I am used to MX Sports telecasts of US AMA Pro Motocross, as well of course Feld's Supercross, (SMX not a topic.) Purchasing and watching MXdN Sunday really drives home the differences between Infront Moto Racing telecasts and US promoter telecasts.
As for US motocross and Supercross, I don't always love the chosen host, but generally find them to be on point and interact smoothly with cohosts. This is especially true with the reliable Weege, who somehow does not age. Even the Aussie ones Feld pushes on their primarily US audience are listenable.
Further, though I imagine outdoors motocross must be extremely difficult to film over such a vast stage, all the while maintaining viewer race continuity, MX Sports does a great job. The racing is recorded with continuity of a good selection of sub-races other than the top 3. Commentary is well coordinated with what we see. Transponder tech is beautifully integrated with the leaderboard display. It took a couple of years, but they are now mastering the use of drones nicely, and I bet they master them further in the future. All the same is true of Feld's masterful telecast of Supercross. All in all, though price hikes are never welcome, I don't really mind paying for a generally excellent product, and the rates really aren't so bad.
As for Infront Moto Racing's telecasts of MXGP and MXdN, every category mentioned above is poorly served. MXdN is the crown jewel of motocross races, but after each year of pricey view fee, I find myself swearing not to pony up for it next year.
This year commentary from the booth was the same as always. Paul Malin's significant history with MXdN gives him credentials, but his hosting skills seem limited to rattling off list of places. Um - I can see the leaderboard? Too bad cause I feel like he could have interesting experience to share. Jason "JT" Thomas made his signature to-the-point contributions based on motocross racer and industry insider insights. These are awkwardly commented upon by Malin, but more often just ignored. For example, JT provides insights about the US team for the American audience. And I note that while UK and Down Under are certainly English-speaking markets, I know the US represents a lot more money. I know MXGP is a European series, but telecasts are in English. As am American I feel like the telecast as no interest in my patronage. Every year I struggle with the decision to pay for MXdN, I rejected MXGP after part of one season.
I'm not even going to address European Supercross. Nice events but nothing close to the sensational series by Feld.
That's my take. Anyone share it? Anyone have an alternative? Anyone subscribe to and enjoy MXGP?
Can someone check on Jason Thomas? He had the energy and enthusiasm like he was doing commentary for tumor removal surgery.
OP sounds like Marchbanks, never had a passport
I sorta agree with the mxgp TV production. I find it not as good as what we get from peacock on the whole. There are pros and cons of both. I wish peacock had less fluff while the racing was going on and could figure out how to do a split screen without having so much of the screen being blank. But they do follow the battles pretty well for the most part and I feel have great camera angles. Mxgp, seems more stale to me and robotic. Malin is good, but also sometimes just constantly rambles off the obvious.
I do really like the time gap to leader on the leader board with nbc because it allows me to track the progress of riders not on screen. I wish they left that up all the time.
I subscribe to series on both sides of the pond, and I prefer the MXGP model; focused on the racing and no contrived storylines.
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If only there was a way to downvote this twice.
US broadcasts are chock full of shit that nobody needs to know, and half the time has too many people, all trying to say the same thing differently.
Weege is great, closest thing to Malin's knowledge, Outdoors way better than SX as a product for me.
MXGP-TV's budget is a fraction of the NBC one, and they do every wheel turn of every gate drop of every class all year, plus timed Qualy that actually means something, rather than showing the second session of outdoors that means nothing , cos they all went faster when the track was flat.
Malin & JT$ are bang on as a pairing, they know what is going on, and for MXoN , where history and legacy actually matter, they bring that across just as its needed.
Its a lot harder to do than you think, and the more things you try and shovel in, the worse it gets.
I could agree with you , but there is no point in us both being wrong.
There are elements of each I prefer. However I prefer the Nationals coverage as a whole. I like Malin a lot, however the full package of Weege, Stew, and JT trackside makes for a better overall production.
