*By Conor White*
Now that Portugal has been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo needs a new job, and Facebook could be stepping in.
The company is reportedly in talks with the soccer superstar for a 13-episode reality show on its 'Watch' platform, but not everyone thinks it will work.
"It's amazing to me that Facebook is willing to drop so much money on original programming," said Taylor Lorenz, staff writer at The Atlantic. "I think they're spending like $10 million reportedly on this. I don't think it'll bring people in."
In an interview Friday on Cheddar, Lorenz noted that even if this series happens, Facebook needs to reassess its approach to 'Watch'.
"To me, they're still trying to force this behavior of going there and treating it as a TV experience down users' throats."
With over 120 million fans on the platform, Ronaldo is the single most followed athlete on Facebook, so it's safe to assume a show starring him would at least attract international viewers, but they may not have the capability to properly watch it.
"One of the problems with international markets is they don't have the data streaming speed to watch these long shows," explained Lorenz. "Even my phone on my New York City WiFi can be buffering sometimes, I can't get through the whole show. So I think as they move into long form content, they really need to focus on the usability of it and making it work."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/welcome-to-local-twitter)
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Former professional tennis player Patrick McEnroe joined Cheddar to discuss the troubling issues surrounding player Peng Shuai who appeared potentially to have been silenced following her social media post accusing former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Shuai's subsequent disappearance, reappearance, and apparent retraction of the accusation in an interview only added to worries. "When this happened, all of us in the tennis community were very concerned. And, by the way, another thing Peng said in this interview was that she doesn't speak very good English," McEnroe noted. "Well I can assure you, she speaks darn good English, 'cause I spoke to her on many occasions over the last 15 years."
Carlo and Baker cover the heartening news on the Covid front ahead of the holiday, plus President Biden punting student loan repayments again, a new space telescope and Love, Hate, Ate: Christmas Eve Eve Edition!
The boys discuss President Biden's plans to send out free rapid tests as the testing supply chain starts to buckle ahead of the holidays. Also, why aren't Americans having more babies, and The Matrix returns.
Cam Rogers, host of 'Lock It In with Cam Rogers,' and betting analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down how sportsbooks - and bettors - need to adapt to changes to sporting events due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
