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Eurosport commentary

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GCN really miss a GC expert in the studio today . They need more on current teams tactics and someone who knows the teams/riders

Its not good enough to say ..."Its hard, its hard ...the sprinter wont last, its hard "

They need to remember that most subscribers are savvy spectators and along with the scenery/cycling for dummies comms need also someone who has very good insight and can give better tactics contributions and role play insights, etc
 
They need to remember that most subscribers are savvy spectators
This, even above Kirby being a total clown and Sideshow Rob trying to turn everything into a capital-D drama, is probably my biggest issue with GCN/Discosport, that they don't trust their audience, that they always assume their audience knows nothing and needs everything explained all the time.
 
This, even above Kirby being a total clown and Sideshow Rob trying to turn everything into a capital-D drama, is probably my biggest issue with GCN/Discosport, that they don't trust their audience, that they always assume their audience knows nothing and needs everything explained all the time.
Jez Cox is the worst for this. Thanks for explaining how bonus seconds work at every single intermediate sprint. Very helpful.
 
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I think good commentary needs to assume a portion of the audience is new to the sport and welcome them with periodic explanations. The show broadcast time is long and viewers, new to the sport and the experienced, pop in and out so you can't limit the cycling lessons to just one segment.. I'm always surprised in these threads when a know it all fan gripes about it.
That's all well and good at the right time, I feel. I won't gripe about being treated like a novice at the Tour, for example, because that's the time when the largest percentage of casual fans and newcomers will be watching. After a few years it can get a bit grating if they don't switch up the analogies they use or the language used to explain it - hearing Phil and Paul dig into the suitcase of courage and tell us all about little petrol engines and big diesel engines and A Certain Mr Lance Armstrong for the five thousandth time in three weeks is infuriating - but at the same time, you can accept that, it's the biggest race of the year, there's lots of people for whom this will be the only bike race they watch all year and they need to be given an understanding of the basics.

At the same time, though, you can go into more detail without completely losing the casual fan. Sean Kelly in his early years would get too technical for a new audience and if you were a complete novice to the sport and were met with Kelly in his dry Irish accent with Gallicised Kellyisms like the "General Classement" and so on and 48-clause sentences about cranks, and you weren't familiar enough with the sport to know what a coup having a legend like Sean Kelly in the commentary booth is, you'd probably be turned off as well. Sean for his part is a lot more accessible and comfortable nowadays, but also a lot more of the audience that Eurosport and GCN in English are broadcasting to are aware of who Sean Kelly is, they don't need to be given an absolute primer in cycling 101 - the amount of races being given full coverage is hugely increased, and so the amount of opportunities for a newcomer to learn about the sport are increased too. At the same time, so is the amount of airtime that the commentators need to fill - if you compare the amount of commentators rotating on cycling now to 15 years ago on Eurosport International/British Eurosport it's like night and day. At one point it was basically, Harmon, Kelly, Kirby when Harmon wasn't available and occasionally Bäckstedt, and that was 90% of the coverage covered.

As a result, though, the number of races reaching a wider audience is higher, so the number of races that the casual fan gets to see is higher too. I think it's fair to assume that there will be some casual viewers watching the Giro, the Vuelta and the biggest Classics, so there needs to be some coverage of the fundamentals, but less than is required at the Tour and the Olympics. However, if somebody is watching the Tour of Hungary, or the Healthy Ageing Tour, or Tro Bro Léon, which are usually on bonus streams that require actively hunting out rather than just chancing across when flicking through the channels, then I think it's fairly safe to say that they're likely somebody who is invested in the sport of cycling and doesn't need to be told what the points jersey signifies or what time bonuses are, so explanations for the novice fan should be minimal.

Don't know how it is over on the English GCN, since I mostly watch them in Dutch or French (cos I can't stand Kirby).
But some silences feel like I'm waiting for Godot.
*Gaudu
 
I think good commentary needs to assume a portion of the audience is new to the sport and welcome them with periodic explanations. The show broadcast time is long and viewers, new to the sport and the experienced, pop in and out so you can't limit the cycling lessons to just one segment.. I'm always surprised in these threads when a know it all fan gripes about it.

