Last winter the world was captivated by Argentina taking the World Cup in Qatar. What made it even more emotional was the fact that legendary announcer, and Argentinian, Andres Cantor, was on the call for Telemundo. Not only did we have the sound of Cantor’s voice, we got to see him through a feed that the network had on him in the closing moments.
Hearing is one thing, seeing is another.
I was again reminded of the visual tied to the voice when SNY this week brought back announcer Gary Cohen’s images as he called an improbable Mets comeback win over the Tampa Rays. Seeing Cohen’s emotional antics, even compared to the calmness of his boothmate Ron Darling, made for great content. They are some of the most identifiable voices in sport anywhere in the world, those men and women who literally call the games. All have their own style, personality and in many cases identifiable emotions and signature calls and phrases.
So, as we move to more and more streaming and custom viewing and listening for fans, why not more of announcer cam? Granted it may not always be animation and high fives, but for the ability to see in a very visual world what and how a voice acts and sounds on calls good and tough would make for really compelling content for fans, both on a local level and even on a national one.
Wouldn’t it be great to see how Gus Johnson does a call on a fall Saturday, or Kevin Harlan goes about his business on an NFL Sunday. How about a Mike Breen “Bang” cam for a few minutes? and on and on we go.
Now it certainly won’t be perfect, and maybe for some voices it will be a distraction, but micro cameras give us the ability to see in without being distracted, and smart direction can no what to, and hat not to show from time to time. In an era where we want more content, where the signing of signature voices and personalities is becoming more and more part of the content schedule, wouldn’t it be fun to see and learn more than to just hear?
And by the way as SNY showed us, it’s also more content to provide value add for brands, as we see with Dunkin Donuts and others..
Great calls, great ideas, great secondary video. A sellable opportunity in the making.
