Today, TV channels provide men's sport shows more than women's sport shows. Why? Should TV channels give equal time for women's sport and men's sport?

Television channels today regularly devote more air time to men’s sporting events over women’s. In this essay, I will argue that viewership is the key driver for this trend, and secondly offer some solutions to address the issue. The main consideration of television channels and studio executives to prioritise men’s sports is viewership, as more views mean more advertising revenue. This is understandable since television channels need to decide on how best to utilise the amount of time they have in order to secure the highest ratings, and the reality is that men’s sports tend to be more popular than women’s sports. The men’s World Cup Finals, for example, had viewership in the billions, whilst this number was much lower for the women’s. Since TV channels’ main purpose is to make money, it is not difficult to see why they would prefer to showcase men’s sports over women’s. However, there is the consideration that giving women sports more publicity can help to alter public perception over time. If something gets a huge amount of newspaper, radio, and television coverage for decades, it is unsurprising that it would eventually become popular. Therefore, what may help make the world of sports coverage less divided would be to report more on women’s sports and to increase its air time. The overwhelming popularity of women’s football in the United States, for example, provides a stunning testament to the ability of the media to be able to thrust women’s sports into the limelight. Applying this method to other sports might mean they can become popular as well. In conclusion, I argue that the reason why men’s sports have been given more coverage than women’s is due to ratings playing a fundamental role in how media companies operate. Nonetheless, by shifting the attention to female sports, the media can make them as successful as men’s sports in the long run.