The climb was at 67.5km and topped out just before 71km, where there was a timimng mat.
Think there were some stretches of the course where it was known connectivity from motocameras would be too poor/unreliable.
I think we forget that of course the commentary is going to be disconnected. Most of these tri products are putting on broadcasts as cheap as possible and then itâs having to deal with courses that covermiles of commentary. This aint the TdF, and thatâs probaly the closest applicable sport comparison when talking about what triathlon and cycling has to do to cover itâs events vs other sports that all get to commentate and video in a small field/stadium capacity.
But thereâs a difference between cheap as possible and the way that the commentary team interacts with the broadcast. We accept that in this sport sometimes youâre going to get one fewer moto than you need, and that in rural France connectivity isnât the greatest (theyâre not going to do what the tour does and get a relay plane). But thereâs still things they can do improve the broadcast they have with the budget that theyâre setting aside for it.
Rinny and Crowie are great, as colour commentators - they just need to paired with someone who can call the play by play.
When you talk on the budget, do you actually know what they are putting into the broadcasts? You canât accept that they are doing it on the cheap, and then add things like they need to add a professional commentator to lead the broadcast. Those 2 things donât align.
They mentioned FĂ©lix Forissier several times re 3 X WC but never mentioned once about Solenne Billouin being the 3 X Xterra WC. Then when she came into T2 in third the three commentators didnât know who she was and there was dead silence. Rinny also butchering her name all throughout the broadcast. She was referring to her as Bullion.
And the whole Pierré and Piérre pronunciations were all over the place. By the end it was just Pierreeeeeeee for everyone. It was crazy bad.
1 Like
In regards to my comment about the product, I wasnât talking about more cameras, just asking the camera guy to turn the camera or zoom out. Iâm sure thereâs someone working behind the scenes on the production, they just need to be a little knowledgeable about what theyâre filming and ask the cameramen to film in a way that betters the product. Maybe it is a little more expensive, I wouldnât think so, but maybe. But the product would be way better if you can actually follow with your own eyes whatâs going on. Otherwise thereâs no real point of putting on the production, might as well just use that money to put more splits and just follow the race looking at splits.
In regards to IM commentary, I understand theyâre not professional speakers and donât engage as well as others, but in that case they have to be super knowledgeable about the race, racers, etc⊠(which they are not, or do not show it). Otherwise youâre juste getting the worse of both worlds !
It should be noted, complaining about World Cupâs is sorta first real problems. Iâm thankful those level of races are getting some type of coverage, and itâs not just WTCS level only broadcasts (because for decades in itu that is how it was). But to each their own.
1 Like
I just think itâs funny to see the pendulum swing back and forth on the commentators.
Jan is the greatest!
Jan isnât that greatâŠ
Rinny is Great! We need more Rinny and ice down the pants stories!
Rinny is boringâŠ
I donât have all the answers as Iâve not been in their shoes and I think thatâs true for most of us.
My best guess without too much thought, at least good for a small consulting fee from Ironman, is that they need one additional commentators to just watch the footage and comment on what they are seeing and be willing to interject when the other two get too far off topic. This third commentator wonât speak too often but can say things like,
âIâve got to interrupt you two because if you look in the background Foley is about to make the pass hereâ
And they can also do things in the background like looking up stats,
"On screen weâve got Kasper Stornes, heâs podiumed in every race heâs been in since Frankfurt last year. "
But then they have the freedom to fall into the background and pull up some more data while the other two go on about beautiful turnover and long loping strides.
1 Like
I donât think they need a professional commentator if they donât want to pay for one (though it would help). My point was more that there are too many times when their commentators seem caught off guard by what the production team cuts to on the screen and weâre left with an âoh, well, I guess weâre looking at this nowâ from the commentary who, it should be said, definitely show that theyâre experts and have forgotten more about professional triathlon racing than Iâll ever know.
Better production flows into appearing informed too when some unknown comes out of left field. The production team can do a quick check on âwho the hell is that?â and should be feeding info to their commentary team. Those arenât things that cost extra money, theyâre just procedural things with production that can help the broadcast come off as more professional.
You mean presumably that a play by play person would cost more than whatever theyâre paying Rinny and Crowie?
Even if thatâs the case - for the exact cost theyâre paying now, all theyâd need to do is assign responsibilities, same as youâd do in any other line of work. As Iâve said before, theyâre both great colour commentators, but you canât have two colour commentators and zero play by play people. Rinny is usually great in the chase boat at WCs - maybe for next time she tries her hand a play by play?
Maybe move Tim Don, who they already have in T1/T2, into the booth.
Thereâs a whole slew of things that could work for $0 more than theyâre paying for now.
If your complaining about color commentators and want more of a lead commentator, those generally arenât former athletes, they are âprofessionalâ commentators. I would think they would cost more money. Thatâs *generally how it works. Why would you complain about color commentatory and then suggest Tim Don? What has he done to suggest he can be the lead commentator?
I just think this is bad news bears production all around, but again they arenât putting in the investment to make this any better than what is going on. Thatâs the entire issue, so sure can they make âfreeâ changesâŠâŠthumbs up, but when itâs already bad news bears, you think they are going to get those upgrades correct? Lol, come on. There is NO CHANCE they ever are going to make revenue from the broadcast, so we are sorta stuck with this product. So they probaly donât have the behind the scenes production staff to incorporate the âfree upgradesâ. Thatâs probaly the biggest hurdle.
