"May the gods bless Univision...well, almost..."
I've long had an issue with cable TV. Actually two issues. First, there's so much crap on cable TV that directly contravenes everything I'm trying to do as a knowledge-worker that I really don't want to support it. The History Channel, of course, is enemy #1 for continually broadcasting anti-science (worse than pseudoscience) so intensively that it's often impossible to have a reasonable conversation with someone on the street about archaeology. Typically I end up spending a few minutes kindly explaining that, while I wouldn't rule out the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, there is no evidence at all that extra-terrestrials had anything to do with any of the amazing archaeological sites that raise the profile of archaeology. I think that's a pretty accommodating and appropriately open attitude to have. Unfortunately, it also means that I spend a few minutes undoing the bad work of the History Channel and never get to talking about basic things like some surprising similarities and differences between our own and prehistoric societies.
Secondly, I cable is expensive. With my meager budget, cable is not a monthly expense that I want to take on. So, I make do with broadcast TV and whatever I can find through online on-demand subscriptions. Frankly, I tend to watch only PBS News and Masterpiece Theatre. That's plenty. Plenty to make me a real snob, probably, too.
But it also means that I'm completely unable to watch hockey, soccer, many American football games, rugby, cycling, and many other sporting events that are incredibly important to a lot of the rest of the world.
For example, today is the first semi-final World Cup match being contested between Brazil and Germany. I checked my local TV listing and it's not on broadcast. This is one of the most watched sporting events on the planet. And it's not on broadcast. That's to say, it's not on English language broadcast TV. The other FIFA affiliate is broadcasting Katie and Eyewitness News while Germany perpetrates what will be one of the most memorable soccer games ever by 5PM tonight. No one will remember either of those daytime programs on the English language station.
So, while the gringo networks snooze along mid-afternoon, Univision is broadcasting - free of additional charge - the semifinal. Now, I'm not offering a full-on and unconditional applause for Univision. Like many media outlets, it certainly has its issues; not least among them is the role of women on television and machismo, more generally.
However, what it is certainly doing is providing a consistent and dependable opportunity for virtually the entire world - certainly the entire Spanish-speaking world - to contemporaneously experience a major world sporting event. For example, when I travel to Peru next week, I feel confident that I'll be able to discuss with my Peruvian friends how Univision's comentaristas declared this game Brazil's worse loss since the 1920s. That is, only 30 minutes into the game, with at least 60 yet to play. At 34 minutes in, was this game a fait accompli? Maybe so. More important is that the rest of the Spanish-speaking world and I will now have a common point of reference for an interesting debate.
Univision's foresight to broadcast (or is it that they would never consider not broadcasting?) the World Cup is an example of the production of a global public. Literally, an enormous segment of the world population tunes into Spanish-language television because it's the most dependable and economic means to tune in. Myself included because - among other things - cable is expensive.
Rather than sincerely thanking Univision, what I might do instead is to highlight the pleasure of participating in a 'culture' beyond the one in which I was raised. All critiques of media-consumption-as-participation aside, it's pretty great to be able to watch the World Cup at home (and not by paying table-rent at a bar) and to do so knowing that much of the world is following the same video feed.
PS: A note on the actual contest between Brazil and Germany. This game highlights for me the power of teamwork. Four of five goals by Germany were scored because a potential shooter passed the ball. Each time, Brazil's players converged on the attackman, thereby leaving open one or more players slightly behind. In each of those cases, the likely shooter passed back to a less-likely shooter who shot and scored. I don't know if this is unique to World Cup soccer. It may be a reasonable strategy to assume that players from diverse club teams will shoot rather than pass because they're not accustomed to assisting their fellow national team players. Alternatively, it may be that Germany has absolutely focused on fundamentals that the Brazilians had entirely underestimated.
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