Lost in Translation—and Transmission: Contrasting Chinese and U.S. Gymnastics Television Coverage in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

Billings, Andrew C.; Xu, Qingru; Angelini, James R.; MacArthur, Paul J.

doi:10.1080/08934215.2018.1434554

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Awards ceremonies were not included in the database. Only descriptive comments spoken by CCTV-employed individuals were analyzed for the name-mentions and descriptors because such content could largely be scripted and supervised by CCTV editors and producers (Billings et al, 2018c). These CCTV employees included color commentators (Liu Qiuhong, Tong Jian, and Zhang Huiqiu) and the play-by-play announcers (Liu Xingyu, Shao Shengyi, Song Jianqiao, and Chen Ying).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Xu et al (2018) examined CCTV’s broadcasting of gymnastics at the 2016 Rio Olympics from a gender lens, suggesting that female athletes received 43.3% of the total coverage, while the percentage that male gymnasts received was 56.7%. The finding that CCTV favored male gymnasts provided a contrast to the media coverage in the USA and Australia, in which the networks usually rendered more attention to female gymnasts (Billings et al, 2018c; Xu et al, 2017), reflecting that gymnastics has been conventionally unpacked as a feminine sport (Hardin and Greer, 2009). The researchers attributed CCTV’s low profile of female gymnasts to Chinese male gymnasts’ outstanding athletic performance in past Olympic Games (Xu et al, 2018).…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Women, men, and five Olympic rings: An examination of Chinese Central Television’s broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Billings

et al. 2019

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

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This study conducts a content analysis on Chinese Central Television’s broadcasting of figure skating, short track speed skating, and freestyle skiing—the three most popular winter sports in the People’s Republic of China—at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics from the perspective of biological sex. A full examination of 100% (over 37 h) of Chinese Central Television’s broadcast coverage was analyzed in terms of clock-time, name-mentions, and descriptors. In each sport examined, female athletes received less clock-time and fewer name-mentions compared to their male counterparts. However, in the analysis of 7765 descriptors, relatively few significant differences between depictions of male and female athletes were uncovered, potentially explained by the Communist legacy of erasing women’s feminine characteristics and the relatively equal number of male and female commentators in Chinese Central Television’s sports newsrooms. Also, compared to many Western countries, male figure skaters in the People’s Republic of China received more clock-time and name-mentions, possibly attributed to cultural differences in defining ideal masculinity across East Asia and the West.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Women, men, and five Olympic rings: An examination of Chinese Central Television’s broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Billings

et al. 2019

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

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“…In numerous studies about the Summer and Winter Olympics, scholars have investigated the amount of media time dedicated to home athletes to reveal the degree to which certain countries promote nationalistic favor. To measure nationalist frames, scholars have conceptualized home athlete name salience in two ways: (a) the percentage of total name mentions and (b) percentage of top 10 or 20 most-mentioned names (Billings et al, 2018).…”

Section: Name Salience In Olympic Media Coveragementioning

confidence: 99%

Home Nation First, but to What Degree?: Nationalism in Chinese Central Television’s Broadcasts of the 2018 Winter Olympics

Guo

2021

Communication & Sport

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The aim of this study was to analyze China Central Television’s (CCTV) broadcasts of the 2018 Winter Olympics and how their various narratives presented home and foreign athletes. The findings indicate that CCTV devoted more name mentions to home athletes even though their medal achievements were inferior to foreign athletes and that home athletes held at least 40% of the top 10 mentions in the three examined sports. In terms of word-by-word descriptors, broadcasters were more likely to attribute the success of Chinese athletes to subjective factors (e.g., concentration, composure, committee, and intelligence) and to attribute the success of non-Chinese athletes to objective factors (e.g., experience). Moreover, the network tended to attribute the failure of Chinese athletes to strength, experience, and consonance and to attribute the failure of non-Chinese athletes to lack of athletic skill. Theoretical and practical implications are both discussed.

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“…Since 2000, Billings and colleagues have used name mentions to examine nationalism in Olympic Games coverage (Billings & Angelini et al, 2007; Billings & Eastman, 2003; Eastman & Billings, 2000). American athletes typically have accounted for more than 60% of all name mentions in each list of the top most-mentioned athletes, suggesting a high level of favoritism toward home athletes from American telecasts (Billings et al, 2018). This is particularly striking when compared to the number of medals Americans win at the Olympic Games, which is around 11%–13% depending on whether it is a Summer or Winter Games.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beyond the scope of name mentions during Olympic coverage, the measure of nationalized descriptions of home and foreign athletes widely has been applied in many studies to analyze nationalism and sport (Angelini et al, 2017; Billings et al, 2018; Xu & Billings, 2018). Previous work in this area has found marked differences in how an athlete’s success or failure is characterized by announcing teams.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Summer Country’s Coverage of a Winter Event: Australian Nationalistic Broadcast Focus of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games

Scott

Mighton

2020

Communication & Sport

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Broadcast commentary of sport programs often is seen as biased for the “home team.” This study sought to determine differences between how the media framed narratives of Australian and non-Australian Olympians by analyzing prime-time coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games across all of Australia’s Seven Network channels. Because Australia is not a traditional powerhouse at the Winter Games, how the media portrays home team and foreign athletes is of interest in this summer sport country. Results revealed that overall, non-Australian athletes were covered and mentioned more frequently than Australian athletes. However, results found taxonomical differences in Seven Network’s depiction of Australian and non-Australian athletes’ successes—Australian success was attributed to athletic ability and courage, whereas non-Australians’ success was more frequently linked to intelligence, experience, and consonance. Differences in the attribution of failure by nationality were also found, with Australian’s failures more likely to be characterized by a lack of commitment and luck compared to their non-Australian counterparts. Athletes’ personalities also were described differently, with Australians receiving comments regarding their emotions, while non-Australians received either more neutral comments or had their appearance and body parts described more often. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are provided.

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Lost in Translation—and Transmission: Contrasting Chinese and U.S. Gymnastics Television Coverage in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

Cited by 10 publications

References 16 publications

Women, men, and five Olympic rings: An examination of Chinese Central Television’s broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Women, men, and five Olympic rings: An examination of Chinese Central Television’s broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Home Nation First, but to What Degree?: Nationalism in Chinese Central Television’s Broadcasts of the 2018 Winter Olympics

A Summer Country’s Coverage of a Winter Event: Australian Nationalistic Broadcast Focus of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games

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