The BBC won’t be having any of this Americanized nonsense at the World Cup final.
The British public broadcaster will reportedly forego airing the first-ever World Cup final halftime show, which will feature global music icons Shakira, Madonna, and BTS, and instead opt to maintain its traditional halftime coverage with pundits analyzing the first 45 minutes of play. No decision has been formally made, but it appears likely the BBC will continue its normal approach to halftime coverage.
The news was first reported by Lewis Henderson of GB News.
Rather than point its cameras towards the pop stars at midfield in MetLife Stadium, the BBC will turn to its studio panel of Alan Shearer, Cesar Azpilicueta, Olivier Giroud, and Wayne Rooney. Viewers who would like to watch the halftime performance “will likely need to access BBC digital services instead,” Henderson reports.
As of now, it is unknown how long the halftime performance will run. Henderson notes there is “speculation” the performance will be between 11 minutes and 25 minutes, which is quite a long range for World Cup broadcaster to account for when planning their coverage. Last year’s Club World Cup final featured a 24-minute halftime performance.
The BBC’s decision highlights what could fairly be characterized as a difference in expectations between the American soccer audience and the English football audience. While there are certainly a number of American soccer fans that would prefer some sort of punditry at halftime, there’s also likely to be an equal amount of viewers waiting to see what kind of show Shakira and Madonna are set to put on. The Brits, on the other hand, could not care less about a bunch of pop stars. They want to know who’s going to win (or, if England is in the final, if it’s coming home).
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.