versus vs. Universalsports

[dougiebaby]

I really enjoyed Universal's daily online and broadcast coverage of the Giro

If it comes down to it, I'd much rather see Universal pick up the rights to the Vuelta. Versus is planning on doing one show three weeks after the race ends in October.

Why bother? Will they really make any money? As much as I prefer Versus' broadcast team to Universal's, I'd much rather get daily coverage than a taped two hour show of a 21 stage race.

How do we get universal on board?

 

[Escarabajo]

Pros Universal:
- Everyday Coverage on Giro and Vuelta.
- No Comercials

Cons Universal:
- Stupid, very stupid comentator
- Broadcast from computer, not best resolution or best seat to watch

I'll take Universal with the volume down.

 

[dougiebaby]

depends on which one you're talking about. On the rebroadcast, Gogulski was pretty good, and the British guy knew cycling, but Steve Schlanger or however you spell it was terrible.

 

[BroDeal]

US got a lot better when they replaced the first live commentator. The cool thing is that because of the Giro broadcast, I searched through my cable stations and found that I had US. I had no clue it was there before. That station has a lot of interesting sports on it. They had the Boston marathon on the other day.

Versus just gets worse and worse. There is only so much bull riding a man can take before he wigs out and takes to the streets with an axe.

 

[ElChingon]

Universal hands down! No Versus BS commercials of products having nothing to do with cycling and their constant replay that a 3 hour stage ends up being 1 hour of actuall racing and 2 of commercials. OK not that bad but that's my perspective.

The constant coverage of the race on Universal alone is a solid reason to petition to have Universal cover all races. Versus should stick to Bulls and Bass fishing, that's what they've become so why ask them to cover cycling which they don't want to anyway.

Never did Universal break away before the stage winner was shown, Versus will do it again just give them the chance. Universal showed us the complete stage down to the podium presentations till the fans started to leave, that is complete coverage not the Versus coverage of showing the winner (if they got that far) and dumping out to the next show seconds later. Then there's the constant self promotion of the cycling coverage on Versus before they break to comercial and when they get back. Then you have Versus's random schedule changes at the drop of a hat.

Versus please don't pay for Tour coverage anymore you hate doing it and suck at it, give it up let Universal take over they want it and do it well.

I could care less about the announcer(s) if the coverage is complete! I can make up my own annoucement if needed.

 

[TRDean]

Yea, I don't know how people are so enthralled with Bull Riding? I mean 8 second or less..that and WEC lately have kept me away from Versus.

 

[quadsRme]

Universal hands down! No Versus BS commercials of products having nothing to do with cycling and their constant replay that a 3 hour stage ends up being 1 hour of actuall racing and 2 of commercials. OK not that bad but that's my perspective.

The constant coverage of the race on Universal alone is a solid reason to petition to have Universal cover all races. Versus should stick to Bulls and Bass fishing, that's what they've become so why ask them to cover cycling which they don't want to anyway.

Never did Universal break away before the stage winner was shown, Versus will do it again just give them the chance. Universal showed us the complete stage down to the podium presentations till the fans started to leave, that is complete coverage not the Versus coverage of showing the winner (if they got that far) and dumping out to the next show seconds later. Then there's the constant self promotion of the cycling coverage on Versus before they break to comercial and when they get back. Then you have Versus's random schedule changes at the drop of a hat.

Versus please don't pay for Tour coverage anymore you hate doing it and suck at it, give it up let Universal take over they want it and do it well.

I could care less about the announcer(s) if the coverage is complete! I can make up my own annoucement if needed.

+1 US is a much more polished approach to sports broadcasting vs. Versus.

 

[Anonymous]

If only Direct TV would carry UniversalSports!!

I like the fact that you can check out the races online! I'm at work so I missed the race live, so being able to come home and check it out was a big plus.

And I'm not a big fan of the 30min updates from the week's races. That's if they even have those updates. I haven't seen Cyclism Sunday's on VS. for quite some time. What happened to it?

When they were the only game on TV VS. was great! But now that we have options I'm not a VS. fan much anymore! Except for maybe watching the Urijah Faber fights (the day after).

 

[TRDean]

You got me with Urijah Faber...dude is a bad ***!! He I will watch.

 

[mainemike]

You got me with Urijah Faber...dude is a bad ***!! He I will watch.

mike brown is going to smash him real nice this wknd. no doubt.

 

[BroDeal]

And I'm not a big fan of the 30min updates from the week's races. That's if they even have those updates. I haven't seen Cyclism Sunday's on VS. for quite some time. What happened to it?

