JOHANNESBURG -- TV viewers can take out their earplugs -- the vuvuzelas are going to have a bit less buzz.
Host Broadcast Services, the company that provides the broadcast feed for the World Cup, said Tuesday it has doubled its audio filters to reduce the constant blaring buzz of vuvuzelas.
TV viewers around the globe have complained that the swarm-of-bees sound from the plastic horns is stinging their ears.
"Despite HBS' core philosophy, which is to provide 'realistic' host broadcast coverage reflecting the ambience in the stadiums, additional audio filtering has been implemented," according to the daily newsletter given to rightsholders Tuesday.
The filters also will minimize other crowd noise in the stadiums, such as chants and cheers.**
Several broadcasters already had taken their own measures to reduce the drone. French broadcaster TF1 changed its microphones after the opening match between Mexico and host South Africa, replacing them with mics commentators hold close to their mouths to better filter sound.
The BBC, which had received 545 complaints from viewers as of Tuesday morning, said it is considering giving viewers the option of muting ambient noise while maintaining game commentary through its "red button" digital service. Viewers would push a red button on their remote controls to receive the quieter broadcast on a separate channel.
"We have already taken steps to minimize the noise and are continuing to monitor the situation," the BBC said in a statement. "If the vuvuzela continues to impact on audience enjoyment, we will look at what other options we can take to reduce the volume further."
The vuvuzelas are something uniquely African, and FIFA "leader" Sepp Blatter said he is not about to ban the music traditions of fans in their own country.
Several players said the din of the horns is having an impact on the field. Netherlands striker Robin van Persie avoided a second yellow card -- and a ban from the next game -- by blaming the vuvuzelas for failing to hear an offsides whistle.
Argentina striker Carlos Tevez said the din of vuvuzelas makes it hard for players to communicate with each other on the field.
"Those sirens or trumpets -- I don't know what they are -- make it very difficult to speak on the field," Tevez said after Argentina's training session Tuesday at the University of Pretoria. "You have to shout and sometimes you run out of breath, you get a bit more tired. They are extremely bothersome." [end story]
**People are chanting and cheering in the stadiums? And how would they know that? You can't hear anything over that infernal noise!
Sepp Blatter is an idiot. His ineptitude is even more glaring than the vuvuzela noise. The World Cup is just that...the WORLD cup. Not the HOST COUNTRY cup. If he wants to have a successful event he should be more in tune with the ticket-holders who spent thousands of dollars to get there, only to be subjected to these ear-splitting nuisances. And if their local custom were to throw fecal matter on everyone, would he have agreed to that too?
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