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I thought the last two broadcasts were pretty good, going Picture in Picture sometimes but didn’t miss any major racing, except Cooper’s pass on Roczen last weekend. This weekend was not even disappointing, it was familiar. I think I may be conditioned to the broadcast missing the racing action so I have to listen to background crowd noise to know something is happening, count to 10, then see a replay.
Sorry Bondo! It’s time to go 😉
Exactly. Absolutely, unbelievable.
I like when Ricky tells us “there’s a loooot of racin left” 2 turns into the race..
cheers RC
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It was cool when Webb was about a second behind Sexton with 2 minutes to go... they showed the pass on Justin Cooper by Anderson and then just kept showing Anderson riding around..... then WOW LET'S SEE A REPLAY OF WEBB PASSING SEXTON WHILE HE CRASHED OFF CAMERA
get a brain, morans
That was a timing issue, not just TV because the video board in the stadium was wrong several times too. I remember one time it said Thrasher was in second and I looked down and he was still in the lead by quite a bit.
Yea exactly he clearly doesn't care as he has the power to do something but chooses not as this had an ongoing issue for years and it's no secret. The timing and scoring same thing it's a clown show and again it's no secret.
First, I spent about 3 hours in the tv trucks at Houston watching how these guys work, what goes into the process, etc. It’s incredible how much is going on. I will be writing a feature on the production in a few weeks. Gonna spend some more time with them in Arlington first.
Second, I went back to the 3:45 mark and watched to see exactly what you are talking about. Coop had just almost crashed in the whoops and there was about a 6-8 bike gap to Sexton. Looked to be over. At 2:35 left they switch to JA and JCoop because they can’t ONLY show the leaders for four minutes. There is other racing and if they don’t show the other battles people will be pissed. “Why are you only showing the leader and not all the other racing? You guys suck!”. They stayed on that battle for about 30 secs until Sexton crashed.
It’s literally impossible to make all “the fans” happy. Bondo and everyone I met in the trucks are legit fans of the sport. They are doing a job, just like you guys. Sometimes they miss the mark. I’m sure you have bad moments at your job. They have multiple cameras and spotters during a race. If they see a battle that looks interesting, like JA trying to pass JCoop they will switch for a moment. You didn’t miss anything. You’re entitled to your opinions, but maybe look at how good we have it compared to a few years ago
It's the same reason I cant watch RDL without getting upset. They follow a guy rolling around the track for half a lap and when he starts his fast lap they cut away to a guy rolling around the outside of the track. It happened countless times last weekend.
You have no idea how much is going on in that truck. It’s not as simple as you think
RDL has only 2 cameras and zero spotters. They are searching for heaters but can’t always catch them in time. I asked to spot for RDL in Arlington so I can see what it’s like
Anyone know where or how to apply for this? I work in TV/Film and was always interested in how people get this position. I've scoured around the NBC career homepage, but couldn't find anything. Are they hired by Feld?
Missing a crash is understandable. But you can't spend 5+ minutes talking about how only the top 9 transfer from the heat and how important that last spot is then just never show anyone finish but the winner. I understand that 9th is a minute behind but I'm sure that is a better minute than watching the winner roll around and ride to the podium..
Did I miss the Deegan's post heat race interview?
They showed the finish, cut to commercial and I didn't see it. Did I miss it somehow?
Peacock is bit cumbersome to forward and reverse (for me) and it seems hard to get right to where you want to be.
I also don't like that if I pause it and then go to resume it always wants to go live...
Not miss anything?I call BS on this and to say it’s better now than a few years ago is ludicrous!! Tell me how the MXGP guys get it right week after week in places that barely have internet and we can’t get to see one damn hot lap ever in 20 minutes of qualifying on RDL? I gladly pay to watch every race but they miss a helluva lot of the racing including the nationals as well!! They can do much better if they wanted too!!
EXACTLY! One finger on the mute at all times with her.
You're out of your mind on this one. Simple? It's pretty simple when you can see the live timing going from a 3 second lead to 2, then down to 1. When you have two voices ON THE BROADCAST trying to pull attention to the front while they show the battle for 6th or 7th place.
It's inexcusable at that point. When 90% of fans watching are pissed off, YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. It needs to be fixed. There needs to be a change.
I don't know why you want to defend the production crew so bad man, but it's a bad look.
If you want simple....Bondo is SIMPLY terrible at his job. Terrible.
Unfortunately DC also says in the interview that Bondo has all the connections for crews throughout the country. Bondo seems to employ and run the production.
Pit Row
it's the same as any TV production, cameras capture their sections and usually camera folks are incredibly competent,There's the people putting the graphics up on screen - normal for a tv production, even your local news, the graphics peeps are also pros and very critical of their own work. You've got the sound guys making sure it all sounds right, the video guys making sure all shots have the same lighting etc. etc.
The director is the one calling the shots on what happens on the screen, they make the call on what the screen looks like/when the graphics go up/what is replayed; hence they are the one in control of the entire broadcast. Typically a team of 12 are working in the production booth all under the direct command of the director. Of course there is a lot going on and that's why it takes 100+ of them to make the show.
