Grueling Stage 7 of Giro LIVE broadcast

[hbrown]

If you missed the any of the first 6 stages of the Giro d’Italia don’t worry you can still watch them on demand here: http://www.universalsports.com/club...&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=&SPID=13044&SPSID=105625
You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s stage 7, it will be a grueling day(244km) through beautiful Austria, check out the LIVE broadcast: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?id=133215&catid=-2&db_oem_id=23000
And don’t forget about the quality action shots, littered with those dominating Italians, and ovcourse some Lance Armstong: http://www.universalsports.com/Phot..._OEM_ID=23000&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=

 

[BroDeal]

If you missed the any of the first 6 stages of the Giro d’Italia don’t worry you can still watch them on demand here: http://www.universalsports.com/club...&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=&SPID=13044&SPSID=105625
You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s stage 7, it will be a grueling day(244km) through beautiful Austria, check out the LIVE broadcast: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?id=133215&catid=-2&db_oem_id=23000
And don’t forget about the quality action shots, littered with those dominating Italians, and ovcourse some Lance Armstong: http://www.universalsports.com/Phot..._OEM_ID=23000&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=

I just cannot take the live commentator mooning over Armstrong every two minutes any more. Cannot do it. Makes me want to vomit. I thought it was supposed to be the Tour of Italy, not Lance rides around Italy.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Can't fully blame the announcer. The producer of the show back in Italy has instructed camera crews to capture Lance, and the technical director both instructed, and chooses to, focus on him.

But I agree. It's disturbing and flat out wrong when we get more camera shots of Lance than we do the Maglia Rosa.

I'd go as far to say this is some of the worst coverage I've seen so far, because of just this. Even going back to the 1980's when John Tesh spiced up cycling with music and narration, at least the race was evenly covered. And Tesh's package stories profiling riders and teams were outstanding. We aren't getting that with any of this. I know that Universal got there at the last moment, but the coverage is from Italian TV. Universal has also had enough time now to have an editor put together little bits and pieces leading into the stages on other things, like history of the Giro, or DiLuca's support of the Abruzzo quake victims. Instead, nothing. Just camera shots going back and forth from the front of the pack, to Lance, back to the front, then back to Lance. Over and over.

 

[Epicycle]

Why does Universal Sports put spoilers next to the on demand video playbacks? It's really frustrating to have to cover the right side of my computer screen with paper so I don't find out who won before I watch the replay.

 

[ridley]

A couple of good things abt the Universal Sports broadcasts (other than seeing LA every ten seconds that is ), is the minimum commercial interruptions and and coverage -

Kind of sick and tired of Subaru, Saab and Bowflex ads !!!

 

[quadsRme]

I have to agree regarding the USports production of the Giro. It is disappointing, so far. I am hoping that over the weekend maybe they will put together some additional info about the Giro, maybe a bit of history or a few side stories, as mentioned earlier ie; DiLuca, etc.
This main announcer is, I believe one of their main guys. I was watching a skiing event and it sure sounded like the same guy.

Have to agree with Alpe regarding the producers of the show, etc.

Maybe we should send scads of emails to the network with some suggestions. I doubt it would change , but if you don't voice your opinion to them most likely they feel it is ok.

 

[Dbrun13]

I just cannot take the live commentator mooning over Armstrong every two minutes any more. Cannot do it. Makes me want to vomit. I thought it was supposed to be the Tour of Italy, not Lance rides around Italy.

You think it's bad now, imagine what it'll be like in July...

 

[Cobblestones]

Well, I am thankful to be able to see the feed. The picture quality is great, not quite TV quality, but good enough to follow the race to identify the faces and read the numbers. THe feed starts early enough in the race; it also stays on for quite some time after the race for all the ceremonies. There's no commercial breaks. Big plus here.

About Lancecam: I assume Universalsports does not have an editor which chooses between different cameras, so they're probably at the mercy of someone else's editor.

About the commentator: sure, he's not precisely a cycling expert. He does seem to listen to race radio and reports based on that which is ok. I agree he needs someone who can read the race and explain race tactics, stuff which wouldn't be said on race radio.

It would be interesting to learn about the business end of this. How much was paid for the rights. How much in other expenses (commentator, infrastructure etc.) and how much ad revenue generated. That probably provides answers to some questions and criticism.