Five-time champion Brazil: what was on TV in 2002?
On June 30, 2002, Brazil woke up early to watch one of the most memorable finals in the history of football. Against Germany, the Brazilian team won 2-0, with two goals from Ronaldo Nazário, winning the fifth championship and becoming the biggest winner in the history of the World Cups. In an era without social networks and streaming platforms, millions of people gathered in front of their televisions to follow every action that Sunday that brought the country to a standstill.
The victory, also led by names like Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Rivaldo and Cafu, marked a generation that followed the championship on open TV, in crowded rooms, emptied streets and tube televisions turned on from the early hours of the morning. On the small screen, the cry of "é penta" echoed in the voice of narrator Galvão Bueno, immortalizing one of the most emblematic moments of Brazilian television.
But Brazil in 2002 wasn't just about football. While the team was making history in Japan and South Korea, which hosted the first World Cup held in two countries, soap operas like "O Clone" dominated prime time, reality shows began to gain space with "Big Brother Brasil", "Casa dos Artistas" and "No Limite" and the country lived in an era marked by dial-up internet - slow and unstable.
The population, which still frequented VHS tape rental stores, was beginning to get used to instant communicators, such as MSN Messenger, and faithfully followed traditional talk shows on the weekends.
Brazilian television on and off the field
On television, the World Cup practically dominated the broadcasters' programming. Television news constantly followed the routine of the Brazilian team directly from Asia, sports programs received special editions and even entertainment attractions incorporated the atmosphere of the World Cup.
On the field, the team's trajectory carried symbolic weight. The team led by Luiz Felipe Scolari arrived discredited after a difficult and turbulent campaign in the qualifiers. However, the country saw Ronaldo Nazário stage one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport. Four years after the health episode that shocked the world before the 1998 World Cup final, the striker finished the 2002 World Cup as top scorer, with eight goals, including the two in the final against Germany.
Outside the four lines, in addition to the traditional auditorium programs, Brazil began to delve into the culture of reality shows, in formats that were still new in the country.
Between one national team match and another, Brazilian children also watched children's programs on TV Cultura and other broadcasters. Adults, in turn, explored musical trends on channels such as MTV Brasil, which showed music videos and entertainment programs on its schedule. It was a period in which television, music and football went together in the construction of the collective memory of that generation.
On the same day of winning the fifth championship, the country watched on television the news of the death of Chico Xavier, one of the best-known and respected religious figures in Brazil, at the age of 92, in Uberaba, Minas Gerais. The coincidence between the medium's farewell and the national team's celebration caught the country's attention, especially because people close to him said he wanted to leave in a moment of national happiness.
Chico Xavier Memorial, in Uberaba (MG) - Disclosure
The era of creative commercials
At a time when advertising still concentrated huge audiences on open TV, campaigns from the most varied brands became true popular phenomena, sticking in the minds of Brazilians who reproduced their songs and catchphrases.
In 2002, sports, soft drink, toy companies and official sponsors invested heavily in advertising pieces with this theme. Commercials from brands from different countries featuring players were shown repeatedly during the program, helping to consolidate the athletes' image as national and international idols and, of course, generating good revenue for the companies' coffers.
Television commercial in 2002 - Reproduction
Brazil wasn't just about football
The year 2002 also marked a period of strengthening of other sports in the country. Gustavo Kuerten was still among the main national idols for his achievements in tennis, while Rubens Barrichello took Brazil to Formula 1 mornings with Ferrari. In volleyball, the men's team won its first world title that year, a milestone that would begin one of the most successful eras of the sport under the command of coach Bernardinho.
Women's sport was also beginning to gain more space on Brazilian television. In artistic gymnastics, Daiane dos Santos emerged as one of the country's great promises, while women's volleyball consolidated athletes such as Fofão, Virna Dias and Sheilla Castro in sports broadcasts. At a time when coverage was still mostly male, those athletes helped to increase the presence of women in the sport shown on open TV.
Daiane dos Santos and Rebeca Andrade training together - Reproduction
What was it like watching TV in Brazil in 2002?
- The analogue signal dominated the country's televisions;
- Tube televisions occupied practically every Brazilian living room;
- Many families still used a satellite dish to follow the programming;
- The remote control was already popular, but televisions without it were still common;
- "On duty" on television was one of the main ways of transmitting - and scaring the public - urgent news;
- Watching television as a family was still an extremely common;
- It was common for people to follow the games with the TV on and the radio synchronized to the sports narration;
- DVDs began to gain space in Brazilian homes; e
- Paid children's channels were beginning to grow, but free-to-air TV still dominated among children.
More than two decades later, the fifth championship in 2002 remains alive not only in the memory of Brazilians, but also because it represents a portrait of a country before social networks.
In a time without cell phones connected all the time, the football experience was collective. Unlike today, that year's World Cup was felt and experienced in a unique way, almost like a national ritual before a population that still had free-to-air TV as one of its main - and, for many, only - forms of entertainment.
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Source: CNN