Been to a race outside the US that was broadcast internationally

As I watch MotoGP, F1 or WSBK coverage at home here in the US, a question has occurred to me. I notice that almost all the signage I see on my TV coverage is in English...or, at least, uses Latin-alphabet letters. That doesn't surprise me too much for races in places like the UK, Italy, Germany, etc. But what about Motegi, Malaysia, Dubai, etc.? English isn't the common language there and the native tongues use different alphabets. How come I don't see any (or barely any) signs in Japanese, Malaysian or Arabic text?

Is this just a cool camera trick the broadcasters do, or is all the signage really that Anglo-centric?

 

Because fucking America! That's why.

 

The beebs always deliver.

 

English is probably the most international language. It is all about the broadcast. The folks in the stands are only very a small percentage of those watching the race.

I went to a Silverstone WSBK which meets your criteria for being out of the US and broadcast internationally, but doesn't really help with the question you are asking other than to say the sponsor billboards along the raceway were mostly British companies.

 

I think its just what you see on TV. Went to Mugello and most signs I saw were Italian. Here's one from Rossi's fan club area. It says something like the greatest show since the big bang is you Vale if I remember correctly.

 

Those are homemade signs selling nothing other than their undying love and latent homosexuality for Rossi. They are selling nothing.

 

How about this one? They were selling their love for Jorge?

 

English seems to be the common second language in Europe. Go to France, people speak French and English. Germany, German and English. Italy, Italian and English.

 

They think more of Rossi is greater than Sheldon?

 

In Brno the track announcements and race commentary are delivered in Czech, German, and English.

 

They can change any of the track signage to what they want during the broadcast. Been done for years. A cameraman in T4 at Laguna showed me how it worked with the sign on the Dunlop bridge, and that was around 2001 I believe.

 

Yep. The technology to replace actual signage with digital replacements for the broadcast has been around for about 15 years, and got pretty good about 5 years ago. Its now pretty standard. The ads you see around a ballpark during baseball aren't necessarily the ones you'll see in the broadcast of the game, unless the advertiser paid for it to be shown on TV as well as in the park.

 

How does that work exactly?

 

Green screen technology. Only the stuff got smart, and it doesn't need a green screen any more. You use just about anything for a background these days.

-Tom