I believe someone suggested that each pro athlete gets a number at the beginning of the season, and that’s their number for every race they enter (like CX & BMX do, if I recall?)
Wearable athlete GPS tracker like many other sports now do and a map on the TV screen that will change from swim course to bike course, then finally run course. You will be surprised how many people dot watch when there is no actual live coverage, especially if live coverage is only of the front of the race. Could even develop it to be more interactive with the IM tracker app. Click on the dot initials (KB/LS or KM/TK) and get live on screen stats)
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That’s a good idea, but how many pro athletes are in the IM ecosystem?
The good news is that anyone on camera for a reasonable amount of time will have a low number, so the number of “athletes who actually matter for the broadcast” is probably less than 50 on the men’s side.
Assign numbers based on a combo of WC winners and pro series points (Kona winner is always 1, Pro series is 2…)
Hayden Wilde gets number 157 (or whatever) but that’s his choice for doing T100.
Then you can also use the bib numbers as a priority system to determine who gets into which races if they’re selling out
Good: Free + on youtube + more camara. So pluspoints for trying to improve
Bad: The commentators. They need a color commentator so badly! Yes they can fill out time, but they forget to react to what is happening on screen/are blind! Both Carfrae and Craig and very mellow people, one of those are good but we need one of the two “pros/experts” to have a bit more energy.
Compare to GOAT lineup: Frodeno+Vicki Holland + color guy. Vicki is the Pro experts, knows them all can spot them a mile away etc. Frodeno is the “expert/star” and then the commentator. They take a few bets comes with predictions etc. IM does not do that.
As a minimum, better microphones for all when they stream from home!
I think the broadcast has improved this season, including the studio commentators. I’m still a fan of the Rinnie/Crowie combo.
It’s still ridiculous that they get tinny sound from any of the regular commentators due to their being in a remote location. I think this was an issue when Ryf was on the show as a race commentator, versus just a call-in where you expect bad phone tape.
They might have to just sit at a table with their mic and laptop in a foam sound surround (available on Amazon for about $30) if they are going to do it remote. Sitting on your sofa in an echoey room watching on the big screen makes for bad sound.
During the pandemic when our radio station reporters had to work from home, the “blanket fort” was the next best thing to having a soundproofed studio in which to record. These are my early versions. Eventually, I got studio foam and made a better version of a foam box that sits on a chest-height shelf to isolate sound.
I agree with the need to get small chyrons up on screen identifying the pro riders who are on camera for any length of time. This might necessitate an additional spotter on the broadcast, because I’m guessing the main producer is furiously writing up notes for the commentators.
I’d love to have Haley Chura as the on-ground color reporter. She was a bit rocky in her very first appearance at IM NZ, but got getter as the day went on, and was a very good post-race debriefer for the other athletes. She’s got a very good level of enthusiasm, has a ton of podcast experience, and she knows the women athletes very well, having competed alongside them at Kona and St. George world championship races.
The on the ground reporters they had at Geelong Tim (Reid?) and ? Siddell were very good. Would love to see them on future casts.
I think the main thing that could be improved on the broadcast is for producers and commentators help us become more knowledgeable fans. Tell us who’s on screen, what they’ve accomplished, what the stakes are for this race. Give us the story of the season as it develops. And I know that every inch of an athlete’s kit is valuable advertising space, but I’d like to see more pros put their names front, back and along the leg or side torso where we can see it on TV. Big props to the athletes who show up with custom colorful kits, it makes the race more fun to watch and the athletes easier to identify.
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