Color commentator
Encyclopedia
A color commentator is a sports commentator
who assists the play-by-play announcer
, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the action. The color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics
, strategy and injury reports on the team
s and athletes, and occasionally anecdote
s or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes or coaches
of the sport being broadcast.
, the term 'color commentator' is unknown; rather the role is called 'summariser', 'analyst', 'pundit' or 'co-commentator'.
describing the passage of play, and another, usually an ex-player or manager, providing supplementary input as the game progresses. The color commentator will usually restrict his input to periods when the ball or puck is out of play or there is no significant action on the field and will defer to the main commentator whenever there is a shot on goal or other significant event, sometimes resulting in their being talked-over or cut short by the primary commentator. Additionally, former players and managers appear as pundits, carrying out a similar role to the co-commentator during the build-up to the match, at half-time and post-game. In American motorsports coverage, there may be as many as two color men in the booth
for a given broadcast. In addition to the broadcast of the game or event itself, pregame
and postgame
programs typically feature commentary from one or more analysts.
, the term is not used. Those giving the analysis alongside the main commentator are sometimes said to be giving "special comments", or may be referred to as "expert commentators".
, Norway
and Sweden
the term expertkommentator (expert commentator) is used for a knowledgeable sidekick to the play-by-play announcer.
In Spanish
and Portuguese
-speaking countries, the position is known as a comentarista (commentator), in opposition to the narrador (narrator) who describes the action. Similarly, in Finland
kommentaattori is used for the second commentator, and selostaja (explainer) for the main one.
In France
, the term is "consultant" in opposition to the "commentateur sportif" (who is also a journalist)
In Turkey
, the term "spiker (spEE-ker)" is used for both announcers, who are expected to interchangeably act as the color commentator and the play-by-play announcer.
In some countries, the two-person commentating team is not used as much as elsewhere. In Germany
, most broadcast soccer matches feature a single play-by-play announcer, who is expected to provide background information and statistics by himself. If the broadcast is on TV, the commenter will usually not comment on visually obvious things. A two-person commentating team is used more often for sports where understanding of events depends on more subtle visual cues that not everybody might get (for example in auto racing
) or when the public is not as familiar with the finer details of the sport as in the case of soccer (for example in winter sport
). In those cases, the second man (normally a current or former athlete or coach) is called "Experte".
, the color commentator is usually a "heel sympathizer
" (or a supporter of the "bad guys") as opposed to the play-by-play announcer, who is more or less the "voice of the fans" as well as supporters of the "good guys" (or babyfaces
). Though both are supposed to show neutral stance while announcing, the colour commentator (especially when they support heels) are usually more blatant about their stance than the play-by-play announcer. Jesse "The Body" Ventura
and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
pioneered the "heel sympathizer" for colour commentary in wrestling. Jerry "The King" Lawler
later made a successful transition into the role, though Lawler has since shown more sympathy for faces (partially due to being over with fans after nearly forty years in wrestling). In some cases, commentators are also active managers
for wrestlers, usually following continuity as heels. Former Extreme Championship Wrestling
colour commentator Cyrus
was known for having dual roles as a heel manager and a somewhat neutral commentator.
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
who assists the play-by-play announcer
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the action. The color commentator provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, strategy and injury reports on the team
Team
A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...
s and athletes, and occasionally anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
s or light humor. Color commentators are often former athletes or coaches
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
of the sport being broadcast.
United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the term 'color commentator' is unknown; rather the role is called 'summariser', 'analyst', 'pundit' or 'co-commentator'.
United States and Canada
Commentary teams typically feature one professional commentatorSportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
describing the passage of play, and another, usually an ex-player or manager, providing supplementary input as the game progresses. The color commentator will usually restrict his input to periods when the ball or puck is out of play or there is no significant action on the field and will defer to the main commentator whenever there is a shot on goal or other significant event, sometimes resulting in their being talked-over or cut short by the primary commentator. Additionally, former players and managers appear as pundits, carrying out a similar role to the co-commentator during the build-up to the match, at half-time and post-game. In American motorsports coverage, there may be as many as two color men in the booth
Control booth (theater)
The control booth, control room, lighting box, technical booth, or just booth to theatre or television technicians is the area designated for the operation of technical equipment , and is sometimes the location of the deputy stage manager's station as well as the lighting controls and sound board...
for a given broadcast. In addition to the broadcast of the game or event itself, pregame
Pre-game show
A pre-game show or pregame show is a TV or radio presentation that occurs immediately before the live broadcast of a major sporting event.Contents may include:http://miniunis.com/pregame* replayed highlights of each teams previous games....
and postgame
Post-game show
A post-game show or postgame show is a TV or radio presentation that occurs immediately after the live broadcast of a major sporting event.Contents may include:* replays of key moments in the game.* interviews with players, coaches and managers....
programs typically feature commentary from one or more analysts.
Australia
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the term is not used. Those giving the analysis alongside the main commentator are sometimes said to be giving "special comments", or may be referred to as "expert commentators".
Europe
In DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
the term expertkommentator (expert commentator) is used for a knowledgeable sidekick to the play-by-play announcer.
In Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
-speaking countries, the position is known as a comentarista (commentator), in opposition to the narrador (narrator) who describes the action. Similarly, in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
kommentaattori is used for the second commentator, and selostaja (explainer) for the main one.
In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the term is "consultant" in opposition to the "commentateur sportif" (who is also a journalist)
In Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, the term "spiker (spEE-ker)" is used for both announcers, who are expected to interchangeably act as the color commentator and the play-by-play announcer.
In some countries, the two-person commentating team is not used as much as elsewhere. In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, most broadcast soccer matches feature a single play-by-play announcer, who is expected to provide background information and statistics by himself. If the broadcast is on TV, the commenter will usually not comment on visually obvious things. A two-person commentating team is used more often for sports where understanding of events depends on more subtle visual cues that not everybody might get (for example in auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
) or when the public is not as familiar with the finer details of the sport as in the case of soccer (for example in winter sport
Winter sport
A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...
). In those cases, the second man (normally a current or former athlete or coach) is called "Experte".
Latin America
For football broadcasts on Latin American sports television channels, this type of commentator is called a comentarista in both Spanish and Portuguese.In professional wrestling
Though not always the case, in professional wrestlingProfessional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, the color commentator is usually a "heel sympathizer
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
" (or a supporter of the "bad guys") as opposed to the play-by-play announcer, who is more or less the "voice of the fans" as well as supporters of the "good guys" (or babyfaces
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
). Though both are supposed to show neutral stance while announcing, the colour commentator (especially when they support heels) are usually more blatant about their stance than the play-by-play announcer. Jesse "The Body" Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
pioneered the "heel sympathizer" for colour commentary in wrestling. Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
later made a successful transition into the role, though Lawler has since shown more sympathy for faces (partially due to being over with fans after nearly forty years in wrestling). In some cases, commentators are also active managers
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
for wrestlers, usually following continuity as heels. Former Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
colour commentator Cyrus
Don Callis
Don Callis is a Canadian former professional wrestler and manager, known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as The Jackyl, and Extreme Championship Wrestling as color commentator Cyrus.-Early life:...
was known for having dual roles as a heel manager and a somewhat neutral commentator.