That reminds me of something I really hate about Versus coverage. When they reduce their coverage of a multi-day event to just Sunday coverage, instead of showing the interesting stages from the weekday, they spend 90% of the broadcast on that day's stage. So you get to watch an hour and forty-five minutes of time trial coverage while the killer mountain stage from a few days before is reduced to a thirty second summary in the opening minutes of the show.

 

[Blakeslee]

I have to step in and defend Versus a bit here. I would agree that the steady stream of commercial interruptions during Versus coverage is disruptive while watching the races. The best part about Universal's Giro coverage was the lack of commercials and the ability to watch the entire race without interruption.

For me though there is just no comparison between the quality of the commentary on Versus over Universal's coverage. The commentary and analysis provided by Phil, Paul, and Bob Roll is hands down better than what was offered on Universal. The second commentator provided on Universal was certainly much better than the abysmal commentator they started with, but too often there was almost no analysis of tactics during the race and often even basic information as to time gaps were not broadcast in a clear or timely manner.

I think amongst all of the negative aspects surround Versus broadcasts we tend to take Phil and Paul for granted, and tend to forget just how good these guys are at providing the commentary and analysis for the races.

 

[franciep10]

If Universal gets on directv, and gets better commentators I want them to take over the tour, but for right now I would rather watch the tour on my tv, than to watch it on my computer, I detest the constant commercial breaks but nothing beats getting up in the morning watching the tour and not having to get upset when the internet is down.

 

[Mr.DNA]

I used to love Phil and Paul and tolerated Roll, but as the years have gone by they seem less like cycling analysts and more like salesmen. I thought things would improve after they got rid of Trautwig but it's just made Roll that much more unbearable. Whenever someone gets popped for doping, I know they'll drag out the "one bad apple" spiel.

David Harmon and Sean Kelly are the best I've heard. I happily listened to them during the Giro while watching Universal.

 

[grimpeur]

David Harmon and Sean Kelly are the best I've heard. I happily listened to them during the Giro while watching Universal.

Agreed. Sean Kelly is the best. Phil makes tons of mistakes and Paul spends all his time correcting them. Bob? Pfffffft...

 

[Bala Verde]

Versus just gets worse and worse. There is only so much bull riding a man can take before he wigs out and takes to the streets with an axe.

Bull riding is the ultimate "advertisement" wet dream of any broadcaster. BANG, someone hits the dirt, time for a new bloc of commercials!

I don't even understand Versus' obsession with commercials throughout a race, because, guess what, these cyclists are moving street pole ads...

My vote goes to Universal. I hope they'll acquire the rights to many more races.

And compared with Dutch, French, Belgian, Italian, Spanish coverage, commentary is, to put it mildly, pretty bad in English whether it be Universal, Versus or even Eurosport...

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

As one who works in both broadcasting and webcasting, let me assure you that webcasting is the future. As we've seen with first the ToC's webcast that had great information (GPS tracking, maps, etc.) and Universal, it should be obvious to anyone. We now also have TV's that can take information from your computer/Tivo/Apple TV, etc. In the next couple of years it's going to be easy, and common, to set anything up on your computer, and watch it in good quality on your TV. I had someone from Turner Broadcasting tell me that in 5-10 years webcasting will be HD quality anyway. Get ready now folks.

Yes, Verus sucks. When they were OLN they were much better. Now, it's all bull riding and ultimate fighting and hoards of commercials. They're now also showing really bad old sports movies, like Rocky IV, Caddyshack II, etc.

Phil and Paul, despite being long in the tooth, are much better at analyzing races. Though I agree that Todd Gugorski is very good, and when Frankie Andreu was on ToC webcast, he added good commentary too. Announcing is the least of our problems, and one of the easiest to remedy. And if you thought Universal talked too much about Armstrong, get ready for Versus, who are promoting the "Tour de Lance", and likely to cover ever rivulet of sweat that drops from the man's ball sack.

Vote Universal people.

 

[hfer07]

I'm glad I'm fluent in three languages, so if i get bothered by some commentators, i simply switch..... For my personal taste, I just love TV2 from Spain (Pedro Delgado

As far as English broadcasting, Eurosport is on top-even when you find hardly to understand Sean Kelly but I think David Duffield does a superb job. I wished Stephen Roche would come back full time along with David...
Versus works around the advertising profit, so Phil & Paul have lowered their quality a bit and they play around the "forced" American cycling promotion, and now than ever they going to bombard the viewers with the "Lance" theme....

