How dumb are the folks at Versus/NBC?

[mewmewmew13]

At this moment, the "Primetime" Versus broadcast has cutaway from a replay of today's iTT and is instead showing highlights from Stage 18 up the Galibier.

Sooooo...if you act like you're a "champion," and people around you treat you like a "champion," and others tell you that you're a "champion"...then that makes you a "champion"? Is that how it works now?

Since when does the second place guy get the lengthy replay tribute?

I can't even make this stuff up. I hope at least one moron from that network sees this thread. Joel Felicio? Are you out there?

https://twitter.com/#!/joelfelicio

News Flash: Cadel Evans won the 2011 TdF today!

WTF is going at Versus?!?!

I am 'watching' this also ...with the sound turned down.

 

[Boleyn]

At this moment, the "Primetime" Versus broadcast has cutaway from a replay of today's iTT and is instead showing highlights from Stage 18 up the Galibier.

Sooooo...if you act like you're a "champion," and people around you treat you like a "champion," and others tell you that you're a "champion"...then that makes you a "champion"? Is that how it works now?

Since when does the second place guy get the lengthy replay tribute?

I can't even make this stuff up. I hope at least one moron from that network sees this thread. Joel Felicio? Are you out there?

https://twitter.com/#!/joelfelicio

News Flash: Cadel Evans won the 2011 TdF today!

WTF is going at Versus?!?!

You didn't mention the commercial breaks every 5 minutes. Watch Tony Martin do 1 km, commercial break. Back from break, fluff piece, TM for 1 km, break. Unwatchable.

Just as I type this, another break!!!!

 

[mewmewmew13]

You didn't mention the commercial breaks every 5 minutes. Watch Tony Martin do 1 km, commercial break. Back from break, fluff piece, TM for 1 km, break. Unwatchable.

Just as I type this, another break!!!!

good time for some serious forum-ing.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Anyone know who will be commentating for vuelta universal sports coverage?

In the US, it's highly likely to be Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski. At least I hope so. The problem is that Comcast now owns Universal Sports, so it's hard to tell if Versus is just going to swallow and discard Universal and merge it into Versus, and if they did, it would suck big time. The whole thing already stinks.

I wrote several pages ago on the histories of Universal and Versus, and why Comcast sucks.

At this moment, the "Primetime" Versus broadcast has cutaway from a replay of today's iTT and is instead showing highlights from Stage 18 up the Galibier... Sooooo... WTF is going at Versus?!?!

As I mentioned Versus is owned by Comcast, and well, you see the results.

 

[Granville57]

I made the mistake of turning on the primetime show on versus...

At this moment, the "Primetime" Versus broadcast has cutaway from a replay of today's iTT and is instead showing highlights from Stage 18 up the Galibier.

LOL! Both of us suckers for this stupid network.

For the life of me, I don't know how they expect to attract any new viewers to the sport. The ratio of commercials to race coverage is unbearable. When I watched the replay of Alpe d'Huez, one of the most exciting stages in recent memory, it was impossible to feel the drama of it...and I was already primed from having watched the Eurosport feed earlier that day!

There is no continuity whatsoever when they go from typically four-to-five minutes of race coverage to three-to-four minutes of commercials. Tonight's broadcast showed about 1:30 of the TT before breaking for commercial. Way to go.

I understand the economic aspect, I'm not stupid, but do they seriously think that the casual observer won't change the channel pretty damn quickly considering they way they present the sport?

And is a three hour "primetime" show really necessary? How about two hours? Would that be so difficult? My friends and family members who are casually interested in cycling, WILL NEVER STAY UP UNTIL 11:00PM EVERY NIGHT TO WATCH THE COVERAGE! Especially when nearly half the time is dedicated to the Ultra Life and other inspirational advertisements.

 

[Granville57]

HAHAHA!

I didn't realize so many others had joined the conversation this evening.

 

[mewmewmew13]

HAHAHA!

I didn't realize so many others had joined the conversation this evening.

