UK Coverage is awful!

[Msportvideos]

The UK coverage of the WRC is dreadful, i don't understand how it doesn't have good coverage as it is the biggest rally championship in the world.

 

[Furinkazen]

Eurosport could not strike a deal following the collapse of NorthOne Television who were if I am right the commercial arm of the WRC.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Probably could have put this here:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=235839

 

[Msportvideos]

Eurosport could not strike a deal following the collapse of NorthOne Television who were if I am right the commercial arm of the WRC.

Even on Eurosport it was bad, it was ok back around 2005 but since then its been quite bad.

 

[Furinkazen]

Even on Eurosport it was bad, it was ok back around 2005 but since then its been quite bad.

WRC had been on ESPN last year. Problem is since the whole TV deal collapsed before the Monte, now its left to individual channels to find their own way around.

 

[Msportvideos]

Probably could have put this here:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=235839

Its a completely different topic? plus its in the 'special' WRC thread to...

 

[Msportvideos]

WRC had been on ESPN last year. Problem is since the whole TV deal collapsed before the Monte, now its left to individual channels to find their own way around.

Its a shame.

 

[CodeRedR51]

WRC is WRC.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Its a completely different topic? plus its in the 'special' WRC thread to...

We have one thread for discussing the WRC, mostly because the WRC does not have the kind of following that justifies individual threads for major events. The broadcast coverage is covered extensively in that thread.

Plus, this thread has a very generic thread title. There is nothing to indicate that you are even talking about the WRC when looking at the list of active threads. Especially since you've created three threads dedicated to the coverage of different types of motorsport in the past few hours, with very little to indicate what they're actually about.

 

[cgr-10]

It would be understandable if it was a general thread about racing coverage in the UK which, when it comes to American series in particular, is pretty poor.

But I doubt this warrants an entire thread if it's just about WRC....

 

[gogatrs]

Be happy you have any coverage at all...

 

[cgr-10]

Be happy you have any coverage at all...

Why's that?

It's a good thing I have Sky Sports as it means I'll still be able to watch all the F1 live this year. Apart from BTCC we get little else, Sky sometimes broadcast Indy and NASCAR highlights and although Nationwide is being shown on Motors TV this year, I don't get that in my TV package

 

[Doth1s]

Why's that?

It's a good thing I have Sky Sports as it means I'll still be able to watch all the F1 live this year. Apart from BTCC we get little else, Sky sometimes broadcast Indy and NASCAR highlights and although Nationwide is being shown on Motors TV this year, I don't get that in my TV package

My only TV coverage of the WRC comes in a one hour special three days after the event giving very little highlights.

 

[tribolik]

Be happy you have any coverage at all...

Exactly... I dont get any here in Portugal.

 

[Ardius]

The UK coverage of the WRC is dreadful, i don't understand how it doesn't have good coverage as it is the biggest rally championship in the world.

You're a few years too late complaining about this. I'm surprised people were happy with the hour of highlights Dave showed for a couple of years....WRC could be presented and covered so much better.

Though nowadays its not just WRC but motorsport in general is starting to get very hard to watch in the UK. We used to get WRC, BTCC, F3, F1 and Le Mans all in one form or another on terrestrial TV.
While some of those are now covered far better than they were in the past, some like the WRC almost don't exist on TV.

Though I wouldn't just blame TV/media for this, I think the way the WRC has been run the past 10 years has not helped and the relatively low level of competition has really diluted it.

Probably could have put this here:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=235839

We have one thread for discussing the WRC, mostly because the WRC does not have the kind of following that justifies individual threads for major events. The broadcast coverage is covered extensively in that thread.

Plus, this thread has a very generic thread title. There is nothing to indicate that you are even talking about the WRC when looking at the list of active threads. Especially since you've created three threads dedicated to the coverage of different types of motorsport in the past few hours, with very little to indicate what they're actually about.

It would be understandable if it was a general thread about racing coverage in the UK which, when it comes to American series in particular, is pretty poor.

But I doubt this warrants an entire thread if it's just about WRC....

Can we stop changing every thread into a discussion of whether the thread warrants being seperate from a giant general thread? Let the mods do their job and let the discussion flow rather than constantly churning out a load of off topic posts about forum ettiquette. If the thread doesn't deserve to exist, let the mods merge it or close it.
Is everyone applying for a moderator vacancy or something? Sheesh.

 

[jcm]

Be happy you have any coverage at all...

I get to see up to 5 minutes of highlights a week, and clips of when they crash. That's it.

