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Friday, October 09, 2020
NFL game broadcasts in 2020: Explaining the fake crowd noise, other TV oddities amid COVID-19
Sporting News: The NFL's TV partners are doing everything they can to make sure game broadcasts in 2020 look more like what viewers are accustomed to and less like reality. But the reality that is a pro football season being played amid a global pandemic can't be completely hidden.
14 comments:
DJ L.
said...
While I have never been a huge fan of watching sports on TV, every so often, someone puts a game on while I am at work or just hanging around the fire department. Even though I am not a huge sports TV watcher, I most definitely noticed a difference in the lack of "fans noises" in the background of live games. One place I noticed this even more is in shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. While I am not a constant watcher of the show, when I see a funny sounding episode tittle on YouTube, I'll take some time to watch it. The first episode I watched after the start of the pandemic left me with such a weird feeling. There is just something ere about not having any background noise from a crowd on a show like that. While the laugh tracks may have helped a little, it just reminded of an old tv show.
This is a really cool article. I think it is cool that the NFL is making sure that their sports viewers are getting that crowd experience as well as the players getting the crowd experience too. I can imagine that it would very different playing without all the screaming fans pumping up adrenaline. It also is interesting to see how specific the limitations are of the sound and that the sound in the stadium will be different from the sound broadcast out. I wonder why they settled on the number that they did. Maybe it is because it is a little lower than normal stadiums and is a measure to protect players' ears. Something that this article brought up that I’ve never really thought of is sideline reporters and sportscasters being able to go up to team members before the game to ask questions. I wonder how these changes are going to change the press around NFL games and how commentary is going to work the same or different. I’m excited to see how this season goes. Maybe the rules and policies could be applied to the theater and working to create bubbles like they did for both sports teams and shows like the Great British Baking Show. Maybe theatre in sports arenas is the next big thing.
This article discusses a very interesting concept: how does the TV viewer’s experience change when there isn’t the live audience noise and other ambient sound during games? I hadn’t considered this before, but I do think it makes a huge difference so I understand why the NFL has plans to have fake crowd noises in the stadium or piped into the broadcast for TV. Obviously, COVID-19 means that they have had to make a lot of adjustments to keep everyone as safe as possible. But, they also want to keep their fans and audience engaged and experiencing the season to the best of their abilities. The crowd cheering/booing/etc. definitely always adds a lot to a sports game, no matter the sport. This is all coming with the other changes the NFL is enforcing such as how the National Anthem is played (virtual performances, piped through the stadium) and how reporters can interact with the teams (from the stands at a distance). It will be interesting to see how the audience responds to these changes and how it might change their interaction with the games.
This is a very interesting article that addresses the issue of how a live audience of fans contributes so much to the experience of a football game. The NFL is the last of the major sports to start up again after the pandemic and it’s interesting to see how they deal with the lack of a crowd. When watching baseball, it was interesting to see them put cardboard cutouts of fans in the seats. The NBA went one step farther and sold virtual seats for fans that wanted to be shown on a screen in the seats. The article talks about how the NFL plans to project fake crowd noises either live in the stadium or broadcasted on tv. I find it pretty funny that they have to create simulated crowd noises, I can’t imagine recording that. They go a step further and say that they will make the audio dynamic and reactive to game situations within the broadcast. This is super cool because whoever is controlling the sound will have to be watching the game live and change what noises are being projected based on how the teams are doing. One suggestion that I have would be to also project noise of mass clapping. There have been so many restrictions on who can be on the field during the game and one way that we're really going to see this change will be the absence of sports press on the sideline of the field. The viewers experience is definitely going to be different.
The idea that each stadium will now have curated audio seems quite strange. Although each stadium has vastly different characteristics that might affect the way an audio track sounds, it seems to be a bit excessive that each stadium will need its own curated audio. After all, audience noise in Houston or Cincinnati sounds exactly the same as it does in Los Angeles or Pittsburgh. It is understandable that they would want the tracks played at a specific decibel level, 70dB to be exact. That way it isn’t too loud and distracting or too quiet and no one can hear it. This specific decibel level also will not damage your ears which is good, too. Overall, I think their plan for piped-in audio is understandable but it is my belief that they went a little overboard with customizing audio for each stadium. Plus, I doubt they will need to use the piped-in audio again after a year or two.