Universal has the tools to improve---no commercials, no interuptions,-- thats unique... but they brought that f**ng commentator to really ruin a nice production with those inadequate commentaries and the "Lance" obsession just made me kill the audio at all...

 

[lostintime]

Universal was so much better than Versus. The Versus commercials..... that gawd awful theme with every commercial break. . .. . it's enough to make one vomit

Are you f'n kidding me? Universal is all racing.... all the time. No commercials...no theme music..... no BS..... just riding. I'll take any generic Brit commentator over Versus every day of every year! If you think they are annoying.... well... how can they not be with so much air time to fill? I like Phil and Paul too, but they'd get annoying too if he had all that time to fill.

I'll take the nonstop commercial free action over who's voice is calling it.


Is the Tour only broadcast on Versus, or will US viewers be able to view it online?

 

[Cobblestones]

C'mon guys, this is not even close. Universal's webcasting is da bomb. No commercials. And the best: I didn't even have to take days off from work to see it. Au contraire, I actually came in to work earlier (8:15, which made my boss happy) than usual so not to miss the start of a stage. The commentator did not bother me much since I had to turn it down anyway most of the time. Thanks Universal Sports for making my workdays in May entertaining

 

[Anonymous]

avid Harmon and Sean Kelly are the best I've heard. I happily listened to them during the Giro while watching Universal.

kelly and duffield for me...

kellys continual "certaintly" nonsense, and duffield being more interested in telling us about the little old lady from lyon who used to make soup in a small cafe in manchester, but left there to live with a spanish waiter who used to live down the road from the grandfather of giani bugno, than he is telling us about the riding..

as for how to get universal to show the vuelta.. hate to say it.. but you need to get LA to ride the vuelta..

 

[ElChingon]

kelly and duffield for me...

Takes me a while to get used to Kelly's version of English (i.e. Accent), I can get used to it but then again I could get used to not hearing it much the same

 

[El Imbatido]

When i got my ToC fix, i had to put up with versus. Man they show alot of commercial at the wrong time. Wouldnt surprise me if they broke away right before the sprint finish. Also on one of the days of the ToC, they went to the next program because the riders were riding a bit slower than normal so they didnt get to the finish in time. Come on Versus it's live tv, things like this are gonna happen.

Craig Hummer still gives me nightmares because of the voice he puts on to introduce the commercials, it still rings in my head as if it was just yesterday. It goes like this:



"The 2009 Amgen tour of California is brought to you by:

AEG. Giving the world reason to cheer.

By EAS. Don't waste your workout finish it with EAS mio-plex.

By Amgen. Amgen, pioneering science delivers vital medicines. Visit us at Amgen dot com

And by breakaway from cancer. Cause no one should have to go through cancer alone. Visit breakaway from cancer dot com



Then they would break to ads the come back with another introduction just like it. Some days it just goes round and round in my head. It drives me insane.

In Australia, we had daily updates from the giro and i think they were from universal sports and they used a really dull commentator that could only spot or knew stuff about sir lance alot. After a few stages and a few complaints from viewers (i think) mike tomalaris replaced him with someone else (name escapes me at the moment) and i found it much better. So my vote is for Universal

 

[Wrecktangle]

Am I the only person who likes Bobke here?

...but yeah, Versus sux.

I really, really, really, really, really liked everyday coverage of the Giro.

...now I want everyday coverage of the Vuelta...and every other road race in real time, especially the classics.

SO Lance better ride in it (Vuelta) or we won't get it...don't you just hate this sh*t?

 

[ridley]

As one who works in both broadcasting and webcasting, let me assure you that webcasting is the future. As we've seen with first the ToC's webcast that had great information (GPS tracking, maps, etc.) and Universal, it should be obvious to anyone.

Cannot agree with you more, but there is still a limitation when you are NOT in the US. It was hard to catch up on the webcasts during a weekend visit to Canada.

Yes, Verus sucks. When they were OLN they were much better. Now, it's all bull riding and ultimate fighting and hoards of commercials.

Again - spot on

Phil and Paul, despite being long in the tooth, are much better at analyzing races. Though I agree that Todd Gugorski is very good, and when Frankie Andreu was on ToC webcast, he added good commentary too. Announcing is the least of our problems, and one of the easiest to remedy. ( ... lines snipped here ....)Vote Universal people.

I do agree and hopefully Universal can get a boost in finances and upgrade to HD broadcasts soon.

Phil and Paul are excellent, but can someone please chain Bobke's hands to his ankles and just let him talk ??