Working with Michael Owen & the future of sport documentaries

Difficulties in the market mean that built-in audiences are becoming a key factor in getting shows made, according to Whisper’s head of documentaries Drew Masters. 

Masters was speaking to the Broadcast Sport Podcast ahead of the release of Meet The Owens, a new docuseries from the production company for Prime Video. It follows the former Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid footballer and his family as they now run their horse racing business and juggle it with home life, and is available on the streaming platform from 28 August. 

You can listen to the full podcast below, where Masters and series director Chris Wallwork also discussed how the show came about and was made, the future of sport documentaries at a time when behind-the-scenes content is easier to access than ever, and more. 

Masters said, “I think the market, no doubt, is more risk averse than it was. That’s probably a product of both consumer behaviour, but also buyer behaviour. There was a moment in time in that boom where the all of the streaming platforms were in growth mode, and I think that has become a bit more of a reconciliation phase now in the market and consolidation, sorry.”

He added, “That means sometimes the bar is higher from a story sense, but also that anything around it that means that it’s less risky and there might be a built-in audience helps.”

Wallwork admitted that viewership is part of the process at all times, including when filming. He said, “You do think about viewership when you’re making something. You are thinking, ‘OK, how can we appeal to the most people possible, whilst not deterring your core audience?’

“That’s something we had in the back of our minds a lot with this series. We know football fans will come for Michael Owen, we know horse racing fans will come from the horse racing aspect, and we know that Gemma [Owen] has an absolutely enormous following amongst younger women especially but also younger people in general.”

However, Wallwork added, “But really, story comes first. If we thought, ‘It ticks that box, that box and that box, but the story is a bit weak,’ we just wouldn’t make it because it has to be good. We have to believe in what we’re making and to think that viewers won’t just come to watch it, they’ll love it.”

You can listen to the rest of the conversation, as well as all other episodes of the Broadcast Sport Podcast, below.