Posts
117
Joined
3/2/2019
Location
Placentia, CA, USA
Usually I watch SX by myself or with other guys who know the sport well, all of which have the same opinion on the broadcast. But I always thought that it was just because of how well we knew the sport that we could nit pick the commentating and TV coverage. But this weekend I watched with a group of people who aren't familiar with the sport. Most of the group knew the names of RC, RV and JS7, but also thought they were still the men to beat.
Here are just some of the main points.
1) Many in the group (who know next to nothing about SX) mentioned that the commentators sounded like they didn't really know what was going on either. They didn't feel like they were being educated on the sport and found it hard to keep up with what was going on in the race.
2) People found it hard to focus on the race because the commentators spend a lot of time talking about other things (stories from their past, dinner the night before, etc.). They felt that there needed to be more focus on what was going in the moment rather than reflecting on a previous lap or another weekend al-together.
3) A lot of comparisons to Nascar coverage. The group wanted to know who specifically they were watching and what positions they were battling for. When not showing the leaders, there really is no indication of who they were watching and what place they were in, especially when the commentators won't help out by saying so themselves.
On the forum, I try to keep my opinions about the broadcast to myself because I understand that my perspective is bias because of my knowledge and passion for the sport. Hearing this feedback from people who don't follow the sport was disheartening. I was really disappointed to hear that their experience watching the race wasn't enough to bring them back next time. The only thing they really enjoyed was the carnage during the starts.
Here are just some of the main points.
1) Many in the group (who know next to nothing about SX) mentioned that the commentators sounded like they didn't really know what was going on either. They didn't feel like they were being educated on the sport and found it hard to keep up with what was going on in the race.
2) People found it hard to focus on the race because the commentators spend a lot of time talking about other things (stories from their past, dinner the night before, etc.). They felt that there needed to be more focus on what was going in the moment rather than reflecting on a previous lap or another weekend al-together.
3) A lot of comparisons to Nascar coverage. The group wanted to know who specifically they were watching and what positions they were battling for. When not showing the leaders, there really is no indication of who they were watching and what place they were in, especially when the commentators won't help out by saying so themselves.
On the forum, I try to keep my opinions about the broadcast to myself because I understand that my perspective is bias because of my knowledge and passion for the sport. Hearing this feedback from people who don't follow the sport was disheartening. I was really disappointed to hear that their experience watching the race wasn't enough to bring them back next time. The only thing they really enjoyed was the carnage during the starts.
A running order thats up most of the time ?
It seems like things are getting worse instead of better, maybe the people in charge should go watch some races from previous years .
It would be fun to hear what the same people would think about the broadcast from Matterly Basin last weekend with Malin and Emig.
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Something that I've noticed recently is that timing and scoring takes almost a full lap to update and the running order on the side of the screen often is incorrect when a pass is made.
So they try to split down the middle. The reality of it is the broadcasters dont make the sport... if your friends didnt care much for the racing then they didnt like it and wont come back. How do u think it works in person? Exactly.
Either you love the sport or you dont care... no casual viewers, and the broadcasters dont affect if you like the product you see on tv in front of you which is the racing.
2. Not everybody can be Paul Mauldin.
3. I agree, this NAPCAR crap has to stop.
Also, would it kill them to put a few more transponder readers on the track? On some tracks it seems like there is a long distance between time updates.
There is a list of all 22 riders on the left side of the screen during the whole race. (Sometimes they chop off the bottom 12 riders to highlight the riders being shown on screen.)
Though there was a weird thing in the 250 Main where only 20 riders were being displayed (instead of 22).
As far as the broadcasters not affecting the product, I strongly disagree. I enjoy some NFL games much more than others simply because of who is in the booth. And Vital is chalk full of forums saying that people enjoyed SX more when Fro was in the booth. So I could argue that the broadcasters directly affect the product, especially when it comes to casual/new viewers - which you say do not exist.
Hey, that's Ralph Shaheen!
Isn't that the guy that tried NASCAR and got his ass kicked?
Man, those bikes shoot right out of the corners!
When do they give an update on the guys that crashed?
Looks like shit will go bad if they don't land just right. How do they do that?
Pit Row
I would never except Ralph and Ricky to pick up on all these things in real time. Sometimes there is just too much going on in the screen to cover it all. But surely there is a director who is watching this stuff, that can tell the on-air crew to come back to it.
I just watch it alone.
MXoN this past year was the worst because ofnit being on a football Sunday
When I watch with "casual fans"...they are always amazed that I can say the same thing the commentators do before they say it.
The commentators should have more info than the viewers do.
Not saying this is the best practice just what I heard.
All of us talking about it on here ain’t going to do much. But you would be surprised when you put a professional well put together potential email like you have, without being offensive they well may very well not only read it but respond to it and also appreciate the feedback ..?
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