Watching all 9 qualifiers cross the heats is a call that's made by the director. So make the call. Its basic understanding of the sport where the top 9 matter, the "winner" of the heat is actually not all that important (other than for first dibs on gate pick). Following the heat winner and ignoring everything else going on would be the equivalent of keeping the camera on a quarterback in the NFL after they make a throw, and totally ignoring the play that is actually transpiring downfield.
You can view the interview ML had with DC on YouTube from last year. At about the 24:00 and 26:00 mark DC explains how Bondo controls all the SX and MX production and hiring.
I will bring many of these topics/questions/opinions up in the article. I will go through all these comments and questions and get responses.
I remember watching practice last year, and they had the camera on someone who was starting a hot lap and Blair even said "looks like so and so is on a hot lap, let's stay on him and watch what he does." and they cut to someone rolling around 3 seconds later. I feel like I cut the TV crew more slack than a lot of people on here, but that shit is laughably bad.
I appreciate you saying that, but you won't get real responses. DC had a chance last year and doubled down on Bondo being "the guy" who can do that job.
It will be the same BS, excuses that YOU have already given them in this thread. A lot going on, too much action to catch it all, BLAH BLAH BLAH. The "you don't understand because you aren't in the truck" excuse is absolute nonsense.
You'll have a moment in this upcoming interview you speak of where you can dig deeper than anyone has yet, and I hope you take it instead of hearing the same answer and then moving on.
Bottom line is there is NO excuse when RC and James are talking about the lead and the producer is on the "battle" for 6th. The man making the decisions is making the wrong ones, consistently and without improving. Get some real answers about THAT.
It made the 250 Main almost unwatchable. There were more than a few times where I was like "WTF happened to X' and he jumped up 3-4 spots only a few seconds later.
I said this last week, but I don't know why we ONLY get split/interval on the timing & scoring board and not have it rotate between that and last lap. It would add a lot of context to the later stages of a race where a guy falls off and another is still pushing.
I hear you, but also you act like this one dude who has been fucking up the broadcast for YEARS is the ONLY guy in the country that is employable in this position?
Like his track record at this point for making not errors but HUGE MISTAKES that fuck the races up is so apparent. I won't regurgitate all the other shit people have already said in the thread but JC there are EASY things that they could do to make the broadcast better but just refuse to make changes or listen to the fucking people actually watching. Who do they think is watching these races? It's us lmao. Its not random fucking people flipping channels.
Easy things that take no effort to change:
1). Show the top 9 finishing in the heat races. Should be self explanatory. ANYONE who has watched this sport should know that. Makes zero fucking sense to show a whole race for top 9 then we don't even get to see how the race ends.
2). If the battle for the lead is 2 seconds or less and shrinking - DONT CUT AWAY.
It's a problem when during the 250 last lap battle I was just waiting for W.C. to appear with an update from Mitch on Shimoda...
I'll agree with you, there's a lot of action going on in a production truck. I've seen the upclose interworking of a NFL production & their budgets & tech involved is more advanced but the basic fundamental production I would assume is the same, and the production director making the calls on what, who, when is being broadcast on screen is ultimately that position's decision. I get that's a high stress job, maybe they need more assistance production directors to get info to Bondo, I don't know. I just know this seems to happen time & time again.
Also if/when you engage them on questions about this and get more into the weeds, I'd like to see their responses, and how much you're willing to push the envelope. I get it's a two way street, and you can lose your access by poking the bear too much. Then you'll be on the outside looking in, mush as Steve was for many years, until the powers to be realized that actually having him doing what he does, helps them tremendously, and for free.
I might be totally out of bounds, but I believe that most the eyes watching these races are fans & just want a good product at least 95% of the time to entertain themselves and create fodder with buddies till the next weeks event. We all get that mistakes and F'ups are apart of it, but it seems to be happening consistently enough to point out.
Good Luck Mr. Sides on getting info, I applaud your efforts in this janky sport.
In my line of work and since about 2005 when we implemented Operational Excellence, continuous improvement has been an initiative. We use LFI’s, learning from incidents, and look backs after major events to identify our flaws/mistakes, make adjustments for next time and even praise the good. Rinse and repeat for 18 years, we got pretty damn good at what we do. Its really not that hard but if you just screw up, pack up the truck and move on to do it all over again the same way with no review or accountability b/c you are “the guy” then we’ll continue to get the same old shit.
The “better than what we had” saying is so tired in our sport as if we don’t watch other sports excel and grow in broadcasting.
No, I can’t do better, Thats tired as hell as well, but I can help.
Would be interested to know if the production director gets paid a flat fee for each race and keeps the crew small to increase their percentage $.
Heck the spotters are anyone who wants to help for free.
Only 2 cameras for RDL sounds like bare minimum. But if I wanted to make my nut, I’m not going to ask for help.
This is why I don't have any faith you'll ask the REAL questions; you aren't even aware of the actual problem. On RDL you LITERALLY have the guy in the booth saying "X rider is on a heater, let's see how this goes" and they focus on someone else.
Pay attention. It's not a camera or spotter issue. Simply ask why they don't listen to the people they DO have during the show.
Whether it's Daniel Blair on RDL, or mother effing Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart on the live race broadcast, they don't listen.
Why hire guys like that and then refuse to take advantage of their experience and instincts during the show? It's a joke.
You're already all over this thread defending the entire crew man, so forgive me for not thinking this coming interview or feature will be anything but the usual.
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