In London, Thom Gibbs wrote TV host James Corden is “well-regarded enough” in the U.S. to front Fox’s “After Hours with James Corden” for the duration of the World Cup. This is Corden’s second go at a “topical football show” after “World Cup Live” on ITV. Some of Corden’s jokes are “more telegraphed than this website.” Occasionally fans wonder if “his British football culture is compatible with American sensibilities.” The casual interviews with megastars are “enough to elevate the entire enterprise and nearly enough to overlook some of Corden’s quirks” (London TELEGRAPH, 6/25).
BOYCOTT SERVICES: In N.Y., Richard Paddock note five years after the Myanmar military seized power in a coup, an informal boycott of official broadcasts of the World Cup has spread across the country. FIFA has “provoked widespread anger in the beleaguered nation” by awarding World Cup broadcast rights to a telecom company partly owned by Myanmar’s military. FIFA selected the company, Mytel, even though the U.S. placed the firm under sanctions last year for “abusing human rights.” Fans avoid Mytel by “using their phones and outlawed VPNs to access matches on streaming apps or overseas broadcasts” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/26).