This is a minor nit (very), but why do all three main European motorcycle series, MotoGP, WSBK, and MXGP, have to use the exact same template for the broadcast?
I usually can tolerate JT$ during the stateside productions, and he’s usually decent when he makes guest appearances on the international races, but this recent MXdN was his worst performance ever, IMO.
Mxgp by a mile
I often find myself muting the ama broadcast. Sometimes it feels like they try their very hardest to not talk about what is happening in this exact moment. They would rather talk about qualifying, or the next round, or last round, or the past moto, or the next moto, or what they said on press, or what program they run, or what they might think, or last year, or next year.. jesus fuck just call the action. And this starts often by the second lap!! Malin all day long.
What I dig is that ama seem to have better mic placement on the track, you hear the bikes way better there.
I think Malin and JT are 2nd only to Art Eckman and David Bailey. Lisa only gets involved when it is necessary are she is both well spoken and has knowledge of the sport. Hands down MXGP coverage over Peacock. And throw in Leigh Diffy for SX is the worst of them all
One big difference between MXGP TV and NBC/Peacock etc is that the MXGP TV producers fill in the gaps with pit reporting and interviews on the line. With Peacock everything goes back to a booth with two people just yacking it up.
It would be far better if Peacock had a roving reporter with a camera (like what Daniel Blair used to do) and go into the pits look at bikes, talk to racers, talk to team managers, before, during, and after the races. I remember there was a lightning delay at a Supercross and Daniel and a cameraman went underneath the stadium where all the racers were waiting and got to interview all of them like they were all in locker room together. You had racers riffing off each other. It was pretty awesome. More can be done...
First, I'm happy to have so many options to watch, and criticisms I have are around the margins and I don't let them distract from how much I enjoy being able to watch so many races.
I've not subscribed to the MXGP-TV program for the last couple of years apart from the MXdN. Only reason is that I don't have enough time to take advantage of the livestream and I prioritize getting the MotoGP video pass as the other subscription with Peacock for US MX and SX. I do catch the MXGP CBS SN broadcasts to catch up, which given how they do commercials is a big step down from the GP livestream.
The two presentations are different. I think the production quality - how it looks on my screen - of the US presentation is better, but MXGP has gotten better. That said, the US split screen format is a travesty, both in presentation and the selection. I don't recall if and how MXGP deploys a spit screen, but the MotoGP split screen is far, far superior. It is a smaller box in the upper left above the leaderboard, so it doesn't compete with the main action. The producers use it sparingly and almost always make the right choices. (Have to say, the MotoGP package and presentation is just miles better than either of the MX productions and presentations, which probably reflects that it has way more resources/funds. It's the gold standard).
For MXGP, Paul is good, but to me he's only describing what I'm seeing - it's like a radio broadcast - but it is track focused. Lisa Leyland always has been better than whoever the female sideline reporter has been in the states, in part I think because they cut to her less and when she's on it's not so much the filler side of story telling that seems to dominate the US presentation; she doesn't try too hard to be part of the show (I don't really mind Wil, but she needs to use five words instead of ten, especially given the extra five words always seem to be about Wil). It's not a gender distinction - like a man is better than a woman - but making a distinction between how the two productions approach slotting in storytelling extraneous to the actual racing regardless whether the trackside personality is male of female.
For US, that story telling element has for to me too many cut aways from racing. Maybe it's because we're caught up here with an Olympics style approach where you spend a lot of time introducing and investing an audience in personalities. Maybe it's because the US side is more of a marketing enterprise than the MXGP. I sure don't need to one reminded to bet on something in the main broadcast.
The announcers here are fine. Weege can be great, and for trackside more often than not JT has something to add even if if feels like those cutaways can be too frequent. Stew has been to me a revelation in the sense that I get the feeling he is planning his own race as if he was on the track, and explaining what guys are doing and why, and what to look for. As good as Malin is I don't get that from him. I'd love to hear the two of them do a race together.
Appreciate your comments here. And I agree, a Malin-Stewart collaboration could be very interesting.
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