[icernet] Watching the World Cup and the War live

[Arul Selvan]

  Ever since then, the two international news channels that are most 
watched in India have stuck, almost exclusively, to live coverage of the 
Iraq situation. They were probably hoped that within the next 24 hours 
they would bring alive to viewers the shock and awe that America had 
promised and which Osama Bin Laden had actually delivered on September 
11, 2001. All those who watched the first war broadcasts would have 
noted how the American media went on about the surprise attack as 
though they had expected a prior announcement of the precise timing of 
the first strike against Iraq. Fortunately for Indian television 
channels, the TRPs (television rating points which measure the 
popularity of television programmes) are equally divided between the 
World Cup and the War; and so is the gambling on the outcome of both 
events.

The World Cup is the biggest event for Indian bookies in four years. The 
business runs into several thousand crores of rupees for each big match 
and the betting frenzy at its peak for the final last Sunday. As it 
turns out, CNN and BBC seem determined to turn the war into as much of a 
universal viewing spectacle as cricket. They build up the tension with 
images of various talking heads, then cut to battle tanks speeding 
through the Iraq desert and project the actual missile attacks like 
distant firework displays as they destroy Iraqs cities.

Source:
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=20717