Cantonese TV coverage of Olympics is yet another display of ill-informed, nauseating amateurism
Philip Yeung says TVB’s excruciating bid to ‘carnivalise’ its broadcasts reflects how, in money-mad Hong Kong, sport is only an afterthought
As an Olympic Games couch potato, I am bitterly disappointed, once again, with Hong Kong’s Cantonese TV coverage. In a word, it is an annoyance. While we talk grandiosely about being part of the Olympic movement, the truth is that when it comes to sports, this city has a long way to go, journalistically at least, if not athletically.
Every four years, we are treated to another 16-days’ worth of nauseating amateurism in Games coverage, filled with non-stop chatter from people who know little about the events, and care even less to do their homework on the athletes, rules, significant statistics or the history of the Games.
Instead, they choose to “carnivalise” the coverage, giving viewers prizes for daily Olympic quiz questions, aided and abetted by an outsized panel of eight talking heads, each vying for air time.
Live and for free: Hong Kong fans can watch blanket Olympics coverage on mobile device
Let’s face it, there is no Olympic fever in this city, however hard they pretend otherwise. I squirm at the jibber-jabber night after night. I know I am not alone in frequently muting the babbling commentators, preferring often just to watch the pictures without the sound. That’s how painful it gets.
For all the money it has poured into winning exclusive broadcasting rights for the Games, TVB has never gone beyond giving us “pretty faces in loud outfits”. I apologise for this uncharitable characterisation, but TVB, as the sole distributor for these broadcasts, has much to apologise for as well.
