BLOOMBERG NEWS’ Serafim, Frontini, & Saturnino reports Brazil’s CazéTV has “attracted blue-chip sponsors and even viewers abroad hunting for VPN workarounds” during the World Cup, since it is the “only YouTube channel in the world where fans can watch all 104 matches for free.” It is “breaking YouTube audience records.” Its on-air crew has also “delivered a running commentary on odds and wagers during the World Cup, igniting a controversy that’s culminating in new government restrictions on advertising to be introduced Friday.” The controversy over gambling “threatens to overshadow what was supposed to be the 4-year-old channel’s big moment” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/10).
ALTERNATIVE: The AP’s Reynolds & Lamy noted a “sizable number of English-speaking people in the U.S.” are watching World Cup matches in Spanish on Telemundo, even though they have “little idea -- or in some cases, no idea -- what the announcers are saying.” Census figures show that about 20% of the U.S. is Hispanic, yet Telemundo points to Nielsen ratings to “show that roughly half the World Cup viewers in the U.S. have watched at least some portion of some matches in Spanish.” Among the reasons commonly cited by viewers are: A “fascination with famed broadcaster Andrés Cantor’s ‘¡goooooool!’ call.” Telemundo does not cut away for commercials during the “much-maligned” hydration breaks. Some find the broadcasts “more entertaining.” And in other cases, it is a “cost-based decision: Peacock, which includes Telemundo, is lower-priced than Fox One” (AP, 7/10).
