Barbara Slater (sports producer)

Barbara Jane Slater OBE (10 May 1959) in Birmingham, England) was a sports producer and former gymnast. Slater became the BBC's first female Director of Sport in April 2009. Previous to this, she had been Head of Production and Head of General sports for a number of years.

Slater was born into a sporting family: her father, Bill, was a professional footballer who played for England, won the Footballer of the Year award in 1960, and won three Football League titles with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Her uncle, J J Warr, played for the England cricket team. Slater gained two degrees, at the universities of Birmingham and Oxford, before qualifying to be a PE teacher at Loughborough, one of the most prestigious sporting institutions in the country. Slater appeared in the gymnastics competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics, carrying the British flag at the opening ceremony, and eventually earned 20 caps as an international gymnast. As a gymnast, she finished runner-up in the British Championships in the same year as her appearance at the Olympics. In other sporting achievements, she reached national standard at diving and was a club-level squash player.

Slater was first employed by the BBC in 1983, when she became a trainee Assistant Producer. She had previous experience in the TV industry starring in the 1978 TV thriller show "Out of Bounds" before working for ATV Sport, a company run by her father's colleague Billy Wright. In 1984 she joined the BBC's sports division as an Assistant Producer. Slater worked her way up the corporation's hierarchy as a Producer, Senior Producer, and Executive Producer. She eventually became head of sports production, and helped produce programmes for events such as The Open and Masters golf, the Commonwealth Games, the Grand National, Ascot and the Derby. In 2009, it was announced that she would become director of sport, taking over from Roger Mosey, and becoming the first woman to hold the position. Mosey became the BBC Director of London 2012. Slater has overseen the department's relocation to Salford (BBC Sport is one of five departments that has been moved from London to Salford), as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London. She has also presided over events such as the 2010 World Cup and 2010 Winter Olympics. Barbara also, in 2013 won back the broadcasting rights of the FA Cup, in a major coup, ensuring live first-class football was available to licence fee payers. Speaking of her appointment, she said "I am thrilled to have this opportunity to lead BBC Sport at such an exciting and challenging time, that includes leading the division to its new home at the heart of BBC North and also ensuring BBC Sport plays its part in making the 2012 Games the success they deserve to be."

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