31 replies to this topic

[bira]

I am curious if anyone else here caught the Rally Monte Carlo coverage on ITV earlier today (Sunday)?

It has to be the worst motorsport show I've seen on commercial television, bar none.

What was that? At times I thought maybe it was actually a nature documentary about the wonderful view of the Monte Carlo terrain.

The commentary (commentary?) was unispiring and unprofessional. No meaningful information, bad picture quality, etc. etc. etc.

Is this how WRC is going to be covered this year?

[Rob G]

I've been grumbling and griping because Speed Channel isn't showing WRC at all in the US this year. Now I guess I don't feel quite so bad. :

[Ally_D]

My thoughts exactly (check the timing of my comment on the Monte Carlo rally thread).

I found it impossible to watch, especially the beginning with the horrible fashion house analogies. What they said was misleading (eg about Michelin quitting rallying and BF Goodrich coming into the sport, neglecting to mention they were the same company with the same tyres), and the rest uninspiring. I'm not sure who they were aiming the show at, however it was obviously not rallying fans.

[BRG]

Aren't ITV simply using the off-the-shelf ISC coverage this year? So is this the same as the material used by Eurosport (which I must say wasn't as good as usual for the Monte Carlo especially the sound quality with the commentary drowned out by the background sound for some of the time)?

[zac510]

I caught the 1hr show on Men and Motors at 7pm but it was probably the same footage.

I am deaf so I just sat there and watched the visuals

[Moohcowh]

I've actually complained directly to ITV about them using what appears to be a standard feed rather than making at least their own commentary, after all the praise that ITV got last year for doing such a great job, I'm quite frankly stumped that they've gone this way. Wouldn't it have been better for ITV to have done the feed for the other TV companies like F1?

[Haddock]

It really was pretty awful wasn't it.

A few brief bits of decent in car footage, the usual problem of far too much time being spent asking drivers utterly pointless questions in service and very little attempt to explain what was going on. No mention of the fastest stage times for Duval and Gardemeister in private entries, no attempt to explain why Stohl was only 4th despite winning both the last two stages, and far too much time spent on those stupid 'driver facing' camera shots in car, which might have been a novelty first time around, but which are fundamentally pretty tedious.

'virtual spectator' left me baffled as to the point they were trying to make on the one occasion they used it, and there was precious little attempt to explain the superally rules which allowed various drivers back into the event after retiring.

Hopeless, bring in Steve Rider I say.

[Andy Donovan]

It reminded me of watching some obscure sport on TransWorld Sport on CH4, in that it was simplified to the point where it was aimed at people who barely even knew what a car was.
Also, almost no mention whatsoever of tyre choice, which is probably the most important factor in doing well on the Monte. Henning Solberg goes 6 minutes slower on one stage because of bad tyre choice, and they barely even mention why.
And as for asking Marcus what his favourite colour was... don't get me started on that. You could see he wasn't sure what was going on there himself.

[howardt]

I defy anyone to name any programme coverng any sport in the world that ITV has not managed to utterly **** up to the point where it becomes irritating to watch. They certainly have a knack for shite sport coverage.

I remember the 'virtual spectator' as a really nifty graphic representation of the relative driver speeds, when Channel 4 used it.

The ITV version seemed to completely miss the point, and instead we got a 3-d rendering of a small chunk of a stage, and someone saying "Driver A is over here and Driver B is over here, 30 seconds ahead.

[The Kanisteri]

Just saw replay's replay of OUR (finnish) coverage.
Lot of video footage with time compare, intervies with drivers-mechanics-team bosses between special stages and at service, panoramas about fans and scenes. Videoclips from history and information about tires and road conditions. It even had tribute for Richard Burns.


I guess I'm just lucky we have people who does rallying coverage for us with full HEART.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by howardt
I defy anyone to name any programme coverng any sport in the world that ITV has not managed to utterly **** up to the point where it becomes irritating to watch. They certainly have a knack for shite sport coverage.

I remember the 'virtual spectator' as a really nifty graphic representation of the relative driver speeds, when Channel 4 used it.

The ITV version seemed to completely miss the point, and instead we got a 3-d rendering of a small chunk of a stage, and someone saying "Driver A is over here and Driver B is over here, 30 seconds ahead.

In this case, not ITVs fault except that they accepted the end product when delivered. Eurosport were stuck with the exact same crap too.

[Ally_D]

From Radiotimes Online

World Rally Championship

Coverage from Sweden of the only snow rally on the tour providing a unique high speed challenge for the drivers. Petter Solberg won here last year and needs to repeat that success to get himself into the championship title race. Presented by Issy Clarke and Paul King.

Looks like we're stuck with the same crappy coverage all year . It's hard enough to stay enthused about the WRC this year without being this being the only terrestrial coverage in the UK.

[V10 Fireworks]

I thought it was okay, same commentary as always? Excessively critical audience seems to be the problem.

