Speaker
Description
This research examines alternative sports programs in Taiwan in the current age of platformization. In particular, it employs a platform-based perspective and focuses on alternative sports programs paying attention to global professional sports. Historically, in Taiwan, only the international sports channel or TV station with broadcaster rights produced sports television programs (such as variety shows and highlights). However, the advent of the multi-platform has seen the emergence of various forms of alternative sports programming, especially YouTube channels. As this programming is produced outside of the context of traditional broadcasters, the production and content are novel and form alternative ways of the sports broadcast ecology, especially the fact that hosts can freely obtain information on global sports. Some programs are influential, for example, Tainan Josh’s YouTube channel, famous for its professional analyses of MLB , or the ABN YouTube channel, which focuses on stories about NBA players. These channels have their own production capabilities and attempt to connect the global media sports landscape . Against this backdrop, this study asks the following questions: What kind of sports culture is constructed by these alternative sports programs? What are the cultural implications for the contemporary global sports media scene? The study seeks to understand these questions by analyzing the texts and related materials of the programs. Furthermore, by integrating the structure, and textual discussion relating to alternative sports programs, the study will examine their position in the media scene as well as their positioning and relationship between local sports and the local and global sports and media scenes in today’s platform/multi-platform media environment.
