by Ethan Johnson
June 15, 2006

Apparently, I need to update my eyeglass prescription. I swear that the TV listings only showed Univision showing the World Cup games, with networks like ESPN literally devoting 20 minutes of "roundup" coverage. Perhaps my Tivo guide didn't update with the latest information. But indeed, the US sports media IS covering the World Cup, and even airing games. But it's not all soccer, all the time here in the US, lest anyone get the wrong impression.

The local newsradio station apparently won't acknowledge that there is a World Cup going on right now. I am waiting to hear if they will only mention it because the US played, or if that will be a non-event as well. Our local newsradio is the PITS, by the way, but that's a story for another time.

Univision holds the title locally for being all about the World Cup. Not only are they showing every game in its entirety, but their "Wake Up America" show set is decked out with soccer ball balloons (and a soccer ball centerpiece - a shallow glass bowl filled with mini soccer balls), and the hosts clown around with their "man on the street" reporter in Germany (Fernando). It's fun to watch the passers-by in the background who have no idea who the guy is or what network he works for. And then wondering why he is pretending to poke himself in the eye with the camera lens. I dunno either, you'll have to watch the show if it is available in your area. The morning show featured a chef touting his "Tapas Mundialistas". Unfortunately they didn't give any on-air recipes, so I'm not quite sure what I was looking at. The hosts were enjoying the food, at any rate. I just liked the name, regardless of what it was. Action food, standing at the ready! (By the way, I scoured the Univision sites and there doesn't seem to be an online recipe for the featured Tapas either. No me gusta! But they do have an extensive catalog of Latin recipes. Me gusta!)

I recorded one of ESPN's "roundup" shows to see how they are doing with their coverage. Very well done, in that ABC-ish "here is a story about the player whose dog died and is dedicating this season to his sick mother" kind of way. Once they got past that gauzy stuff the studio crowd gave good analysis and much-needed context. I trust that Univision is doing this too, but unfortunately I am only picking a word here and there out of the ethers being that I don't speak Spanish. Without this context, casual observers have no idea why the crowd is going bonkers over what appears to be nothing. Certain expectations are set by the fans and the media, and if the crowd gets or doesn't get what they want, they respond uh, passionately.

One observation I have been making about cross-cultural commercialization is that whatever biases one might have for or against someone else tends to evaporate if it means cashing in. The US sports media may indeed have wanted to ignore the World Cup, but then the ratings reports came back showing that Univision was raking in the viewers by the truckload. Doh! The next USA match is going to be on ABC. The media may not like the World Cup, but they do like ratings, and advertising dollars. When the World Cup came to Chicago in 1994, the local sports radio station spent weeks bitching about it. They griped about the wear and tear on Soldier Field. Smarter people would have decked out their set with soccer ball balloons and said, "the lines are open if you want to talk about Sweden." And sent the ratings report straight to the ad sales desk.

I was only going to record one match today (England/Trinidad + Tobago) on Univision, but now I am recording Sweden/Paraguay on ESPN. It will be interesting to compare the coverage styles. <EM>