[BRG]

Originally posted by V10 Fireworks
I thought it was okay, same commentary as always? Excessively critical audience seems to be the problem.

Due to being unable to remember to watch Eurosport's daily coverage of Sweden, I had to watch the ITV show. It seemed fine to me. I had no problem with the commentary team. I could have done without the human interest stuff about Atkinson, although the bit on the visiting Italians of the Gigi Galli Fan Club was amusing. And didn't they get their money's worth from Gigi!

So was this a lot better than the Monte coverage which I didn't see? I hugely prefer this to the Colin and Richard idolatry of ITV's original rally coverage.

[FredF1]

God yes.

I'd forgotten how jingoistic the commentary team used to be. Every rally they'd interview Marcus Gronholm with You were really lucky out there weren't you?



I reckon, with their being no big name British drivers in the WRC, ITV have lost interest. Similarly, when it was Damon Hill vs Michael Schumacher in F1, ITV couldn't pay enough, fast enough, to get the rights. Then Hill was uncompetitive/retired leaving a championship between 'two foreigners'. Cue ITV scaling back the coverage & hyping the bejaysus out of Jenson Button.


Another example, out bidding the Beeb for Match Of The Day and then sticking it on at nearly midnight with nobody watching.



Actually, I wonder if it's not the 'Curse of ITV' at work with their usual short-termism.

As in the way they get in some hyped-to-the-gills soap star, pay them a fortune, stick them in some mini-series that flatters their limited talent, get reasonable ratings, comission a second series that's so bad it gets stuck on a shelf for years before getting slung out on a graveyard slot during the Summer.

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

I didn't watch ITV, because having been stuck with them for nearly a decade with the F1 I've learned not to expect much from them. I watched the Eurosport rally coverage and it was fine, pretty well put together actually.

[Ally_D]

I have to admit that the Swedish Rally coverage was considerably better than what was offered for the Monte. At least the commentators sounded interested in the rally this time.

[ExRhodesian]

Hi everyone. I realise that i'm dragging up a very old thread but there is a good reason for this.

As you may be aware there was a letter in this weeks Autosport saying that ITV are not going to be showing The WRC. Can anyone confirm if this is true.

[Psymon]

I've just checked my TV guide and they will be showing the WRC...

However from what I can tell they're only showing it on ITV4, so you'll need digital to see it. I'm guessing it'll be the stock feed again.

The Monte-Carlo rally show will be at 18:00 for an hour on Sun 21st Jan.

[Dudley]

I'm not surprised. I stopped watching after the monte last year.

Half because of the coverage and half because the sport itself is to all intents and purposes dead with all of what, 6 people doing the whole season last year.

[Andy Donovan]

Same here - after giving up early on I watched a couple of rallies later in the season for old times' sake, but I watched with the sound off as the commentating is unbearable. I think if we still had Channel 4's nightly coverage programmes from a few years back it could make up for the complete lack of competition on-track, but there's only so much you can polish a turd. Unfortunately ITV seem to be sweeping it under the carpet and trying to forget it exists instead.
Does anyone actually know why ITV bought the WRC? They seem to have set out to make the coverage as poor as possible from the moment they bought the rights off C4.

[FredF1]

Does anyone actually know why ITV bought the WRC?


Two reasons.

Colin Mcrae & Richard Burns.

Same as they bought into F1 on the back of Damon Hill's successes.


It's exactly the same as when they take a popular soap star and sign them into a golden handuffs deal without any real ideas about what to do next.


Is it any wonder they're so screwed.

[ExRhodesian]

Just thought I would mention that i've found out the time for the Rally Monte Carlo highlights... 6pm on itv4 sunday 21st jan.

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally posted by Dudley
I'm not surprised. I stopped watching after the monte last year.

Half because of the coverage and half because the sport itself is to all intents and purposes dead with all of what, 6 people doing the whole season last year.

You don't want to give the FIA at least some credit for the brilliant M2 team idea.

On ten rallies, you have the 6 works cars, 2 Kronos, 3 Stobart, & 2 Munchi's Ford making a minimum of 13 WRCars on most rallies. Plus Henning, Wilson and Stohl are doing complete season, making minimum of 9 WRCs for all rallies. And on Monte you have something like another 13 private WRCars.... quite excellent really, with Coux consistently in top3 stage times with the 307 WRC and Gardemeister well inside the top 10. Quite a competant field really

[Dudley]

Originally posted by V8 Fireworks

You don't want to give the FIA at least some credit for the brilliant M2 team idea.

On ten rallies, you have the 6 works cars, 2 Kronos, 3 Stobart, & 2 Munchi's Ford making a minimum of 13 WRCars on most rallies. Plus Henning, Wilson and Stohl are doing complete season, making minimum of 9 WRCs for all rallies. And on Monte you have something like another 13 private WRCars.... quite excellent really, with Coux consistently in top3 stage times with the 307 WRC and Gardemeister well inside the top 10. Quite a competant field really

No, not really.

