Telemundo has the Spanish-language media rights for the '18 FIFA World Cup, and the net yesterday "unveiled some ambitious plans" for its first-ever broadcast of the tournament in Russia, according to Jonathan Tannenwald of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. NBCU-owned Telemundo has "built a studio on Moscow’s Red Square for all of its pregame, halftime, and postgame studio shows." Some programming will also "originate from FIFA’s international broadcast center in Moscow, and some programming will come" from Telemundo’s new $250M HQ outside Miami. The main Telemundo broadcast network "will air 56 of the tournament’s 64 games, with the eight others on cable channel Universo." NBC Olympics President of Production & Programming and Telemundo World Cup Exec Producer Jim Bell said that there will be "'well over 500 hours' of live programming." All broadcasts will also be "streamed online through Telemundo’s website and apps." The USMNT failed to qualify for the World Cup, but Telemundo Deportes President Ray Warren said that he "doesn’t expect that to impact his network." He said that advertisers are “not telling us that they’re going to see an impact that will affect the amount of revenue we thought we might have before that." Warren said that Telemundo is "not holding back on spending" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/30). SI.com's Luis Miguel Echegaray wrote by "focusing on culture and the World Cup's international appeal, Telemundo's aim is to not only attract the Spanish-speaker but also use the World Cup as a way to attract the global fan, regardless of language." From game analysis to fan interaction through social media, the net "wants to let the soccer fan know this is the place to watch the World Cup and language, therefore, should not be the issue" (SI.com, 11/29).