...AND you know why we are here!

 

[this_is_edie]

I'm completely flummoxed by versus/nbc. This makes no sense really. I wanted to give them a chance but they've pushed me time & time again to find live feeds online with the combination of all the ads, the so-called features and the biased commentating. It would be interesting to count how many minutes are actually spent on cycling during the show.

And I agree, if it's so expensive to do - keep it to two hours but then show it!

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

For the life of me, I don't know how they expect to attract any new viewers to the sport. The ratio of commercials to race coverage is unbearable.

They are likely underselling from the past with the scandals and all, but are pimping out. This is Versus/Comcast after all.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Versus will ditch cycling and something like the Speed network will pick it up. Or Eurosport will open it's HD webcast feed to other regions.

 

[Granville57]

It would be interesting to count how many minutes are actually spent on cycling during the show.

Think I didn't?

During part of the Alpe stage:

3:50 Race
3:20 Commercial
4:50 Race
3:20 Commercial
5:30 Race
3:20 Commercial
4:20 Race
3:50 Commercial

Yup. I actually noted that. Not my imagination

 

[jobiwan]

Think I didn't?

During part of the Alpe stage:

3:50 Race
3:20 Commercial
4:50 Race
3:20 Commercial
5:30 Race
3:20 Commercial
4:20 Race
3:50 Commercial

Yup. I actually noted that. Not my imagination

To defend eek Versus on THIS POINT (Just This Point!), all the commercials allowed us an hour of commercial free Alpe D'Huez awesomeness, unfortunately accompanied by P&P!

 

[Granville57]

To defend eek Versus on THIS POINT (Just This Point!), all the commercials allowed us an hour of commercial free Alpe D'Huez awesomeness, unfortunately accompanied by P&P!

On the live broadcast, I agree. They cram a bunch in and then go uninterrupted for the end (I think it was about 40 minutes). And that's more tolerable when the coverage starts at 8:00am EST. But for primetime viewing, it's absurd.

But point taken.

 

[the delgados]

LOL! Both of us suckers for this stupid network.

For the life of me, I don't know how they expect to attract any new viewers to the sport. The ratio of commercials to race coverage is unbearable. When I watched the replay of Alpe d'Huez, one of the most exciting stages in recent memory, it was impossible to feel the drama of it...and I was already primed from having watched the Eurosport feed earlier that day.

Granville:

Versus coverage aside, don't you think the dramatic effect of the Alpe d"Huez stage was somewhat diminished because you already knew the outcome? I mean, the appeal of watching sports is the aspect of unpredictability; there's no point in watching if you already know what's going to happen.

Maybe I'm being defensive because I remember Tour coverage lasting a half-hour at most. I'll take this over highlights and John Tesh any day.

 

[Gingerale]

thanks BYOP88 and mulletCobra.

and yes, idaho. it's actually the gem state but...anyways

VS coverage of stage 20 is one long commercial with some cycling. it's no doubt necessary for them. likewise, necessary for me to dvr and ff through commercials.

contador did a good job on stage 19 messing with the commercial breaks for initial airing.

i'll go visit universalsport and see what they say abt vuelta d espana coverage. suppose i should be happy i have any cycling in august. the more i watch the pickier i get though. my cable co. rep was dumbfounded when i asked about cycling for tour of spain.

 

[pitchnduel]

At this moment, the "Primetime" Versus broadcast has cutaway from a replay of today's iTT and is instead showing highlights from Stage 18 up the Galibier.

Sooooo...if you act like you're a "champion," and people around you treat you like a "champion," and others tell you that you're a "champion"...then that makes you a "champion"? Is that how it works now?

Since when does the second place guy get the lengthy replay tribute?

I can't even make this stuff up. I hope at least one moron from that network sees this thread. Joel Felicio? Are you out there?

https://twitter.com/#!/joelfelicio

News Flash: Cadel Evans won the 2011 TdF today!

WTF is going at Versus?!?!

