Dylan T Mellor

I chose this article as i have an interest in sport and the television industry.

This article was written by Jason Mazzochi and it discusses the appeals of sport for an audience, the benefits of showing sport for the industry and also a prediction for the future of sports on TV.

The article initially states some statistics about the viewing figures of big sporting events such as the England v Paraguay game, and then gives examples of other big sporting events shown on tv such as the tennis tournament 'Wimbledon'. 'World Cup 2006: England v Paraguay 12million viewers"

We watch football on TV as a substitute for not being at the game itself, just because we are not physical attending does not mean we do not want to see the game, we demand the product so the industry supplies it. 'The word television means from afar brings the far away live event closer to a mass audience'.

A pleasure of watching sport is that it can be a shared experience, audiences together can watch the build up and anticipate the event together before finally settling down to watch it. An example would be the 2005 ashes win for the England cricket team. As a nation we can sit down collectively and enjoy it together, this is described as a 'structure of feeling' 'that is a shared communal and national experience of sport , this celebrates and unifies a national culture'

The commercial aspect of sport is already affecting the consumers, a financially strong company such as sky can buy the right to coverage sporting events which for some viewers without these premium channels means they will not be able to join in in the the shared experience of these events.

'our sporting nation now has to pay for the privilege to watch a national sporting event on TV' Theorist Noam