Eurosport commentary

[ashhutch1997]

Blythe in today's pre-race show: "out of the GC guys, I think Ganna has the best chance today"

Adam Blythe is paid to be a cycing pundit. Discuss.

I stopped watching the pre race show years ago. It went from being entertaining to just silly and annoying, Adam Blythe just rubs off on everyone.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Adam Blythe just rubs off on everyone.

Do they ever do any kind of audience feedback research? Do they think that his input impresses or amuses anyone? Because antipathy to him here is pretty much universal, and I would suggest that the UK members here are probably a good representation of UK cycling viewership on a dedicated channel.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Do they ever do any kind of audience feedback research? Do they think that his input impresses or amuses anyone? Because antipathy to him here is pretty much universal, and I would suggest that the UK members here are probably a good representation of UK cycling viewership on a dedicated channel.

I imagine they don't pay him that much.
Punditry pay should be on a scale with their palamares so on that calculation he should be getting paid 0.9% of what Sean Kelly gets.

 

[ashhutch1997]

Do they ever do any kind of audience feedback research? Do they think that his input impresses or amuses anyone? Because antipathy to him here is pretty much universal, and I would suggest that the UK members here are probably a good representation of UK cycling viewership on a dedicated channel.

Probably not, unfortunately you can't really give constructive criticism these days, I get the impression you'd be seen as a 'hater', given some of Orlas socal media posts.
They literally only have him because he's fresh out of the peloton and probably has lots of contacts ect.

 

[ashhutch1997]

On a side note, they need to scrap the reporter on the bike now Wiggins has gone. It was entertaining when Wiggins first started doing it, but now it offers absolutely no insight whatsoever...

 

[Squire]

I'm usually a big Hatch fan (and I still think his commentary from km 0 until the flamme rouge is mostly excellent), but he's really getting way too dramatic when calling the finish in recent times.

You can say a lot of things about Liggett & Sherwen, but they were very good at having the appropriate level of excitement for most situations without it ever sounding forced. Hatch is entering Kirby territory for the finishes these days (maybe he's been told it's what's needed for the highlight package), and today it reached such heights that it made me log off just after the riders crossed the line.

 

[Nick2413]

I may be in the minority but I very rarely have issues with any commentators. I don’t mind Blythe and I get a kick out of Kirby especially during boring parts of stages. People seem to like to rail on commentators as a hobby regardless of the sport.

 

[Sciatic]

My fantasy from watching some NFL games where the color commentator keeps saying really inane stuff was to require those commentators ( but not the play-by-play guys) to have electrodes attached to them so that viewers could generate an electric shock every time they said something really stupid. They would shift to being more thoughtful about what they’re saying very quickly

 

[Sciatic]

I may be in the minority but I very rarely have issues with any commentators. I don’t mind Blythe and I get a kick out of Kirby especially during boring parts of stages. People seem to like to rail on commentators as a hobby regardless of the sport.

That probably a good attitude to have, but when an announcer keeps saying stupid sh*t over and over that’s either lazy ( it’s a communication medium in which it’s very possible to improve) or condescending and I can’t not get frustrated. And there are good announcers which accentuates the difference.

 

[awavey]

On a side note, they need to scrap the reporter on the bike now Wiggins has gone. It was entertaining when Wiggins first started doing it, but now it offers absolutely no insight whatsoever...

But its how we'll lose Blythe for the last week, got to look on the positives

 

[scribers]

Am I the only one who dislikes Sean Kelly’s commentary? I mean it’s always insightful but he sounds like he has a mouthful of unswallowed food at all times.

 

[kingjr]

Am I the only one who dislikes Sean Kelly’s commentary? I mean it’s always insightful but he sounds like he has a mouthful of unswallowed food at all times.

How dare you describe his beautiful Irish accent in this fashion.

 

[zlev11]

I'm usually a big Hatch fan (and I still think his commentary from km 0 until the flamme rouge is mostly excellent), but he's really getting way too dramatic when calling the finish in recent times.

You can say a lot of things about Liggett & Sherwen, but they were very good at having the appropriate level of excitement for most situations without it ever sounding forced. Hatch is entering Kirby territory for the finishes these days (maybe he's been told it's what's needed for the highlight package), and today it reached such heights that it made me log off just after the riders crossed the line.

yes. today "AND LOOK AT THE GAP HE HAS NOW!!!" when Ganna was 4 seconds (i counted) off the front was ridiculous. i really hate his "this is the greatest thing we've ever seen!!!" commentary style that he's had the past few seasons. he used to not be like that.

 

[awavey]

yes. today "AND LOOK AT THE GAP HE HAS NOW!!!" when Ganna was 4 seconds (i counted) off the front was ridiculous. i really hate his "this is the greatest thing we've ever seen!!!" commentary style that he's had the past few seasons. he used to not be like that.