Actually, this replay allowed us all to once again enjoy Evans' courageous (and virtually solo) pursuit of Andy up the Galibier to close the gap in Stage 18. In my opinion, that effort was just as critical to his overall win as the time trial.

Now, they probably meant to feature Andy, sure. But, unwittingly perhaps, they've stumbled upon an excellent narrative: Cadel's pursuit and overtaking of Andy that began on the slopes of the Galibier and finished on the streets of Grenoble.

 

[Granville57]

don't you think the dramatic effect of the Alpe d"Huez stage was somewhat diminished because you already knew the outcome?

On the contrary! I watched it on a small screen, sometimes relying only on the CN text feed for updates, and with multiple, excruciating interruptions.

I was dying to see the full images for myself! It's a bit like hearing the game-winning home run of a World Series from another room in the house. The first instinct is to run in to see the replay! If that replay were broken up and convoluted with commercial interruptions, most fans of the sport would go insane!

 

[Gingerale]

boise, idaho has cableone.

I wrote several pages ago on the histories of Universal and Versus, and why Comcast sucks.

As I mentioned Versus is owned by Comcast, and well, you see the results.

 

[this_is_edie]

versus/nbc sucks.

that is all.

They're so bad that I'd rather watch a feed in a small window in my computer than their HD show on my tv.

 

[mewmewmew13]

What did they do with Gogo all of a sudden????
He seemed to disappear into thin air a couple of days ago..

 

[rides like a girl]

What did they do with Gogo all of a sudden????
He seemed to disappear into thin air a couple of days ago..

His air time seems to have shrunk. Saw him a bit in today's broadcast...I too am stuck watching tonight... Trying to figure out why... Maybe because august is so far...I like GT racing... So watch it when I can...the noise of Paul, Phil and Bob is the price I pay to watch on HD.

I will say that I started to watch online first. The best part of versus has been the live stream early commentator Matt Keenan. I could listen to him all day!

 

[Granville57]

Last month, Neil Browne had an interesting blog about this very topic.

Opportunity for Versus to increase cycling’s ratings
http://neilbrowne.com/2011/06/opportunity-for-versus-to-increase-cyclings-ratings/

Felicio [tweeted] that, “bass fishing ranked twice as higher (sic) than live tour of cali (sic) coverage.

First Versus needs to retool their broadcast team. Both Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett are too personally attached to Armstrong and can’t seem to come to grips with the reality that is crashing around them or at least be slightly objective to the current situation. I realize they are two of cycling’s iconic broadcasters, but they need to be reined in regarding their talking points. They have put Lance Armstrong on a pedestal and we all know what happens next.

Versus approached cycling like every viewer just stumbled upon professional cycling for the first time. Challenge the viewer and make them curious about the sport, don’t spoon feed everything as it creates boredom and malaise, even with the broadcasters.

 

[this_is_edie]

OMG I take it back - show me stage 18 & 19 again. This primetime post-stage 20 show sucks big time. They didn't show the podium, only a few interviews and really why talk to Hincapie. lame, lame.

And Bob Roll should just retire. How can he not be embarrassed by his bias?

 

[Scansorial]

I was hanging out in the team bus area in Nevada City at this year's Tour of California and I saw Bob Roll walking around doing interviews. The fans loved him. He drew as big of a crowd as any of the riders did. I'm not sure if people just go nuts over anybody they see on TV or if people really do enjoy him on TV.

Meanwhile, I walked by the Leopard bus and Nygaard was out there in plain sight and nobody seemed to know who he was.

 

[Mr. O'Clock]

We like roll, Phil and Paul. If you have issue do not watch. We think they are entertaining and superior commentators.

 

[the delgados]

I'm curious to hear Neil Browne's suggestions for "challenging" viewers in order to stave off boredom and malaise. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he doesn't elaborate.

Name one broadcater of obscure sports that doesn't include 101 primers for an uninitiated audience. What else are they going to add during a 3-hour flat stage where nothing interesting happens before the 10 km to-go banner--trivia questions?