Page 74 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

Televised Sport • 63

British television. Buscombe (1975b), Ryall (1975), Barr (1975), MacArthur (1975)
and Tudor (1975) each took aspects of the televising of the 1974 FIFA World Cup,
from scene-setting in listings magazines to analysis of cultural and televisual codes
in the title sequences, the make-up of the expert panels and an international compari-
son of televisual styles. This analysis is useful both as a point of reference to inform
the contemporary analysis of televised football and to compare how the televising of
football has changed over time. In 1975, women’s football was not shown on British
television. Despite its long-standing popularity in other countries (e.g. the United
States), the ingrained associations of football with masculinity in the United King-
dom have resulted in low visibility for the women’s game. More recently, however,
television coverage has increased, and during the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup,
women’s football matches were regularly shown on BBC TV (albeit mostly on its
second, specialist-interest terrestrial channel, BBC 2). This case study will consider
the televising of international men’s and women’s football matches on British tele-
vision to highlight the similarities and differences in the conventions of televising
football from the 1970s to the present day.

Case Study: Men’s and Women’s Football on British Television

Following the approach taken by Buscombe and his colleagues in 1975, this case
study focuses on unpacking the techniques used in title sequences, live action and
half-time studio discussions of two games, England versus Russia (men) and En-
gland versus Japan (women). Attention was paid to the full extent of the simultane-

ous signification within the five channels of communication identified previously by
recording activity relating to graphics, image, voice, sound effects and music.
Title Sequences

Buscombe (1975b) observed an abundance of colour and graphics in title sequences,

including the plentiful use of national signifiers such as a tartan motif for Scotland. For
Buscombe, the use of nonnaturalistic colour in the titles drew attention to the over-
whelming naturalistic conventions of colour use in the broadcast of live action, where
the sky is shown to be blue and the grass is shown to be green. The title sequence for
England versus Russia played on this contrast. The programme was announced as ‘a
game we can’t afford to lose’ and a ‘crucial Match of the Day Live’, indicating that
partisan support on the part of the BBC has now become acceptable, a change from
the corporation’s early years (Whannel 1992). Following this dramatic build-up, the
titles opened with shots of a gleaming Wembley Arch (the architectural signifier of the

new Wembley Stadium in West London) to an almost silent soundtrack. Aerial shots of
Wembley accompanied quiet crowd noise, which became louder as football fans were

shown milling outside the stadium, and a muffled ‘England’ chant could be discerned.