Former 5 Live sports presenters including Mark Pougatch and John Inverdale have teamed up for a new podcast series looking at the emotions of sport and sports broadcasting.
Marcus Buckland, Sonja McLaughlan and Jonathan Overend complete the line-up of freelance presenters involved with Sport and the Feels, which has a sponsorship deal with Aldi UK.
McLaughlan still covers rugby union for the BBC, while Buckland is Amazon Prime’s tennis presenter. Overend is the former BBC tennis correspondent and a regular presenter on 5 Live Sport over many years.
Pougatch announced earlier this year he had been told his services were no longer required at 5 Live, while Inverdale departed last year.
The first 16-episode series focuses on the Olympic Games and went live this week. The first episode covers London 2012 with Pougatch and Overend talking to Clare Balding. Future episodes will feature Olympians as well as commentators Ian Darke and Barry Davies.
Jonathan Overend, who left the BBC staff last month after 26 years at the corporation, has driven the project through his new production company NinetyFour19 Ltd. He told RadioToday: “We’re going to be a one-stop shop for audio presentation and production, including custom music, sound design and voice overs. And with an immediate track record on the commercial side, attracting a sponsorship deal for our first podcast series from a major UK supermarket, we’re confident we can deliver ambitious projects with fast turnaround, big names and commercial potential.”
He’s looking forward to one episode of the first series in particular. “It’s a bit leftfield,” he said. “But we really wanted to dive deep into the 2012 Opening Ceremony, possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. So we’ve got the actual Live Director coming on; not Danny Boyle – he was the visionary – but a man called Hamish Hamilton who, as well as being the go-to-guy for Superbowl halftime shows, directed the London ceremony as it happened for a global audience. It’s going to be fascinating.”
Talks are already underway for a second series later this summer under the Sport and the Feels brand. Jonathan added: “We believe in the brand as a marker for deep, intelligent sports audio content. For the most part, we’re leaving stats and data on the laptops. We’re into human eyes and ears; depth of experience, insight and front-row storytelling.”
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