SPORT: “We want to be at the heart of those emotions, delivering incredible entertainment that people can touch and feel."

Now producing a range of host broadcasts, live sport and highlight and magazine shows, Whisper works with a multitude of top end sports including Wimbledon, RLWC, Formula One, NFL, The Women’s EURO, The Paralympics, England Cricket, New Zealand Cricket, Women’s Rugby, West Indies Cricket and much, much more… This year it won a BAFTA for it's coverage of the Women's EURO with BBC Sport.  

We caught up with Head of Production Anne Somerset and Head of Sport Pete Thomas, to find out more about the team...

 What’s your role at Whisper?

Anne: I’m one of the Heads of Production at Whisper, working across Sport. 

Pete: I’m Head of Sport, which includes live and non-live production and involvement across a number of teams, which offers a great deal of variety.

 What's been a highlight for you over the last 12 months?  

Anne: Producing the Broadcast and BAFTA award-winning 2022 Women’s EURO coverage for BBC, including coverage of the incredible England team winning the final. It was a fantastic and historical moment to be part of and felt like a real transformative moment in women’s sport.

Pete: It is hard to pick out individual highlights from a busy year, but the big events often stand out: producing the BBC’s coverage of the victorious Lionesses at the Women’s Euros was historic and clearly captured the nation; delivering our first heavyweight world title fight, AJ v Usyk II, was an amazing achievement and a huge single event, and bringing the Rugby League World Cup to audiences around the world was a huge undertaking. We delivered 45 games across four weeks, the wheelchair final in particular stands out as a special piece of coverage.

How and why does Whisper excel in Sports Broadcasting?  

Pete: We have an amazingly talented team and I like to think there is a culture to pursue excellence, to be innovative and original. We try very hard to foster a team spirit, which is vital around big events when schedules can be demanding and there can be unexpected challenges. A diverse and mixed team also creates diversity of ideas and allows us to be brave and original in our creative content. There is a desire to not stand still and to always move the coverage forward.

Anne: Whisper knows how to deliver Sport as Entertainment and how to tell incredible stories. Sport is the best entertainment in the world! Whisper has always championed women’s sport and disability sport in particular, and its passion for continuing to push the boundaries in broadcast coverage is what really shines through.

Big live sporting moments bring audiences together and at Whisper we want to be at the heart of those emotions, sharing them with the audience and delivering incredible entertainment that people can touch and feel. 

Whisper is also able to link with huge Hollywood stars, recently we have worked with Tom Cruise, Natalie Portman, Ryan Reynolds and Tom Holland, which always adds some extra stardust to the coverage.

What’s coming up on the horizon for your team? 

Anne: We are planning for the Paris 2024 Paralympics, working with Wimbledon for the first time this year in July, as well as some of the highlights of the F1 calendar, including producing the live British Grand Prix from Silverstone for Channel 4.

Pete: The Championships, Wimbledon 2023 and the Paris Paralympics are two major headlines for us across the next eighteen months. Wimbledon will be a new and exciting challenge at one of the world’s most famous and prestigious sporting events, whilst continuing our relationship with Channel 4, delivering their Paralympic programming at Paris 2024 is incredibly exciting, a chance to deliver this content outside of the Covid pandemic and at a Games that is close to home and in a friendly timezone for UK audiences.

What was your route to Whisper? 

Pete: I started out at ITV Sport and was very fortunate to work at many of the biggest events on the sporting calendar. I took a detour into entertainment with The Last Leg for Channel 4, which originated at the London 2012 Paralympics with Sunset + Vine, for whom I also worked on the launch of BT Sport. I then worked at Noah Media Group and was very lucky to learn a great deal about short form creative content and long form documentary with the very talented team at Noah. 

Anne: I worked at BBC Sport (with Sunil - Whisper co-founder and CEO) in my pre-Whisper life, production managing F1, Euro 2012, as well as working on athletics, tennis, golf, rugby and more! I joined Whisper when we were just five people and have been part of the huge growth, ambition and journey ever since. 

What Partners do you work with? 

Anne: I work with most of the major UK broadcasters, particularly Channel 4, Channel 5 and the BBC. As well as governing bodies, such as UEFA, The FA and Bellator, event organisers like RideLondon and in recent years some of the newest sporting start-ups such as SailGP and W Series. We have an amazing list of clients and Partners who we are very fortunate to work with. To

How would you describe Whisper? 

Anne: Unique, passionate and fun. 

Pete: Whisper is an incredibly energetic and exciting place to work. I think it’s testament to what can be achieved when you recognise the need for creative freedom, for diverse ideas and to empower and encourage talented young people to make an impact with their content. And to commit passionately to those beliefs.