In 1948, the first terrestrial television relay captured the arrival of the Tour of France in Paris. That year, only a few thousand people were able to watch the happenings on 300 television sets spread across France. In 1998, half a century later, some three million TV viewers all around the plant watched the final of the World Football Championship. At first sports were looked down upon, considered simply as a way to plug empty airtime. Today broadcasters fight over sporting events, which draw audiences far larger than any other type of TV programming. The world´s biggest stars are no longer Hollywood actors but the “Gods of the stadiums,” with some athletes earning more money in 10 years than the Beatles made in their entire career.