TV Commissioner: Pete Andrews on how to pitch an idea for a sports programme to Channel 4

Channel 4’s head of sport, Pete Andrews, gives him tips on how to pitch TV ideas to him. He explains the importance of a “single top-line” over email and why it’s important to run it past your mum. He talks about the role of the director of programmes and the scheduling department in the commissioning process. Listen in if you want to know his email address. Pete also tells about how he got into TV and why the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final made him more nervous than he has ever been in his life. He was speaking on 4 May 2020 at a Lunch with a Commissioner event hosted by Gilly Cohen, ScreenSkills Indie Training Fund director of learning and development. Pete joined Channel 4 as head of sport in March 2019 and was part of the team who negotiated the ground-breaking live simulcast of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final with Sky Sports. He also negotiated the renewal of the Formula 1 partnership with Sky F1 later the same year. Pete’s experience as an outside broadcast sports director has seen him direct over 200 Premier league football matches, five Wimbledon finals and the Olympic Rowing at Rio 2016. This event was supported by the ScreenSkills Television Skills Fund which invests in training for the freelance television workforce thanks to contributions from the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5. It is part of a ScreenSkills programme managed by the Indie Training Fund to support freelancers to upskill and stay connected during the coronavirus crisis.