The lack of buzz that is tied to sporting events has left many of the broadcasts with a bit of an eerie feeling. I am not sure if inserting these fake crowd noises makes the vibe better or worse. If you close your eyes than it probably helps, but hearing the crowd and not seeing anyone present is a little bit weird. I spend a bit more time watching clips from late night shows like Trevor Noah and John Oliver. Those ones feel so uncomfortable without audience interaction. I think that in those cases part of the reason they feel off is that so much of the comedy and proof of the jokes landing comes from the affirmation of reaction from the audience. When missing that, the whole thing feels flat. I guess if you are really into the sport being played, than the absence of the crowd does not bother you too much.
I don’t really watch sports but my friends are really into basketball and betting money on the games so I’ve been watching a bit of sport TV recently and it really is weird to see how they are operating under these circumstances. So much of the game and the experience of playing and watching involved the crowd- the crowd is meant to fuel the players. Without the crowd its a completely different atmosphere. I’ve heard that some basketball players have actually been playing better recently due to everything moving online due to covid. I guess the nerves aren’t there because no ones actually watching even though literally everyone is still watching regardless of if they’re physically there or not. And then on the other hand I’ve heard that a lot of player have also really been struggling because they don’t have the motivation and adrenaline pumping that they normally due with a live audience supporting them.
I am very curious about this concept of a relation between crowd noise and television audience, and think it's fascinating how they sought to recreate that. I know that some events for sports have put standees or stuffed animals but to create fake crowd noise is a whole new concept to me, not that I actually watch sports and have much of a say on the effect crown noise has as a viewer. The concept that the crowd noise is sometimes in the stadium and the broadcast and sometimes just the broadcast is something that to me sounds like one of the those old slightly awkward laugh tracks. Is someone cueing these crowd noises, like will there be something similar to a stage manager or will this fall onto the broadcasters? The fact they are making a whole set of rules and regulations regarding crowd audio and what type of noise can be played, and then this "club specific" audio just fascinates me in that these are somewhat strict rules for something that doesn't really seem that vital to the actual game itself?
I have always loved watching football, and watching this year has obviously been a very different experience. While I can not necessarily say that I think it was a safe decision for the NFL to come back, I am glad no fans are being allowed into the stadiums. However, this obviously brings up the idea of what fans bring to the overall experience, both from the perspective of the players and the at-home audience. There are some teams that are proven to play better when they are at home, because the fans are so loud they can have a detrimental effect on the opponent (the Seahawks for example). I think it is peculiar that there are fake fan sounds being used in person for the players, because I think the lack of a genuine audience would be harder to deal with, but it makes a lot of sense that crowd noise is being added to the broadcast.
This is kinda annoying. The rules about crowd noise and all of that. I mean come on, limiting the noise and music to 75db. Why is this an issue during games in the time of covid when it is not an issue during games in a normal NFL season. Why does the NFL seem to care now about crowd noise? I’ve been to live NFL games and they are loud. I’ve lost my voice on more than one occasion rooting for my favorite team and that crowd noise is what hypes up those players to play the game. They live for that fan support. They live for the music played through the speakers during the game. The NFL has stated that they want to have as much of a normal game time experience as possible but they are falling far short of that because of the control level of the piped in noise. I think this is just a poor attempt by the NFL to act like they care about the hearing of players and coaches in the name of trying to have “some” realism in the stadiums. You want it to be real, start letting fans back at games and turn up the noise.
I am no stranger when it comes to watching football on the TV in the fall, however, I am finding that without coming together with friends to talk about or watch the games together, I am watching fewer games. I had been wondering if the fake crowd noises were being played in the stadium or if it was just for the broadcast and apparently it is sometimes both! I think the crowd noises are a really important part of watching the games and for the players playing. The Seattle Seahawks stadium is known as the “Home of the 12s” because Seattle fans are known for some of the loudest stadium cheers in the league. To be a player used to playing with the deafening cheers, must be really creepy to be playing in an empty stadium with no audience energy to feed on. While all of these changes are temporary, I think the NFL is going to make the irresponsible decision to allow spectators in the stadiums in the coming weeks.
