mrbenbod2

Ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrr.
New ch4 coverage of the WRC and what do we get:

30 minutes on Friday
1 whole hour on Saturday
30 minutes on Sunday

A few weeks ago some guy was on saying that they want this sport to become as big as F1.
It's hardly going to catch peoples imagination when they show half an hour of highlights on the final day.
Anyone else find it as disapointing as me?

SPEN555

Beats the **** out what we got before, i.e. nothing.

Damian.

Disco

On the basis that, that is about 5 times more coverage than the BBC had for our own Network Q rally last year, its a great improvement. Also its a new event to a commercial station, which means they cannot initially commit too much time to it until they know viewing figures and create a viewer base, otherwise they upset the advertisers.

ian_sadler

I'll give you my 1.5 euros worth when I've seen the what I think is the complete deal that I taped at 2 this morn.

Ian

WiseGuy

Eurosport used to show an hours worth of highlights at 9pm on each day of the rally (and they would repeat it the following morning).
But now they get 30 mins at gone midnight because of Channel 4's coverage/contract.
Its pants ! just like there show

richmilly

i hate to say it wise guy but i think it was 30 mins a nite and at least on c4 its on when it says it will be on not at like an hour later or wotever and i think c4 coverage is pretty good

I especially liked the bit about the pace notes the other nights and there has been more in car footage which is wicked!

AndrewW

switches to in car view

voiceover : 'now sit back and enjoy the skill of the best drivers in the world'

shows car going through two fairly easy corner, into the stage finish ....

and then we're back to the studio.

ahh, did I miss something [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Can we please see more that 5 seconds at a time of in car footage.

My biggest gripe is that you would think that the British drivers are the only guys in the comp.

All the crappy studio talk is about how burns has to do this an colin has to do that to get on the podium.

I know the show is for the British audience, but it really does get quite annoying.

Just my 2p worth.

Andrew.

blf21

My 2Ps worth:

I think that the time commitment that C4 has made in their shedules is fantastic. 30 mins or an hour during prime-time is quite something IMHO.

But, I'm not really a big fan of the actual programs. Too much of the main presenter guy sitting in the studio asking rediculous questions: "so the fact that the stage times are 1 minute quicker, does that mean that they are going significantly faster?" Doh! I reckon more of the acutal cars rallying and less chat in the studio...

Ben.

seejay555

And another thing....
When they interview the drivers between stages I'm sure it's something the drivers are obliged to do rather than really wanting to do. As a result, level of interview is someting like..

"So Colin, do you think you can catch Alastair?"
"Well, I'll give it a go"

"So, Alastair, do you think Colin can catch you?"
"Well, I'm sure he'll give it a go"

Please, if they are going to bother,try harder or don't bother and give us more in-car action.

MRK

IMHO Ch4 coverage is pants. And that guy in the studio, pllllleeaaaaassseeeee give him a script sheet. I've never heard such dire questions. No better still put more action on the telly and cut him out all together

Eurosport still rocks.

We want action not presenters in a bloody studio

M

nigelward

MRK, I agree.

Watch C4 because it is convienent and video Eurosport for the action.

At least when Eurosport do the commentary it is over the pictures of the event and not in a virtual studio.

WiseGuy

Rich

I have to admit that Eurosport did have 30 min slots aswell and they wer'nt always on when they said but coverage was definitly better
The reason for more in car footage is that all the big teams have to carry the onboard camera's now, so you probably would have got this anyway.
C4 have done some good reports, like the pace notes and their web site WRC pages are good, but the program is not up to much, still its better than nothing

SWRTWannabe

Never seen the Eurosport coverage, but you have to agree that C4's coverage whoops the efforts of the BBC - 2 hours when the rally is actually running has to be better than half an hour three weeks afterwards (unless there is anything more important to show like synchronised swimming) like we used to get on Grandstand.

zoog

I don t think the content is very good i m afraid - too much chat - I want to see the action.

