Hi all,
Slowtwitch is looking for triathlon fan opinions on live race coverage and broadcasts from the T100, World Triathlon, and SuperTri. What are the things you like, what do you hate, what can be improved, etc.
Any opinions will be a huge help!
T100
Like: commentary (particularly Vicky Holland’s), camera work, leaderboards when they’re present, pre-race “behind the scenes” videos, overall production quality
Hate: boring races on boring courses (not a feature of the broadcast strictly speaking), misleading/useless on-screen graphics (% of max heart rate)
Can be improved: add grand tour-style graphics with gaps between groups and who’s in them; look at World Triathlon coverage for ideas re: on-screen graphics other than leaderboards
World Triathlon
Like: the commentators’ deep knowledge of the athletes and the sport (Helen Jenkins stands out), ability to recognize athletes, calculate gaps at turnarounds, and I suppose I will love the McCloy/Granger duo this season; advanced on-screen graphics when they’re present; races can be very dynamic and eventful when enabled by the course/field/weather; you can also count on the producers placing the camera where it’s needed (they even somehow catch most crashes)
Hate: lack of an obvious, uniform standard - when you turn on a stacked World Cup and the broadcast doesn’t even have a leaderboard, and you just recently watched the WTCS grand final in Wollongong whose broadcast had quality rarely seen in triathlon, to say that the Australians nailed it is to say nothing
Can be improved: motos will still interfere - they often make it too hard to drop people on the bike, fix that, and we need some entertainment during the boring parts, which are inevitable even on a course like Karlovy Vary
Supertri
Like: commentary (McCloy, Emmerson, Holland I think), and the format of racing is hands down the most exciting there is - this is the one type of race I will watch without fast forwarding or leaving it to run in the background; they’re no longer using motos (these used to pull Jess Learmonth to wins - sorry Jess) and it’s all static cameras (lots of them) and drones, best show in the biz period
Hate: how they change the format every year, introduce one type of team, then another, announce they will have privately owned teams a la Formula 1, and now suddenly that’s no longer the case? and the changes are announced late, not to mention dates and locations - just make a decision and stick to it; oh and some race courses were terrible (Malibu, Neom), Chicago is very meh, London good, Toulouse excellent - all too random…
Can be improved: field quality - they’re being outcompeted by other race series; and try to keep the good venues in the series for goodness’ sake
5 Likes
Would agree with most of what Kajet said. All three are high quality coverage (for triathlon), higher quality than Ironman (although they are now finally trying to improve on that front).
I’d say SuperTri was the benchmark, but also it’s much easier to cover such short and tight courses. Still they are great at it, and the racing is spectacular too. A pity they are going backwards and may disappear soon.
World Triathlon: I wish they could merge with SuperTri too (they already are using their commentators now) and not just for coverage, but to instill some juice in the formats of short course racing at the highest level. I have commented multiple times on how the Enduro Format (whether at super short distance like SuperTri or at sprint and even T50 distances) would be a great format to use for most if not all draft legal races, including the Olympics.
T100: They can still do even better showing the battles that are not at the front only, but to be fair their coverage overall is pretty awesome from a camera and production point of view. As per Kajet’s comments, they could still improve heaps on leaderboards, etc.
2 Likes
Also agree with Kajet’s comments.
supertri:
I like that they’re giving opportunities and a developmental pathway for younger athletes. From Beaugrand in 2018 to Fanni Szalai in recent year.
Their prize money is also quite lucrative for short course which is nice for athletes not interested in going long.
I’ve disliked the shift to team formats when it started. They could have at least included an MTR. The roster also always seem to favor the Bahrain team which isn’t surprising. The schedule is also quite erratic since they have to adjust to the WTCS calendar.
T100:
I feel that the T100 coverage will start to regress this year. There was already a noticeable drop off from last year. From the Gold Coast, the commentators are already off-venue in a studio just like Ironman’s coverage. Aaron Royle said that he was pretty much left out there on the field. They’ve promised so much in terms of raising the broadcast game but has under-delivered.
In terms of the format, I wish they stuck with the Opens concept and if the distances weren’t standardized just like how tennis grand slams have different surfaces, but that shipped has already sailed and there’s no turning back.
WTCS/World Cups:
Helen/Trevor/Annie have always been solid. I’m sure Will and Belinda will do equally well. But for me, the issue with their coverage is the lack of social media/YouTube content during the build-up and following each race. I feel like they’re in a better position to highlight the season-long narrative compared to T100.
The prize purse not changing is a big turn off. I’m not sure how the partnership with PTO will change things, but raising the money that short-course athletes get should be a priority. It’s only fair since WTCS is where highest-performing athletes of the sport are in.
2 Likes
Great point. And there’s no shortage of great characters in short course either.
I agree the first years of supertri was the best stuff in triathlon, since then we have gone a bit backwards at bit.
I would agree with that
anyway overall world tri and supertri are better than ironman until now
1 Like