I’m not a football person by any means, but my dad is. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting in the family room reading or working while the Vikings game goes on in the background, to the point that as background noise it’s actually kind of comforting. I think the ideas of pumping in crowd noise is useful both to the players and to the broadcast viewers. For the TV viewers, it brings in a sense of normalcy - I don’t really know how to put my finger on it, but watching a football game where the field is silent except for the noise of the players and coaches just seems wrong. Even at like, poorly attended high school football games, there’s still talking from the audience and cheers for points being scored, and to watch an NFL game without that I feel like would turn it from a large spectacle into something weird and different, more serious, less entertaining. Hearing some level of crowd noise also seems important for the players, in much the same way that doing virtual shows has been difficult for actors who can no longer hear audience reactions like they usually can.
I usually don't tune in to football, but I am curious to see how this works out. It seems like a strange idea at first to play fake crowd noises, and reminds me of a laugh track in a sit com. On the other hand, a silent football game is very strange to think about because the crowd has always been a big part of the atmosphere of football. I wonder if this fake audio will create some semblance of a game, or if it will pull the viewer out even further and make the game feel even more irregular than it already is.
As an avid sports fan and someone who watches at least every Sunday and Monday night game for the NFL I still can’t quite tell how I feel about the fake crowd noise. It does provide a lot to the fan experience listening in and creating the feelings of a regular game but at the same time it's never the same. The way that the NFL has mandated it due to past fake crowd noise issues with teams, at the colts, means the stadiums are nowhere near as load or raucous as the normally would be. In some respects its been interesting just how much that’s changed the course of some games. I know two weeks with the Saints and Packers on Sunday night the saints had issues with the lack of and the ability to play with actual snap count vs. silent count. To me as larger fan I personally think that is where the lack of crowd noise is the weirdest thing for me I personally don’t care either way but when it starts to change the game itself is where I don’t think the fake noise is really helping.
14 comments:
While I have never been a huge fan of watching sports on TV, every so often, someone puts a game on while I am at work or just hanging around the fire department. Even though I am not a huge sports TV watcher, I most definitely noticed a difference in the lack of "fans noises" in the background of live games. One place I noticed this even more is in shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. While I am not a constant watcher of the show, when I see a funny sounding episode tittle on YouTube, I'll take some time to watch it. The first episode I watched after the start of the pandemic left me with such a weird feeling. There is just something ere about not having any background noise from a crowd on a show like that. While the laugh tracks may have helped a little, it just reminded of an old tv show.
This is a really cool article. I think it is cool that the NFL is making sure that their sports viewers are getting that crowd experience as well as the players getting the crowd experience too. I can imagine that it would very different playing without all the screaming fans pumping up adrenaline. It also is interesting to see how specific the limitations are of the sound and that the sound in the stadium will be different from the sound broadcast out. I wonder why they settled on the number that they did. Maybe it is because it is a little lower than normal stadiums and is a measure to protect players' ears. Something that this article brought up that I’ve never really thought of is sideline reporters and sportscasters being able to go up to team members before the game to ask questions. I wonder how these changes are going to change the press around NFL games and how commentary is going to work the same or different. I’m excited to see how this season goes. Maybe the rules and policies could be applied to the theater and working to create bubbles like they did for both sports teams and shows like the Great British Baking Show. Maybe theatre in sports arenas is the next big thing.
