Olympic viewership and nationalism; Or hegemonic apathy?
US TV ratings of the opening night ceremony of the Winter Olympics declined 50 percent from the 2002 ratings, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
12.8 percent of US households with TVs watched Saturday, compared with 25.5 percent in 2002 and 17.1 percent in 1998. Why the overall decline?
Part of the shift since 1998 - I'm guessing - is related to the location of the games. Americans have more interest in games located in the states - such as the 2002 games in Salt Lake City. (1998 was in Nagano, Japan.)
Then why the net decline of five points since 1998? Some factors could include increased media diversification, such as more channels, Internet, etc. That's all I can think of, except:
A decline in nationalism?
I have seen no data to suggest this. Certainly studies of the rates and degrees which Americans identify themselves as Americans have been done. I don't have them in front of me.
But could that be a part? One must consider that the Cold War has ended (no more Red hockey teams to upset), Europe is supposedly melding, and a war against terrorism has us focused inward. War - it has traditionally been something to inspire nationalism, but since we're not fighting a country or alliance of countries, perhaps folks think about them less.
Attribute it to globalization. Even though it's odd that as the world becomes more interconnected, a series of games involving the entire world draws less interest. But what I'm suggesting is perhaps it's because of the way the games are framed: country vs. country.
I do not, I should say, believe we're heading toward world government next year; that countries no longer matter. Not at all. How folks identify themselves, however, and how they view the world, is shifting. I do think this is a factor in the viewership of the Olympics - perhaps abroad as much as here.
As far as abroad, though, maybe non-Americans are watching the games more than before; Maybe it's just selfish Americans caring less about the world. I'd be interested in seeing ratings from other countries.
Perhaps it's simply hegemonic apathy.
A decline in US concern about other countries?
Then again, maybe everyone was just tuned into "Arrested Development" instead of the opening ceremony. I know I was. But it didn't do so well in the ratings, either.
12.8 percent of US households with TVs watched Saturday, compared with 25.5 percent in 2002 and 17.1 percent in 1998. Why the overall decline?
Part of the shift since 1998 - I'm guessing - is related to the location of the games. Americans have more interest in games located in the states - such as the 2002 games in Salt Lake City. (1998 was in Nagano, Japan.)
Then why the net decline of five points since 1998? Some factors could include increased media diversification, such as more channels, Internet, etc. That's all I can think of, except:
A decline in nationalism?
I have seen no data to suggest this. Certainly studies of the rates and degrees which Americans identify themselves as Americans have been done. I don't have them in front of me.
But could that be a part? One must consider that the Cold War has ended (no more Red hockey teams to upset), Europe is supposedly melding, and a war against terrorism has us focused inward. War - it has traditionally been something to inspire nationalism, but since we're not fighting a country or alliance of countries, perhaps folks think about them less.
Attribute it to globalization. Even though it's odd that as the world becomes more interconnected, a series of games involving the entire world draws less interest. But what I'm suggesting is perhaps it's because of the way the games are framed: country vs. country.
I do not, I should say, believe we're heading toward world government next year; that countries no longer matter. Not at all. How folks identify themselves, however, and how they view the world, is shifting. I do think this is a factor in the viewership of the Olympics - perhaps abroad as much as here.
As far as abroad, though, maybe non-Americans are watching the games more than before; Maybe it's just selfish Americans caring less about the world. I'd be interested in seeing ratings from other countries.
Perhaps it's simply hegemonic apathy.
A decline in US concern about other countries?
Then again, maybe everyone was just tuned into "Arrested Development" instead of the opening ceremony. I know I was. But it didn't do so well in the ratings, either.
posted by bp at
7:58 PM
1 Comments:
It's also more difficult to watch games on a time delay, since most of the events are telecast AFTER the winners are already known.
Personally, I love the winter games more than the summer ones. But it is hard to watch when it's on NBC on their awkward schedule. If it was on ESPN ... we might have a different story.
By
Miguel Centellas, at 8:56 PM
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