On 2/3rd of the rallies you have half a field.

Not really a platform to build on. And the Citroens utterly and completely taking everyone else apart.

[djned]

i read bira's original post just now, and it seems not much has changed in a year. the announcer's voice was drowned most of the show - not that he really adds that much to the coverage. the wrc coverage was among the best you'd find on tv a couple of years ago, why'd they have to screw it up? the sport has all the elements - stunning landscapes, breathtaking courses, fantastic technology, offbeat characters - it doesn't need the pathetic pretense of 'live' commentary and silly early 90s graphics...it wasn't broke, they didn't need to 'fix' it.

[Peri_Piket]

I only have access to the WRC images by the ESPN Official program.

In their defense I understand Rally is difficult to cover due to the lenght of the courses, the moving necessary to the film the stages, the in-car cameras and they have to wait until the last driver to pass by and wrap up a long day - that in Monaco also happens at night.
Then on image edition, they still have to chose the best shots.
The daily coverage is crap, but the Monday one is better.

It's not easy as a closed circuit.

Also I can't bash WRC either bcs a few years ago (2001?) we had I-Max filming , sometimes full stages in in-car cameras and all.
The problem was the audience was not high and they started to cut costs.

That WRC Friday night pre-stage program is ridiculous, one hour waisted with a guy trying to be funny about every country WRC passes by. What a waiste.

[312 PB]

Today's Super Special on Eurosport reminded me of some of the crap Karting and Race of Champions programmes I've seen over the years. Put me in mind of greeting card cliche crap

And let's have more than 30 minutes/day thanks WTF ???

[Andy Donovan]

Originally posted by djned
...silly early 90s graphics...it wasn't broke, they didn't need to 'fix' it.

That selection screen thing that looks like an imitation GameBoy really is unbelievably cheap. It wastes 5 seconds of airtime for absolutely no benefit whatsoever. Much like the commentary then.

I can't believe ITV have moved the WRC to ITV4 - look at yesterday's ITV1 schedule and tell me there's not somewhere where they could have made an hour's space. Surely the WRC can get more viewers than 'Moral of the story' and a fly-the-wall documentary in a cathedral? It probably would if the program wasn't a pile of badly-made shite anyway.
19:00 Emmerdale
19:30 Coronation Street
20:00 Wild at Heart
21:00 Trial and Retribution
22:30 ITV News and Weather
22:44 Regional Weather
22:45 ITV at the Movies
23:20 The Moral of the Story
23:50 Cathedral
00:40 The Mint

I really have just about had it with ITV and the WRC organisation. I used to love rallying, and Channel 4's program was great, but I just can't bear to watch it anymore as it just makes me angry at how both the sport and the coverage have gone down the toilet in the last few years.

[tintin]

Originally posted by Andy Donovan
That selection screen thing that looks like an imitation GameBoy really is unbelievably cheap. It wastes 5 seconds of airtime for absolutely no benefit whatsoever. Much like the commentary then.

I can't believe ITV have moved the WRC to ITV4 - look at yesterday's ITV1 schedule and tell me there's not somewhere where they could have made an hour's space. Surely the WRC can get more viewers than 'Moral of the story' and a fly-the-wall documentary in a cathedral? It probably would if the program wasn't a pile of badly-made shite anyway.
19:00 Emmerdale
19:30 Coronation Street
20:00 Wild at Heart
21:00 Trial and Retribution
22:30 ITV News and Weather
22:44 Regional Weather
22:45 ITV at the Movies
23:20 The Moral of the Story
23:50 Cathedral
00:40 The Mint

I really have just about had it with ITV and the WRC organisation. I used to love rallying, and Channel 4's program was great, but I just can't bear to watch it anymore as it just makes me angry at how both the sport and the coverage have gone down the toilet in the last few years.

Moral of the Story and Cathedral both got more viewers than last season's average WRC audience. They both also fall into the category of religious programming, of which ITV1 has to show a certain number of hours a week. There are no such quotas for sport.

At the end of the day, ITV4 is a free channel which is already in 70% of UK homes. There's no reason why anyone who wants to watch WRC can't. And because it's a niche male-oriented channel which shows a lot of other sport, it's the perfect place for WRC to go.

[ExRhodesian]

its a fair point tintin.

i'm glad its still on....

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally posted by Andy Donovan
I really have just about had it with ITV and the WRC organisation. I used to love rallying, and Channel 4's program was great, but I just can't bear to watch it anymore as it just makes me angry at how both the sport and the coverage have gone down the toilet in the last few years.

A less demanding expection ought to do the trick. Expect a 20 second clip of interview with intoxicated Solberg fan and then coverage of rally will appear exceptional.