive editor of digital video, a short-form video producer and two social media producers.
Shrinking budgets have also seen some traditional coverage of minority sports sacrificed, such as the Commonwealth Games, Ski Sunday, the boat race and the World Indoor Bowls.
With the BBC’s commercial and political detractors never far away, the shift has seen Kay-Jelski become a target. The Telegraph recently described him as a man with a “disdain for tradition”.
Inside BBC Sport, views are generally more nuanced. Few if any disagree that change is needed amid the media’s digital revolution. The disagreement is about the pace and prioritisation of Kay-Jelski’s approach.
Some are concerned about a concentration on Premier League football, reinforced by the online hits it generates. In a sign of those concerns, an internal Q&A sent to staff this week featured the question: “Are we sacrificing coverage of a breadth of sports to focus more on football?”
The BBC’s answer: “No. Football is however the most popular sport in the country … on TV we will continue to produce more hours of snooker than football, on radio we cover more than 20 different sports every year.”
Insiders have also expressed concern at the way Kay-Jelski has gone about his overhaul. Some describe him as “dismissive”, sending abrupt emails or limiting discussion. Others said this was subjective, stating Kay-Jelski had made unpopular but necessary decisions.
Nonetheless, a source familiar with the department said “the mood has been bleak”.
The notion of a “broadcast versus digital” tussle is disputed by supporters of Kay-Jelski, who point to the protection of flagship shows like Match of the Day.
Above it all poses a philosophical question about the purpose of the BBC. Documents handed to staff this week talked about championing “a model of live hits on the highest impact stories”. Staff fear that approach will continue to pull the BBC towards a commercial model built around football and what works online, leaving both minority sports and the older TV viewer behind.
Advocates of the approach dispute this, stating the BBC continues to bring a broad range of sport to the widest possible audience. But sincere concerns remain.
“BBC Sport is galloping towards an algorithm-dominated editorial policy at a quicker pace than other parts of the BBC,” said one insider.
“The rights and wrongs of this can be debated. But concern from staff should not be written off as simple laziness or recalcitrance. Far from it. If the algorithm is everything, then who does that exclude?”