5 replies to this topic

[b195]

Last night I thought it was a little odd that there were no post-qualifying news stories for the Mugello MotoGP event.

Today I notice there are no race reports for Moto3 and Moto2, which has made me look back and notice there were no qualifying reports for those classes either

Having noticed this, I then had a quick look in the new "Race Centre Live", in which I was able to find snippets about the races - though, because most recent news comes first, it's in reverse chronological order - you'll scroll to the result before you scroll to what happened at the start. There's also the issue of having to wade through info about other series, which this weekend isn't so bad, but on weekends with more events taking place at the same time, will make it rather awkward and frustrating to find what you are looking for regardless of which series it is you are looking for info about.

With qualifying and race reports for Moto2 and Moto3 as recently as the previous event, it seems that the introduction of "Race Centre Live" has led to the demise of the Moto2 and Moto3 reports and most of the coverage of qualifying for those two series as well. IMO this is a definite backwards step. I'm also confused about the lack of (any!) post-qualifying news stories for MotoGP, as there were a few post-Friday practice stories (though two of the three were pretty much required...).

It's also not clear to me if it will be possible to read each weekend's Race Centre Live text in the future - will each weekend's Race Centre Live text be available via a link on the website (like F1 live coverage is)? I assume so, as it seems Race Centre Live will require more work than 'traditional' coverage and so it would be a huge waste if the weekend's work disappeared as it was replaced by the next weekend's coverage.

Had the coverage of MotoGP and its associated series been reduced from the start of the season, I would have been a little disappointed but I could see logic in it and understand it. When it happens part way during a season it confuses me and disappoints me more.

I don't want to be negative, but I see this change in coverage as a step backwards, or at best sideways, not an improvement.

Edited by b195, 02 June 2013 - 12:46.

[Viktor]

Have to agree, had to visit another site to find the Moto2 and Moto3 results that you usually find in the news section on the site right after the finish. Feels strange to remove this in favor for a live coverage service, the result articles are still needed.

/Viktor

[b195]

Have to agree, had to visit another site to find the Moto2 and Moto3 results that you usually find in the news section on the site right after the finish. Feels strange to remove this in favor for a live coverage service, the result articles are still needed.

/Viktor

Glad to hear it's not just me!

No post-race stories either, which seems hard to believe in a race in which the local hero's race ended early on lap one...

[MattBeer]

Glad to hear it's not just me!

No post-race stories either, which seems hard to believe in a race in which the local hero's race ended early on lap one...

There's definitely no lack of passion for Moto2 and Moto3 among the AUTOSPORT team - b195 will recall that from the time when we were colleagues - and both will continue to feature in our content. We're paying a lot of attention to readership patterns and what gets read and (crucially) when it gets read this year and are being experimental, pragmatic and open-minded . It's not about doing less - again b195 will remember the shift-lengths I was doing a few years ago and they're definitely longer still these days - more about working wisely, so any time saved by altering how we cover something will be used elsewhere.

After monitoring readership levels through the first few rounds, for this weekend we decided Moto2 and Moto3 would only be covered in Race Centre Live, and in Toby Moody's columns when relevant. We'll take note of reader feedback, traffic levels and developing storylines in those series to decide if they stay within RCL only (and RCL is also evolving as it goes and we're open-minded about the ways it's presented and making what's in it as easy as possible to find) or if reports come back.

Similarly with post-race news, you might have noticed a rebalancing of news across all championships we cover, with less mid-event news fighting for space to breathe on a crowded weekend homepage and being buried and consequently missed by much of the readership, and more reflective post-event news being carried instead.

With the debut of RCL, immediate reaction snippets like quotes on the MotoGP incidents and images of the wrecked bikes went into the Live section this weekend. Whether that carries on being the case through future weekends depends on reader feedback and readership numbers.

We're constantly looking at everything we do and the readership figures and comments and rather than sticking with formats because we're used to them, experimenting with how and where we do things, and if those experiments don't quite work then we'll keep on top of things and try something different until we're at a point where we're covering all the things we want to in the ways that work best and get most exposure. In terms of words published, MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 coverage was increased rather than reduced, but no formats are set in stone. The only thing that is set in stone is that we'll keep tinkering with how we do what we do until it's right, and reader feedback and readership figure are key in that, so keep it coming.

[b195]

There's definitely no lack of passion for Moto2 and Moto3 among the AUTOSPORT team - b195 will recall that from the time when we were colleagues - and both will continue to feature in our content. We're paying a lot of attention to readership patterns and what gets read and (crucially) when it gets read this year and are being experimental, pragmatic and open-minded . It's not about doing less - again b195 will remember the shift-lengths I was doing a few years ago and they're definitely longer still these days - more about working wisely, so any time saved by altering how we cover something will be used elsewhere.

After monitoring readership levels through the first few rounds, for this weekend we decided Moto2 and Moto3 would only be covered in Race Centre Live, and in Toby Moody's columns when relevant. We'll take note of reader feedback, traffic levels and developing storylines in those series to decide if they stay within RCL only (and RCL is also evolving as it goes and we're open-minded about the ways it's presented and making what's in it as easy as possible to find) or if reports come back.

Similarly with post-race news, you might have noticed a rebalancing of news across all championships we cover, with less mid-event news fighting for space to breathe on a crowded weekend homepage and being buried and consequently missed by much of the readership, and more reflective post-event news being carried instead.

With the debut of RCL, immediate reaction snippets like quotes on the MotoGP incidents and images of the wrecked bikes went into the Live section this weekend. Whether that carries on being the case through future weekends depends on reader feedback and readership numbers.

We're constantly looking at everything we do and the readership figures and comments and rather than sticking with formats because we're used to them, experimenting with how and where we do things, and if those experiments don't quite work then we'll keep on top of things and try something different until we're at a point where we're covering all the things we want to in the ways that work best and get most exposure. In terms of words published, MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 coverage was increased rather than reduced, but no formats are set in stone. The only thing that is set in stone is that we'll keep tinkering with how we do what we do until it's right, and reader feedback and readership figure are key in that, so keep it coming.

Thanks for your reply Matt! (and I'm not really sure how your shift lengths could be any longer than they were!)

While I personally would prefer coverage a little different to how it appears it will be now (as I've probably already made clear anyway!), I can understand the reason(s) for the change (and understand those a little more fully now too). As I noted in my earlier post, coverage overall was increased, it's just that for some of it, I'll have to look a little further in future. As you say, things may change in the future anyway (or not, as the case may be).

Edited by b195, 03 June 2013 - 16:41.

[SenorSjon]

I don't click on them due to the limited amount of stories you can read each month. I don't want to spend them on Moto2 or 3. It is a consequence of your own policy on limited acces. You will get chicken/egg situations