Except we have no clue how big said production team actually is, and Iâm guessing/thinking itâs not a âfullâ production staff in the production truck. Itâs probaly more like bare boned approach of people are in the production truck having to talk to the commentators as well as know what each camera is showing or not showing and then cuing it to the right camera. The most fascinating thing I see in sport producing is when that commentary is talking to the audience all the while getting told information in his ear by the producer, and how they keep that seamlessly conversation flowing, is why they get paid the big bucks. So better production is absolutely going to come down to more money. The IM broadcasts may not be able to do the easy procedural things because they are probaly juggling roles inside that production truck, would be my best guess at it. Like trying to track what each camera is showing all the while talking in the ear of the commentator. If they are having to do both things, there of course is going to be a wonky delay, etc. Whereas in an million dollar prodution you have guys literally watching only their camera feed, then feeding info to a producer who then decides what he wants to show. If IM production forces 1 person to do both roles, youâve suddenly made easy procedural things difficult.
- things
Tim has postive energy and a voice that does not make most people fall asleep.
Tim can speak coherently
Tim can pronounce names a lot better than some commentators.
Would Tim want to be in boulder ?
iam not sure why you think a professional commentator at the beginning of their career would be more expensive than a tripple kona champ ? the slowtwitch owner once said ironman are paying the commentators actually well.
and they had the budget for will mccloy but I think he just does not want to go to the studio in boulder since he lives in Madrid.
and I agree rhinny was quite ok when she was in the kona boat and stuff like that but I think most people agree a commentator should have at least a bit of an ability to pronounce the names and really needs to know atheltes well. spend a few hours before race day to memorise suits and start numbers. which means every pro has a picture of their race suit and helmet taken when they register and this pics are send over to the commentator team . I epxect them to have read the tri rating data before the race so they have an idea which athtles that are not well know can have a good swim or bike or run .
Ie I expect them todo the research that will mc cloy and Belinda granger did before Wollongong where they did a good job for elite and under 23 athletes and juniors.
to add produce the announcers a track where atheltes pronounce their names form start no 1 to 60 or whatever so they can listen to that or have Paul Kaye ( who can pronounce more names than anybody else on this planet) teach them a bit
I mean how much more would Will McCloy (who has already commentated on an IM) charge than Craig Alexander? Or Vicky Holland, who could easily take the lead? Would the difference blow up the budget of a race that grosses something like $1m in athlete fees alone? Come onâŠ
If you think the only issue with the IM broadcast is the commentators pronouncing the names correctly, Iâd agree with you. But read every race thread on ST, and youâll see people b*itch about every aspect of the broadcastâŠâŠso yeah agree to disagree on the idea that itâs not a budget issue. The broadcast isnât 1 Tim Don or Vicky Holland away from being fixed, lol.
Just a thought about how raggedy and sometimes low-energy the commentary was at the Aix-en Provence race â if Rinny was in Colorado, her workday started at 11p Saturday night to about 4a the next moring. If Crowie was in Australia, I donât have the time converter handy, but he did mention being in his comfortable leather chair, and maybe thatâs a bit too lean-back for the program. Tim Don was on site in France, and had energy appropriate to the event.
That said, after the second mangling of Bortolamedi name, a producer needed to hand them both a card with the name broken down into syllables. Or they needed to create one themselves. I work as a news radio host and I try never to read copy cold because there is always going to be a name that trips you up without practicing it first, and with an international field of athletes, there are name-bombs everywhere. Iâm guessing after this last weekend, they get the riot act read to them about prepping better pronouncers and maybe a stack of flash cards.
3 Likes
Isnât that the whole point. When your rolling out of bed and broadcasting an race from your lounge chair, you arenât getting a producer standing beside you to help you with issues. Itâs all going to come from Boulder text/communication between the producer and broadcaster. Hell it would be my guess that just communicating between producer and broadcaster when they are in 2 completely different parts of the world is going to add an extra layer of complications, that normal producer to broadcaster airways donât normally encounter. And not that you need to be on site for triathlon, because the broadcast team isnât even watching the race if they are on site, they are broadcasting the race from the same broadcast feed they show us. So it helps to get the vibes/feel for the race etc, but the fact that they donât even bring the broadcast team to a central location with on site production staff help should tell you the level of investment IM is putting into this. But again this is for a not for profit broadcast, so if they are cutting corners with the broadcasters, what other cost saving measures are they doing on the behind the scenes production staff angle that then makes the broadcast increase errors which we at ST will kill you for.
Pronounciation of names is probaly one of the few easy âfreeâ upgrades. Other complaints within how the actual broadcast is produced and shown to us is probaly from a lack of resources.
The start list for Hamburg (7th June), the next race in the IM Pro Series, is out.
I note:
Philipp v Loevseth as the headline act with the same SBR profile: average swim but wicked bike/run (Loevseth better on the bike: Philipp better on the run, and defending Hamburg âchampionâ (8:03).
Loevseth looking for 5000 points and is in the box seat for the IM Pro Series win.
I wonder whether Philipp will not contest and save herself for Roth. She raced Aix two days ago and went âokâ (not âgreatâ).
LCB - expect to disappear, Wurf-like: she has said she had hoped to race but decided to avoid overstressing herself and will ITT Lanza this weekend instead (to validate).
Besides the clip below, another 10 of whom the only ânameâ is Kivioja: itâll be her long distance debut, last win: 70.3 Tallinn (home race) last year.
Perterer has had a rocky start to the season but was #5 in Kona and a close #2 to Loevseth in IMLP last year.
Lawrence was #6 only 4 minutes behind Perterer in Kona.
Lee is due another good race.
Wilms won IMWA last December and was #3 behind Matthews in IMNZ in March. She is a contender for top 3 in the IM Pro Series.
Lawrence, Lee and Wilms all race T100 in 4 days time.
Christensen was #2 in IMSA last month.
PierrĂ© has just won Aix 70.3 in style. I do hope she can execute her best full distance since her #4 in Nice 20 months ago. But the pan flat bike does not play to her climbing strengths. She DNFâd Hamburg last time here.
NB No Julie Derron.
2 Likes