This article discusses a very interesting concept: how does the TV viewer’s experience change when there isn’t the live audience noise and other ambient sound during games? I hadn’t considered this before, but I do think it makes a huge difference so I understand why the NFL has plans to have fake crowd noises in the stadium or piped into the broadcast for TV. Obviously, COVID-19 means that they have had to make a lot of adjustments to keep everyone as safe as possible. But, they also want to keep their fans and audience engaged and experiencing the season to the best of their abilities. The crowd cheering/booing/etc. definitely always adds a lot to a sports game, no matter the sport. This is all coming with the other changes the NFL is enforcing such as how the National Anthem is played (virtual performances, piped through the stadium) and how reporters can interact with the teams (from the stands at a distance). It will be interesting to see how the audience responds to these changes and how it might change their interaction with the games.
This is a very interesting article that addresses the issue of how a live audience of fans contributes so much to the experience of a football game. The NFL is the last of the major sports to start up again after the pandemic and it’s interesting to see how they deal with the lack of a crowd. When watching baseball, it was interesting to see them put cardboard cutouts of fans in the seats. The NBA went one step farther and sold virtual seats for fans that wanted to be shown on a screen in the seats. The article talks about how the NFL plans to project fake crowd noises either live in the stadium or broadcasted on tv. I find it pretty funny that they have to create simulated crowd noises, I can’t imagine recording that. They go a step further and say that they will make the audio dynamic and reactive to game situations within the broadcast. This is super cool because whoever is controlling the sound will have to be watching the game live and change what noises are being projected based on how the teams are doing. One suggestion that I have would be to also project noise of mass clapping. There have been so many restrictions on who can be on the field during the game and one way that we're really going to see this change will be the absence of sports press on the sideline of the field. The viewers experience is definitely going to be different.
The idea that each stadium will now have curated audio seems quite strange. Although each stadium has vastly different characteristics that might affect the way an audio track sounds, it seems to be a bit excessive that each stadium will need its own curated audio. After all, audience noise in Houston or Cincinnati sounds exactly the same as it does in Los Angeles or Pittsburgh. It is understandable that they would want the tracks played at a specific decibel level, 70dB to be exact. That way it isn’t too loud and distracting or too quiet and no one can hear it. This specific decibel level also will not damage your ears which is good, too. Overall, I think their plan for piped-in audio is understandable but it is my belief that they went a little overboard with customizing audio for each stadium. Plus, I doubt they will need to use the piped-in audio again after a year or two.
The lack of buzz that is tied to sporting events has left many of the broadcasts with a bit of an eerie feeling. I am not sure if inserting these fake crowd noises makes the vibe better or worse. If you close your eyes than it probably helps, but hearing the crowd and not seeing anyone present is a little bit weird. I spend a bit more time watching clips from late night shows like Trevor Noah and John Oliver. Those ones feel so uncomfortable without audience interaction. I think that in those cases part of the reason they feel off is that so much of the comedy and proof of the jokes landing comes from the affirmation of reaction from the audience. When missing that, the whole thing feels flat. I guess if you are really into the sport being played, than the absence of the crowd does not bother you too much.
I don’t really watch sports but my friends are really into basketball and betting money on the games so I’ve been watching a bit of sport TV recently and it really is weird to see how they are operating under these circumstances. So much of the game and the experience of playing and watching involved the crowd- the crowd is meant to fuel the players. Without the crowd its a completely different atmosphere. I’ve heard that some basketball players have actually been playing better recently due to everything moving online due to covid. I guess the nerves aren’t there because no ones actually watching even though literally everyone is still watching regardless of if they’re physically there or not. And then on the other hand I’ve heard that a lot of player have also really been struggling because they don’t have the motivation and adrenaline pumping that they normally due with a live audience supporting them.
I am very curious about this concept of a relation between crowd noise and television audience, and think it's fascinating how they sought to recreate that. I know that some events for sports have put standees or stuffed animals but to create fake crowd noise is a whole new concept to me, not that I actually watch sports and have much of a say on the effect crown noise has as a viewer. The concept that the crowd noise is sometimes in the stadium and the broadcast and sometimes just the broadcast is something that to me sounds like one of the those old slightly awkward laugh tracks. Is someone cueing these crowd noises, like will there be something similar to a stage manager or will this fall onto the broadcasters? The fact they are making a whole set of rules and regulations regarding crowd audio and what type of noise can be played, and then this "club specific" audio just fascinates me in that these are somewhat strict rules for something that doesn't really seem that vital to the actual game itself?
