International Sports Commentary Frame and Entertainment: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Commentary Differences in World Series Broadcasts

Abstract

Numerous studies examining the portrayals of gender, race, and nationality in sports commentary have been conducted through the years; however, comparative analyses of commentaries from different countries have been rare. This study examined commentary from 3 different countries (the U.S., Chinese Taipei, and South Korea) during a Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series. An entertainment theory schema was adopted and the 3 countries were categorized based on dispositional relativity (affiliation) with MLB. Findings indicate that South Korean broadcasts, which had the lowest affiliation with MLB, were biased toward the Boston Red Sox and presented the most evaluative commentaries; U.S. commentaries were generally positive and contained the largest portion of informative comments; and Chinese commentaries were unbiased and also provided a large number of informative comments. This implies that sports games using the same visual images can be framed differently by commentators based on the disposition (affiliation) level of audiences.

Cheering for ‘our’ champs by watching ‘sexy’ female throwers: Representation of nationality and gender in Slovenian 2008 Summer Olympic television coverage

“…Slovenian sportscasters devote a substantial amount of their on-air dialogue to evaluative commentary. The 44% share of interpretive dialogue found in this research exceeds the amount of interpretation found in previous studies conducted on team sports in Asian and North American cultures (Bryant et al, 1977; Woo et al, 2010). The topics discussed by the announcers depend on the gender and the nationality of the athletes.…”

“…In the overall composition of the comments, factual and background descriptors represented 53% of the total commentary. This is less than the share recorded in team sports telecasts in other cultures, which ranged between 59 and 73% Woo et al, 2010). Evaluative commentary comprised 44% of the Slovenian commentary.…”

“…The extent of such subjective commentary, defined as dramatic or evaluative commentary that differs from factual description of play, fluctuates between 27 and 41% in different cultures Woo et al, 2010). Events that feature individuals or teams representing a nation attract many viewers that might otherwise be oblivious to (mediated) sports: the participation of athletes designated as their representatives make them stakeholders.…”

“…In television broadcasts of sports events, announcers provide the spectators with more than a restatement of what they just saw: they embellish the drama and actively shape the viewers’ perceptions of the action (Comisky et al, 1977). The extent of such subjective commentary, defined as dramatic or evaluative commentary that differs from factual description of play, fluctuates between 27 and 41% in different cultures (Bryant et al, 1977; Woo et al, 2010). Events that feature individuals or teams representing a nation attract many viewers that might otherwise be oblivious to (mediated) sports: the participation of athletes designated as their representatives make them stakeholders.…”

A cross-cultural study of purchase intention of sponsored products based on American and Korean spectators of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

“…Of those, many have focussed on sport media coverage. For instance, Woo et al (2010) conducted a study to examine three countries' television broadcast commentaries of the Major League Baseball World Series. The study found that different frames were used to describe the same visual image.…”