Paris (AFP)
The songs of prerecorded supporters added to the live images of the German football matches behind closed doors bring "a plus" giving "meaning" to the retransmission, insisted AFP the management of beIN Sports, determined to "recreate the 'universe' of sports spectacle.
The Bundesliga has been offering since last weekend, in its international TV stream, "an addition of fan-like sound" on most of these matches, "an option" which will be generalized as of the next day according to the director of beIN Sports championship broadcaster programs in France, Florent Houzot.
"I opted to use this option because under current conditions, with the camera, I could not see how to resume as it is without imagining anything else," said Florent Houzot to AFP on Thursday. "Everything you add in a broadcast must have a meaning."
"When you lose this strong element of the spectacle which is the public, it is important to recreate a universe", he continued, insisting on the fact that the original ambient sound was "not hidden" by the use of this option which he judges to be "innovative" in the face of a "suffered" situation and which will last "a little while".
The appearance of this artificial ambient sound had aroused criticism on social networks, some Internet users even raising soundtracks containing songs of insults towards the team of Mönchengladbach.
"This is precisely what all the German supporters' organizations oppose (...) The clubs have been taken hostage by the broadcaster - that they assume the absence of atmosphere", had also exhorted on Twitter the Alliance of Active Football Fans (BAFF), which brings together supporters associations in Germany.
"Obviously, when you think about it, when you add something, it can always please or displease. Today, the feedback is overwhelmingly rather positive", defended Florent Houzot, conceding "perhaps adjustments to be made ".
As for the possibility of leaving the choice to the viewer, via another channel where the gross match would be broadcast? It has been studied, according to the director of beIN programs, but "when we offer something you have to keep it over time, or there will start to be traffic jams" on the channels with the resumption in mid-June of the Serie A, La Liga and the Turkish Championship.
© 2020 AFP