Final Score: The Sports Chosen for Broadcast on the BBC’s Grandstand

Abstract

Television has been a dominant force in the history and development of sport media.1 Coverage of sport has been central in helping to define what television is.2 Many conventions in television sport were established by the BBC through its magazine programme, Grandstand, which ran from 1958 to 2007.3 Critics and sporting figures have periodically called for the BBC to revive it, especially amid concern some Olympic sports struggle for exposure outside the Games. This article develops new insights into the history and legacy of this landmark programme. It establishes for the first time which sports were broadcast on Grandstand and how those selections varied over time, as well as how those changes can help illustrate the economic, cultural and technical factors which influenced the development of television sport and informed those editorial contexts.