 

[peter_vod69]

Because the WRC these days is boring and irrelevant. People want to watch exciting cars sliding around gravel and snow roads, not boring repmobile hatches with no link to the roadgoing variant. If WRC was interesting, you can bet there'd be coverage.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I'm not entirely sure what Msportvideos is expecting from coverage of the WRC. Of all the motorsport disciplines, rallying is perhaps the most difficult to cover. There is usually around twenty stages that need to be covered over the course of three days, which television crews must travel to and set their cameras up, and even if they're only filming the first twenty cars through a stage, they cannot enter the stage to take the cameras back down after the twentieth car. All of the footage then needs to be retrieved and edited into a one-hour format at the end of each day. All things considered, we're lucky that we get what is available.

 

[cgr-10]

I'm not entirely sure what Msportvideos is expecting from coverage of the WRC. Of all the motorsport disciplines, rallying is perhaps the most difficult to cover. There is usually around twenty stages that need to be covered over the course of three days, which television crews must travel to and set their cameras up, and even if they're only filming the first twenty cars through a stage, they cannot enter the stage to take the cameras back down after the twentieth car. All of the footage then needs to be retrieved and edited into a one-hour format at the end of each day. All things considered, we're lucky that we get what is available.

I hadn't actually considered that, it must be hideously expensive and a logistical nightmare to cover every stage thoroughly.

 

[tribolik]

Most of the coverage of a rally stage should be done by helicopter and two or three cameras in strategic places. So about 7or 8 cameras would do the trick. 1 for the Helicopter, 3 for the current stage, 3 for the next and one for interviews.

But Im not so sure about what Im saying because I know nothing about the subject

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Of course this promoter issue has a set a new low, but things has gone downhill for a while (generally, not only in UK).

I read from a newstory that apparently even in France the coverage is almost non-existent, which says a lot considering Citroen & Loeb are French.

 

[Msportvideos]

Of course this promoter issue has a set a new low, but things has gone downhill for a while (generally, not only in UK).

I read from a newstory that apparently even in France the coverage is almost non-existent, which says a lot considering Citroen & Loeb are French.

The reason it is not on French TV is because Eurosport is French and they have stopped the coverage. I not sure if you have Motors TV over there?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I hadn't actually considered that, it must be hideously expensive and a logistical nightmare to cover every stage thoroughly.

It could be worse. Which ironically, would make the sport better.

Back in the 1990s, rallies used to cover twenty-odd stages - and by that, I mean twenty different stages, not ten stages repeated twice the way the do now. And they used to go way out into the back of beyond for some really great stages. I have a route book from the 1999 Rally Australia, and there's a whole heap of stages - Harvey Weir, the Stirlings, the 45km epic that was Wellington Dam and Brunswick - that were all axed because they were too far away from Perth for the television trucks to get out there on time. A whole host of legendary stages died simply because they were too difficult to access.

 

[Ardius]

Anyone who remembers the days of the proper RAC Rally will know how far down WRC has come.
Even though its difficult for TV to cover more, what they cover already could be done far better.
Plus I think most fans would be ok with bigger rallies like the old days despite TV not being to cover it all simply because then it brings it back to being a spectator sport rather than simply TV entertainment.

 

[Msportvideos]

Anyone who remembers the days of the proper RAC Rally will know how far down WRC has come.
Even though its difficult for TV to cover more, what they cover already could be done far better.
Plus I think most fans would be ok with bigger rallies like the old days despite TV not being to cover it all simply because then it brings it back to being a spectator sport rather than simply TV entertainment.

To be honest, i think it is better for new rally fans because the way they can love the sport is by going not by watching it on TV

 

[sumbrownkid]

How's the IRC?

I remember reading that the IRC was like a cheaper and popular alternative for privateers.

 

[Ardius]

^Still going strong, but I wouldn't say its more popular than WRC. IRC is still not really recognised as anything other than a WRC alternative series still, its still seen as a semi-feeder category for WRC. IRC is more popular with the manufacturers though.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

The WRC is probably not popular enough to warrant longer TV coverage. If they want to make it easier they could just use the helicopter and onboard cameras. What's with the onboards that look at the driver's face? Worst onboard ever... They overuse those.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

^Still going strong, but I wouldn't say its more popular than WRC. IRC is still not really recognised as anything other than a WRC alternative series still, its still seen as a semi-feeder category for WRC. IRC is more popular with the manufacturers though.

I think the main problem with the IRC is that it's mostly tarmac rallies. I think that there's maybe three gravel (the Azores, San Marino and Romania) and one mixed-surface event Cyprus) out of the thirteen rallies on the 2011 IRC calendar. For all its flaws, I think the WRC has the right balance: eight gravel rallies, two tarmac, two mixed-surface and one snow.