I think its definitely a thing theyre encouraged to do more of thesedays, Ive certainly heard ex-commentators from other sports say that, I doubt cycling is uniquely able to avoid that kind of producer pressure, because theyre all looking for that viral clip to continually replay. I mean during Tour of Turkey they kept bringing up Kirbys hyper moment from years back.

 

[Sciatic]

I think its definitely a thing theyre encouraged to do more of thesedays, Ive certainly heard ex-commentators from other sports say that, I doubt cycling is uniquely able to avoid that kind of producer pressure, because theyre all looking for that viral clip to continually replay. I mean during Tour of Turkey they kept bringing up Kirbys hyper moment from years back.

Yeah, it’s getting to be rampant throughout televised sports.

 

[ManicJack]

I think its definitely a thing theyre encouraged to do more of thesedays, Ive certainly heard ex-commentators from other sports say that, I doubt cycling is uniquely able to avoid that kind of producer pressure, because theyre all looking for that viral clip to continually replay. I mean during Tour of Turkey they kept bringing up Kirbys hyper moment from years back.

Yes. Definitely. At knowledgeable viewers expense unfortunately.

 

[Alberto Fishwick]

It's Bath not London

Bath was the GCN location, I think. They have said a few times during commentary that they are in South-West London at the Warner/Discovery studios.

 

[awavey]

Bath was the GCN location, I think. They have said a few times during commentary that they are in South-West London at the Warner/Discovery studios.

Chiswick then, should have stayed in Bath, its cheaper, and Robbie wouldnt then be on expenses around Windsor.

 

[CleanCiclismo]

I've never heard Kirby comment on the Giro. Does he hate it? Similar to Hatch never commenting Vuelta even though he lives in Spain or lived.

 

[ZamlinusYoutubeious]

Leipheimer. No way Eurosport engages him however.

He will suck the air out in the studio

 

[ZamlinusYoutubeious]

I wish were. I made the mistake of tuning back in later on (I left it running with the sound off, turning it up if there was an interview) to even hear Antonio Tiberiah.

I know very little Italian, but enough to know that there are plenty of words that end with a consonant and are not finished in normal speech with a gratuitous ahhh, so I don't know why Italian podium announcers tend to do it*, but for a guy from the south coast of England to do it is nothing but a pathetic pastiche.

* @SafeBet , @Mayomaniac : why do they do it?

There was An attempt to sound bilingual

 

[staubsauger]

I've never heard Kirby comment on the Giro. Does he hate it? Similar to Hatch never commenting Vuelta even though he lives in Spain or lived.

Kirby did the international RCS coverage in 2015. His commentary on Jan Polanc stage win used to be part of the Merida commercial!

Or am I mixing that up with Hatch?

 

[Barnacle Bill]

I've never heard Kirby comment on the Giro. Does he hate it? Similar to Hatch never commenting Vuelta even though he lives in Spain or lived.

Kirby did the international RCS coverage in 2015. His commentary on Jan Polanc stage win used to be part of the Merida commercial!

Or am I mixing that up with Hatch?

I definitely remember Kirby on the international feed for the Giro a few years ago. Not sure if it was as far back as 2015, perhaps it was. Plenty of natter about his meals in Italy etc, as expected.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

He will suck the wheels out in the studio

Fixed that for you

I definitely remember Kirby on the international feed for the Giro a few years ago. Not sure if it was as far back as 2015, perhaps it was. Plenty of natter about his meals in Italy etc, as expected.

Kirby has been doing the international feed for RCS since at least 2013; that was why Eurosport were forced to scramble and Declan Quigley got thrown to the wolves at that year's Giro when David Harmon left suddenly. Ordinarily Kirby was the default fill-in guy for them but due to the smaller amount of cycling covered at the time, they largely allowed the pool of commentators to be independent contractors they would hire in as needed, as by and large the Harmon-Kelly duo could cover 3/4 the calendar they needed, so Kirby had taken a contract to cover the race elsewhere and Eurosport needed to get somebody who could fill in on short notice. Quigley largely covered domestic racing at the time and was somewhat out of his depth being thrown in for the Giro which is a large part of why he retreated back to a motorsport-heavy commentary diet, in which he had more experience, and Eurosport continued to lean heavily on Kirby for a while after that before the increase in the number of races covered meant they had to go to the platoon basis of the last several years.

 

[Alberto Fishwick]

Kirby and Dan Lloyd did the world feed for several years but in the end I guess even RCS got fed up with CK. Ned Boulting and Matt Stephens have been in post for a few years now.

Rob Hatch often says how much he loves Italy so would always punt for the Giro if he could. It does seem a bit odd that he skips the Vuelta when he lives in Mallorca. Given that he and CK both cover the Tour perhaps it's just a case of fair shares