Broadcast Analysis (Essay Sample)

Broadcast Analysis
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Part 1
The sporting event selected for analysis for purposes of this assignment is Super Bowl games, which have repeatedly been ranked amongst the viewed television broadcast in the U.S. Super Bowl games are played to determine the champion of the National Champion League (NFL). According to Nielsen, in 2015, Super Bowl XLIX set a new viewership record of 114.4 million, surpassing the previous year’s records. Broadcasting the game not only attracts millions of viewers, but also diverse spectators regardless of age, gender, and background. For instance, statistics show that women represent 40 percent of Super Bowl viewers. Per se, showcasing a commercial during the Super Bowl games is treasured for advertisers in need of audience for their goods and services. The game broadcaster is presently determined by the television contracts negotiated by the NFL and broadcasters approximately after four to eight years. The rights to broadcast Super Bowl are rotated annually between NBC, Fox, and CBS, with NBC being the current broadcaster. NBC is an American profit-making broadcasting television and radio network. It is one of the leading properties of NBC universal, which is a subordinate of Comcast. NBC’s headquarters are located in Comcast building at Rockefeller Center, New York City, although there are other major offices located close to Los Angeles, and Chicago at Universal City Plaza and NBC tower respectively. 51 percent stake of NBC is owned by Comcast while the remaining 49 percent is owned by General Electric. However, there is no any known link between the ownership of NBC to the teams competing in the Super Bowl games.
Part 2
Just like most of the entertainment on media, Super Bowl games aired on television is followed through conventions of narrative drama. The sporting event on TV is a narrative because the game has as a pre-game, a post-game and a halftime show. Nevertheless, television is able to intensify the dramatic tension between the teams in several ways. For instance, in a Super Bowl game, the broadcasting television does not simply air events, but rather turns them into stories to make the events real and lively for the audience. Television sporting event can evidently be seen in terms of melodramatic exhibition and evaluated as a form of narrative construction. During the events, broadcasters use narrative intentionally to engage the audience to increase the dramatic effect of the sport. The engrained power of narrative to attract and keep audience interested is analogous to telling stories and is crucial element in all forms of life. As such, airing sporting event on television simply applies this strategy in an intensified and useful manner. The narrative of the Super Bowl game is both spatial and chronological.
There are on-screen, audio and visual narration aids combining to create and report the account of events as they unfold. The resultant narrative is dependent of the sequence of the game. The series of events of the match and the telecast is restricted by the temporality of the game. The narration for the match broadcast is therefore a continuous flow. The broadcasters will report the events occurring during the match but on a break, for example half time break, they will engage the audience on interviews and commentaries. The same scenario happens during post match analysis. Commentary of a Super Bowl game that is aired live on TV is a bit complicated. Besides reporting the unfolding events on the pitch, the commentators also relate the match with broader events and place them within the relevant context. The television commentary is different from radio or newspaper commentary because of the visual disposal of images as well as the fixed duration of the match. The speed of the match can never be accustomed to the live broadcast since it happens in front of the audience. The conversation of the reporters merged in framing and creating the live event. The reporters are obliged to converse through the events live as they occur and evaluate these actions.
Part 3
The medium event incorporates the game and the occurrences on the stadium and assimilates them with commentary, interviews, and graphics. The audience receives not only live images of the event through the media but also the sounds, graphics and commentaries made to show a coherent analysis, evaluation and examination of the recounting events. The visual feature of the television show functions as a sign system to elaborate certain verbal codes. Covering Super Bowl sporting event requires modern state technology to give the audience an exclusive experience. For instance, when NBC was offered a contract of airing Super Bowl XLIX, they employed a new production trucks, hi...