The problem is fundamentally ralling is not ideal for TV coverage in this format. They need to make far more creative use of camera technology and applications to get better footage.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

navigator

just my thoughts but
eurosport was unrelaible never on when it was scheduled and often delayed for tennis etc .often on around midnight even for european events. Coverage when it did appear was good,but in 30 mins there are 10 mins of adverts!!!!!!!hence only 20 mins of rallying "sponsored by Ford .....valvoline... and michelin......... bored "yet????????
So C4 is not perfect,some of it is good some of it not so good.I wrote my thoughts down and e mailed to C4 suggest if you are unhappy you do the same.That way they will adapt.but i think they are trying to build it up slowly and so have to cater for the "plucky britsh chaps against jonny foreigner" to build ratings.
In my view lets celebrate that auntie has lost it after lasts years pathetic rally gb coverage and give the boys (n gal)at C4 a chance.

blp

As previously stated, I reckon its a lot better than anything we have had before, but could do with some tweaks.
Virtual studio is very low budget. Wonder if all the drivers realise they are sitting infront of a virtual 6 foot square head shot of Burns etc!
The show is going in the right direction. Yes some of the questions are daft, but they have to balance between the newbie viewer and the people that have been around for some time.
They are getting some interesting side interviews, i.e. the reckying of the track, which should have been a longer slot.

Yes, I did watch Eurosports coverage etc, but I often found that if the show was shown when it was sheduled, haf of it was a re hash from the previous day anyway...and the ads went on for ages.

So I say, keep at it C4!

blp

As previously stated, I reckon its a lot better than anything we have had before, but could do with some tweaks.
Virtual studio is very low budget. Wonder if all the drivers realise they are sitting infront of a virtual 6 foot square head shot of Burns etc!
The show is going in the right direction. Yes some of the questions are daft, but they have to balance between the newbie viewer and the people that have been around for some time.
They are getting some interesting side interviews, i.e. the reckying of the track, which should have been a longer slot.

Yes, I did watch Eurosports coverage etc, but I often found that if the show was shown when it was sheduled, haf of it was a re hash from the previous day anyway...and the ads went on for ages.

So I say, keep at it C4!

Mark Underwood

Here are my thoughts:

BBC coverage...zilch

CH4 coverage...mediocre but the best there was even though it was flawed.

Eurosport...well, as said b4 in this thread...not reliable as tennis was more important

What I did see I thought was qyuite good under the circumstances.

netclectic2

granted it's better than we've had before but what happened to the early morning repeats we got for the first rally??

and i think the final show of the weekend should get slightly more than a piddly half hour!?

gareth

CH4 covered the Tour de France for years with a combination of real race coverage for the cogniscenti (?) and "wish you were here" type travelogue material for the non-expert audience. If you want your minority sport to get coverage sometimes you have to compromise a bit...

In the last couple of years of TDF coverage CH4 started messing about with the schedules, giving up the established teatime slot and making it difficult for viewers to know when to watch. They lost their audience and consequently dropped the coverage altogether.

I think the CH4 rally coverage is better on balance than Eurosport but twice missed the start this weekend because they put it on at a different time every night...

G

robin ledger

If you think CH4 raaly coverage is bad try thier coverage of UK SuperX - they don't show any races *at all*. Just dopey interviews with moronic mechanics and shots of people sleeping in the backs of transit vans, bulldozers pushing soil around and little kids with thier airhorns etc.

absolutely dire.....

scud8

iTrader: (1)

What Disco said is absolutely right - CH4 have to build up the audience before they can commit more time to the sport, so they have to find a difficult balance between the dyed-in-the-wool rally fans (us), the F1 fan who might just be a latent rally fan, and the average punter who is just looking for something to watch.

One thing I do hate is the documentary style of all rally coverage. BBC, Eurosport and CH4 all fall into the trap of commentating in the past tense - which automatically makes it less exciting (the difference between reading Dostoyevski and Hemingway). They don't do this when covering highlights of a football match, so why do it for rallying?

speedking

I think that the coverage is OK, essential viewing for those of us without satellite/cable.

I agree 100% with seejay555. If you're going to ask a question then make it sensible e.g. what do you think of the tyre regs? Why are you quicker on these sections? and wouldn't you rather be driving a subaru?

AndrewW is right too. Hardly any Subaru footage because no British drivers (mind you not in top 6 either).

Has anyone got a pic of a new-age impreza with light pods. Thought the old style was ghastly and interested to see the new.

Anyone know what Tuohino's pay off was?

[Edited by speedking - 2/4/2002 1:06:36 PM]