For now, the World Cup blackout on TV is free“Shame” – annoyed handball boss at ARD and ZDF
If you want to follow the German handball players’ home World Cup live, you’ll need to use a paid streaming service first. ZDF only gets involved when a quarter-final is possible. The handball boss was foaming with anger.
DHB president Andreas Michelmann strongly criticized public television stations ARD and ZDF at the start of the home World Cup for German handball players. “To be honest, I think it’s a shame,” the 66-year-old told the “Bild” newspaper: “Our women didn’t deserve it. The fact that ARD wasn’t able to do that and that you can’t see the World Cup better if you only rely on ZDF, is a shame.”
The tournaments in Germany and the Netherlands will be broadcast on the paid streaming service Sporteurope.TV. Only possible quarterfinals are shown in ZDF, semifinals and final with German participation in Erste. Michelmann could not understand this: “ARD and ZDF immediately turned the issue of equality into its opposite. The audience did not see our women’s matches in the preliminary rounds or any matches in the main draw; both broadcasters only wanted to be involved in the quarterfinals.”
This made Michelmann angry. “It’s bad and makes me very angry,” said the President of the German Handball Association (DHB): “They should allow themselves to do that in football, only starting broadcasts for women in the quarterfinals. I don’t want to know what will happen then.”
Michelmann talks about “monoculture”. He did not accept the reason that other broadcasting institutions allocated their rights more quickly. “ARD and ZDF could have held the World Cup for next to nothing with their rights marketers, but they were just fast asleep when the rights were awarded, it still makes me angry,” said Michelmann. “A unique opportunity was lost” at home to the Women’s World Cup.