I have always loved watching football, and watching this year has obviously been a very different experience. While I can not necessarily say that I think it was a safe decision for the NFL to come back, I am glad no fans are being allowed into the stadiums. However, this obviously brings up the idea of what fans bring to the overall experience, both from the perspective of the players and the at-home audience. There are some teams that are proven to play better when they are at home, because the fans are so loud they can have a detrimental effect on the opponent (the Seahawks for example). I think it is peculiar that there are fake fan sounds being used in person for the players, because I think the lack of a genuine audience would be harder to deal with, but it makes a lot of sense that crowd noise is being added to the broadcast.
This is kinda annoying. The rules about crowd noise and all of that. I mean come on, limiting the noise and music to 75db. Why is this an issue during games in the time of covid when it is not an issue during games in a normal NFL season. Why does the NFL seem to care now about crowd noise? I’ve been to live NFL games and they are loud. I’ve lost my voice on more than one occasion rooting for my favorite team and that crowd noise is what hypes up those players to play the game. They live for that fan support. They live for the music played through the speakers during the game. The NFL has stated that they want to have as much of a normal game time experience as possible but they are falling far short of that because of the control level of the piped in noise. I think this is just a poor attempt by the NFL to act like they care about the hearing of players and coaches in the name of trying to have “some” realism in the stadiums. You want it to be real, start letting fans back at games and turn up the noise.
I am no stranger when it comes to watching football on the TV in the fall, however, I am finding that without coming together with friends to talk about or watch the games together, I am watching fewer games. I had been wondering if the fake crowd noises were being played in the stadium or if it was just for the broadcast and apparently it is sometimes both! I think the crowd noises are a really important part of watching the games and for the players playing. The Seattle Seahawks stadium is known as the “Home of the 12s” because Seattle fans are known for some of the loudest stadium cheers in the league. To be a player used to playing with the deafening cheers, must be really creepy to be playing in an empty stadium with no audience energy to feed on. While all of these changes are temporary, I think the NFL is going to make the irresponsible decision to allow spectators in the stadiums in the coming weeks.
I’m not a football person by any means, but my dad is. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting in the family room reading or working while the Vikings game goes on in the background, to the point that as background noise it’s actually kind of comforting. I think the ideas of pumping in crowd noise is useful both to the players and to the broadcast viewers. For the TV viewers, it brings in a sense of normalcy - I don’t really know how to put my finger on it, but watching a football game where the field is silent except for the noise of the players and coaches just seems wrong. Even at like, poorly attended high school football games, there’s still talking from the audience and cheers for points being scored, and to watch an NFL game without that I feel like would turn it from a large spectacle into something weird and different, more serious, less entertaining. Hearing some level of crowd noise also seems important for the players, in much the same way that doing virtual shows has been difficult for actors who can no longer hear audience reactions like they usually can.
I usually don't tune in to football, but I am curious to see how this works out. It seems like a strange idea at first to play fake crowd noises, and reminds me of a laugh track in a sit com. On the other hand, a silent football game is very strange to think about because the crowd has always been a big part of the atmosphere of football. I wonder if this fake audio will create some semblance of a game, or if it will pull the viewer out even further and make the game feel even more irregular than it already is.
As an avid sports fan and someone who watches at least every Sunday and Monday night game for the NFL I still can’t quite tell how I feel about the fake crowd noise. It does provide a lot to the fan experience listening in and creating the feelings of a regular game but at the same time it's never the same. The way that the NFL has mandated it due to past fake crowd noise issues with teams, at the colts, means the stadiums are nowhere near as load or raucous as the normally would be. In some respects its been interesting just how much that’s changed the course of some games. I know two weeks with the Saints and Packers on Sunday night the saints had issues with the lack of and the ability to play with actual snap count vs. silent count. To me as larger fan I personally think that is where the lack of crowd noise is the weirdest thing for me I personally don’t care either way but when it starts to change the game itself is where I don’t think the fake noise is really helping.
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