The Bears-Lions game on Fox was the only one on the network's NFL slate yesterday to feature virtual fans, and the innovation was "most evident in certain situations, rather than a play-to-play basis," according to Colton Pouncy of THE ATHLETIC. In the second quarter, the broadcast "went with a wide shot of the two teams preparing for a Matt Prater field-goal attempt, offering a clear glimpse of the virtual fans filling up the stadium." They also "were often shown following a commercial break or stoppage in play, prior to returning to players on the field." On kickoffs following scoring drives, virtual fans "were prominent." One downside to the virtual fan experience was that there "wasn't much rhythm involved in the incorporation, which could be a product of no preseason time to experiment." Meanwhile, perhaps "more noticeable than the virtual fans was the 'crowd' noise, a popular topic on social media" yesterday (THEATHLETIC.com, 9/13). In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes the “gnat-like buzz of fake crowd noise playing over the loudspeakers, a hallmark of TV sports during this pandemic, was too loud and intrusive.” That was “bad enough, but Fox’s renewed insistence on experimenting with special effects to make the stadium appear full was an assault on common sense.” Rosenthal asks, “Who exactly do they think bought or found comfort in the illusion that Ford Field was packed with squiggling, towel-waving digital spectators superimposed on seats left empty because of COVID-19 safety concerns?” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/14).
PIPED-IN SOUND NOT THAT BAD: In Buffalo, Alan Pergament writes CBS’ Jets-Bills telecast yesterday “didn’t seem so weird” when watching from home. Overall, the telecast was a “reasonable facsimile of how a game looks and sounds when fans are there.” The piped-in sound -- which CBS’ play-by-play man Andrew Catalon “jokingly and repeatedly referred to as coming from ‘fake fans’ -- made the game feel oddly normal by NFL viewing standards” (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/14).
