¡Ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy!

Here ni que is an idiomatic exclamatory expression, not a literal neither/nor that.

In sentences like this, ni que + subjunctive usually means something like:

• as if...
• it's not as if...
• you'd think...

So ¡Ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy! is reacting against someone’s attitude, as if they were behaving as though the broadcast were today.

Fuera is the imperfect subjunctive of ser.

After this idiomatic ni que, Spanish normally uses the subjunctive because the speaker is talking about an imagined or rejected situation, not a real fact.

So:

• fuera = were
• it signals unreality / hypothesis / exaggeration

That is why Spanish does not use the indicative here.

Good question. Even though hoy refers to the present, this pattern usually uses the imperfect subjunctive:

• ¡Ni que fuera verdad!
• ¡Ni que tuviéramos todo el día!
• ¡Ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy!

So the tense is not mainly about past time here. It is part of a very common structure used to express:

• disbelief
• irritation
• irony
• “as if that were the case”

In other words, fuera here is more about distance from reality than about past time.

Here it is from ser.

The idea is:

• la retransmisión fuera hoy = the broadcast were today

Spanish uses ser with dates and times of events:

• La reunión es hoy.
• El partido es mañana.
• La retransmisión es hoy.

So in the subjunctive, that becomes fuera.

Yes. Fuera and fuese are both correct imperfect subjunctive forms of ser.

So these are both grammatical:

• ¡Ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy!
• ¡Ni que la retransmisión fuese hoy!

In modern everyday Spanish, fuera is generally more common in speech.

It is complete as an exclamation.

Spanish often leaves the rest of the idea understood from context. A fuller version might be something like:

• No hace falta ponerse así, ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy.
• No corras tanto, ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy.

But in real speech, Spanish often uses just the exclamatory part because the missing meaning is obvious.

So this kind of sentence is very natural in conversation.

It usually sounds:

• ironic
• dismissive
• annoyed
• slightly sarcastic

The speaker is suggesting that someone is overreacting, rushing, or making too much fuss.

So the feeling is roughly:

• Calm down — it’s not as if the broadcast were today.
• You’re acting as though the broadcast were today!

The exact shade depends on tone of voice and context.

La retransmisión usually means the broadcast, the live coverage, or the telecast/radio transmission of an event.

In Spain, retransmisión is especially common for things like:

• sports events
• ceremonies
• concerts
• special live coverage

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• broadcast
• coverage
• transmission
• telecast

Because it refers to a specific, known broadcast.

Spanish often uses the definite article where English might also use the:

• la reunión
• el partido
• la retransmisión

So la retransmisión means the broadcast that both speaker and listener know about.

Without the article, the sentence would sound unnatural here.

Yes, but the usual version here is:

• ¡Ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy!

You could also hear:

• ¡Ni que hoy fuera la retransmisión!

That version puts more emphasis on hoy earlier in the sentence, but the original sounds more natural and idiomatic in most contexts.

Putting hoy at the end gives it a strong final punch.

Yes, very common in spoken Spanish.

You will often hear patterns like:

• ¡Ni que fuera millonario!
• ¡Ni que tuviera tiempo de sobra!
• ¡Ni que esto fuera tan fácil!
• ¡Ni que la retransmisión fuera hoy!

They all express the same basic idea: the speaker rejects an exaggerated assumption.

So it is a very useful pattern to recognize: ni que + imperfect subjunctive

A literal translation would sound awkward in English. It is better to translate it naturally.

Good natural translations include:

• It’s not as if the broadcast were today!
• You’d think the broadcast was today!

Which one fits best depends on the context and tone.

So for this structure, it is usually better to learn the function of the expression rather than translate each word literally.