Joel Bulkley
Some nuts & bolts about the World Cup. Fox and FS1 (English),Telemundo and Universo (Spanish), will broadcast WC games in the U.S. There are 104 games; Fox has 69, FS1 35. They will be streamed on Fox One/Fox Sports App, Peacock, Fubo, YouTube TV, Sling, Hulu and others.
Globally, FIFA.com and FIFA’s YouTube channel are key, with specific broadcasters like Canada’s TSN or the UK’s BBC/ITV holding rights in other regions.
Some additions to the Fox broadcast crew: former French star Thierry Henry will be an analyst and NBC studio EPL host Rebecca Lowe will be a WC host.
Good stuff I’ve seen—an NBC tribute to player/coach/ broadcaster John Madden at halftime on Thanksgiving; various tributes to Willis Whichard of Durham, a former UNC alumni leader, conservationist, legislator, judge credited with helping get the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) passed in Raleigh to oversee coastal construction; a WRAL TV report on the impact of fall Nor’easters on the OBX. The loss of beach sand and coastline in volume was equivalent to 800 dump trucks over five weeks.
Basketball winning percentages at UNC—Dean Smith. Strange stuff. Panthers ranked #25 on the NFLPA report card. Miami was first. The NFL filed a grievance against the players’ association about the survey rating how teams treat players, families, etc.
UNC and Duke played basketball on Thanksgiving Day.
North Carolina had 5.49M viewers on Fox, peaking at 13.4M between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. following the Green Day/ Detroit NFL game. UNC lost to Michigan State in Florida.
Duke had 6.81M viewers on CBS, the most watched hoops game since Purdue/Indiana in 1993, following the Dallas/ Kansas City NFL game. Duke beat Arkansas in Chicago.The football game drew 57M.
The previous top-rated college game (Michigan State/ Arizona, 5.18M) followed the NFL Turkey Day game on Fox two years ago. Last season UNC/Duke games were two of the top five.