Broadcasting abroad at BYU

PROVO — It's not uncommon to hear myriad languages spoken as one walks on the campus of BYU — thanks to the many international students or those who have served foreign-language LDS missions and are trying to stay fluent.

But hearing foreign languages in the press box during the many athletic events that take place at BYU hasn't been a usual occurrence. That has started to change in recent months as BYU Broadcasting has made a push into the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas of the world.

Brett Pyne, BYU associate director of athletic communications, said that the foreign language broadcasts just add to BYU's global presence.

"It's helping people in other areas of the world get more exposed to BYU sports," Pyne said.

Live broadcasts for football and men's basketball in Spanish and Portuguese are not permitted by various contracts — they can broadcast those sports on a tape-delayed basis. However, BYU does broadcast baseball, softball and men's and women's soccer live in the foreign languages.

The logistics of adding four or more seats to accommodate broadcasts was tough at first, Pyne said, but the kinks are being worked out.

"We have more issues to deal with when the broadcast crew is tripled for games," Pyne said.

Not wanting to eliminate seats for print media, Pyne said that has sometimes meant the foreign-language crews may need to move to the concourse in the Marriott Center and call some of the action from a monitor.

Despite the increased work needed to plan the broadcasts for a game, his department is glad to help out whenever they can, adding "we work with them to help them meet their goals."

BYU Television sports producer Brandon Despain is also happy with the new broadcasting arrangement. "We enjoy working with them (athletics) and also seeing the growth of BYU sports," Despain said.

There hasn't been much feedback to BYU's efforts, but Despain said what he has heard has been positive.

The availability of BYU-TV International is geared towards the Central and South American market right now, instead of the traditional way that Spanish-language stations market their product toward various immigrant markets locally.

That doesn't mean that locals can't tune in as it is available on Comcast digital cable along the Wasatch Front or free online through www.byutvint.org