Which know it all fan are you alluding to ?
I expressly said "along with the scenery/cycling for dummies comms need also someone who has very good insight and can give better tactics contributions and role play insights, etc "

The key is to try and cater for different audiences ..its not hard to mix it up esp as there is so much air time to fill.
Paul Sherwan was great on the basics and the scenery and the castles ...no one is saying dont include that esp during a GT.
But at the same time
if you have analysis in the studio then that analysis should be of a certain standard and include people with that experience , knowledge and contacts. Experts should be experts in the different aspects of cycling. Not one person in the GCN studio has contended for a GT or been in a team that won a GT ?
 
For me - having an overexcited commentator at the end of a race is like having canned laughter queuing the viewer that it's time to laugh - akin to someone holding up a "clap" or laugh" sign to a live studio audience. Some people really like it but it puts me off. Of course there are certain times when it's called for and feels natural, but every single race end? Nah! So those guys often get treated to my mute button. Especially Sir Kirbygasm! But lately, often RH too.
 
For me - having an overexcited commentator at the end of a race is like having canned laughter queuing the viewer that it's time to laugh - akin to someone holding up a "clap" or laugh" sign to a live studio audience. Some people really like it but it puts me off. Of course there are certain times when it's called for and feels natural, but every single race end? Nah! So those guys often get treated to my mute button. Especially Sir Kirbygasm! But lately, often RH too.
This exactly
It's so obviously fake that it hurts my ears.
And combined with his annoying chuckle everytime he tells something that most people won't remotely consider funny.
 
For me - having an overexcited commentator at the end of a race is like having canned laughter queuing the viewer that it's time to laugh - akin to someone holding up a "clap" or laugh" sign to a live studio audience. Some people really like it but it puts me off. Of course there are certain times when it's called for and feels natural, but every single race end? Nah! So those guys often get treated to my mute button. Especially Sir Kirbygasm! But lately, often RH too.

last km of a Kirby sprint is always on mute for me.
can't be doing with the hysterical stuttering, let's wait and sees, for the time beings, for goodness sakes, i'm afraids etc etc.
i could arrange a Kirby commentary, with these random phrases triggered on my sampler keyboard... and it would still sound just as (in)coherent.
 
last km of a Kirby sprint is always on mute for me.
can't be doing with the hysterical stuttering, let's wait and sees, for the time beings, for goodness sakes, i'm afraids etc etc.
i could arrange a Kirby commentary, with these random phrases triggered on my sampler keyboard... and it would still sound just as (in)coherent.
"The line beckons"
 
Which know it all fan are you alluding to ?
I expressly said "along with the scenery/cycling for dummies comms need also someone who has very good insight and can give better tactics contributions and role play insights, etc "

The key is to try and cater for different audiences ..its not hard to mix it up esp as there is so much air time to fill.
Paul Sherwan was great on the basics and the scenery and the castles ...no one is saying dont include that esp during a GT.
But at the same time
if you have analysis in the studio then that analysis should be of a certain standard and include people with that experience , knowledge and contacts. Experts should be experts in the different aspects of cycling. Not one person in the GCN studio has contended for a GT or been in a team that won a GT ?
McEwen was on the 2007 and 08 TdF teams where Evans came second, as well as winning green when Evans was 4th in 2006. That man knows a LOT about racing, don't lump him in with Blythe please.
 
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SBS isn't bad, Simon Gerrans is finding his feet well but I think Matt Keenan is missing something without McEwen.

I think Robbie is better at Eurosport though as Keenan isn't there to sidetrack him. He's also making Kelly bearable

Keenan is over-rated as a commentator - His knowledge of the peleton and his grasp of the nuances of the race are excellent, however the tone and modulation in his voice are drab and uninspiring - He can be very monotone even in an exciting part of a race.
 

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