Never Mind Sports Television, Now Sports IS Television

Posted by Jonathan in TELEVISION on 08-05-10    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
If you’re desperate for the full-frontal face blast of sports in the otherwise digital Fall of the House of Usher that is the modern content business, just jet over to Heineken-land in a couple of weeks.
Amsterdam will play host to the IBC 2010, the nominally European trade show for the TV business. And if early reports are any indication, sports broadcasting is not only a story there, it is the story there.
There was a time, back in the age of Mad Men, when America ruled the broadcasting seas. As hard as it is to imagine, at one point we created TVs and TV shows. We even had a trade show to prove it, run by the National Association of Broadcasters. This was where the TV of the tomorrow went for its dress rehearsals. Of course the NAB Show is on life support these days. And that really stands to reason. How much innovation do you really need in a TV world of Slap Chop and Matthew Lesko commercials and that abomination known as Jersey Shore?
So the IBC show has become the major event for TV techies, and this year sports is clearly king. An entire day is devoted to sports technologies, and from keynotes to awards, sports innovation is ruling the TV roost.
The IBC is going to honor Manolo Romero, who basically invented the modern TV Olympics with Roone Arledge back in Mexico City in 1968. And the short list for the IBC’s innovation award for content creation has three finalists: ESPN for its 3D content, NBC Sports for its “consistent loudness” during broadcasts of the Winter Olympics, and the organizers of the Red Bull Airplane race for “signal distribution.”
Now, let’s think about what that means. Basically, the combined techno efforts of literally thousands of TV broadcasters pumping out content 24/7 around the globe could do nothing more interesting technologically speaking than 3D graphics and better sound. Oh, and someone also figured out how to broadcast an airplane race staged over 25 square miles. Wow!
What is even more remarkable, is that sports are almost certain to widen their lead technologically over the rest of the media business. So many other segments of the business, like daytime and prime time, seem to be literally melting before our eyes, and that leaves sports as the only place in TV that has the resources to innovate. By this time next year, sports will look better, and the rest of the TV world will look even worse.

Like this post? You may also like these:

  1. MIT Gives Sports Geeks Their Due: Biz School To Throw Sports Analytics Confab
  2. Episode 16 – 12/9/2009
  3. Drag Racing Comes To Vegas
  4. Forget All This CES Nonsense: It’s Snowmobile Racin’ Time.
  5. Be Your Own Bode: Meet Randonee Racing


Leave a Comment