Polish Speedway on TV

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

Unfortunately I can't access Freesat right now but none of my media sources show it returning. Are you sure you aren't talking about Freeviw rather than Freesat geoff58? They are two completely different services. 

Edited July 3, 2020 by RobMcCaffery

[Grachan 7,314]

Live Polish speedway is, rather bizarrely, on Box Nation tomorrow, which is a Boxing channel that you can get if you have BT Sport.

3.30 is Wroclaw v Zielona Gora

6.10 is Grudziadz v Leszno

 

[racers and royals 8,717]

49 minutes ago, Grachan said:

Live Polish speedway is, rather bizarrely, on Box Nation tomorrow, which is a Boxing channel that you can get if you have BT Sport.

3.30 is Wroclaw v Zielona Gora

6.10 is Grudziadz v Leszno

 

It`s not really that bizarre as Premier Sport is now involved with the channel and have not space to show the Polish Speedway on Premier/Freesports tomorrow. Somewhat similar to what Eurosport did when they showed GP  Speedway on Quest.

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

6 hours ago, racers and royals said:

It`s not really that bizarre as Premier Sport is now involved with the channel and have not space to show the Polish Speedway on Premier/Freesports tomorrow. Somewhat similar to what Eurosport did when they showed GP  Speedway on Quest.

Precisely. At present Sky are showing football on their Pick channel in order to make the games that they are showing for free available on Freeview. There are very few truly independent channels. Most are owned by groups so if the main sports channels are full there are always factual, entertainment or even other sports channels normally dedicated to other sports that can be 'borrowed' within the group. 

Most aspects of TV can be explained, even if the explanation isn't always what you want to hear. There's too much money at stake for random decision-making. Some of these groups are very powerful multinationals. Not Premier though which was probably better known in its previous existence as Setanta Sports.

Edited July 4, 2020 by RobMcCaffery

[racers and royals 8,717]

2 minutes ago, RobMcCaffery said:

Precisely. At present Sky are showing football on their {Pick channel in order to make the games that they are showing for free available on Freeview. There are very few truly independent channels. Most are owned by groups so if the main sports channels are full there are always factual, entertainment or even other sports channels normally dedicated to other sports that can be 'borrowed' within the group. 

I know( think) that BT own 50 % of Box Nation and the other 50% could be boxing channel media, so not sure where Premier come in unless they now own 50% ?

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

1 minute ago, racers and royals said:

I know( think) that BT own 50 % of Box Nation and the other 50% could be boxing channel media, so not sure where Premier come in unless they now own 50% ?

It's a marketing deal where Box Nation is included in Premier Sports packages on various TV platforms and on the online Premier Sports Player. Thus, with one notable exception anyone with the full Premier Sports package will have access to Box Nation. Therefore it can be used for "overflow". The exception is Virgin Media where it is still an 'extra'. Not all operating relationships are based on ownership. For example the Murdochs ran Sky for years without ever having anything more than a minority financial stake. 

[racers and royals 8,717]

1 minute ago, RobMcCaffery said:

It's a marketing deal where Box Nation is included in Premier Sports packages on various TV platforms and on the online Premier Sports Player. Thus, with one notable exception anyone with the full Premier Sports package will have access to Box Nation. Therefore it can be used for "overflow". The exception is Virgin Media where it is still an 'extra'. Not all operating relationships are based on ownership. For example the Murdochs ran Sky for years without ever having anything more than a minority financial stake. 

Thanks- it seems Premier are not exactly being helpful in steering their subscribers towards the coverage tomorrow. I am assuming it`s just the normal Premier showing- however they are it appears starting coverage 5 mins before normal( Adverts will be on in Poland !!) 

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

1 minute ago, racers and royals said:

Thanks- it seems Premier are not exactly being helpful in steering their subscribers towards the coverage tomorrow. I am assuming it`s just the normal Premier showing- however they are it appears starting coverage 5 mins before normal( Adverts will be on in Poland !!) 

I'd be very surprised if it differs from the standard Premier/Freesports coverage, just with a different logo in the top right of the screen.

With Eurosport only having two channels I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of 'overflow' on the likes of Quest when the speedway conflicts with the major events that Eurosport are acquiring rights to, notably the Olympics. At least with Sky and BT there were plenty of sports channels for us to fit into, even though we still ended up on the dreaded red button at times. 

[tyretrax 2,252]

Don't know about the riders but the start marshall in last nights meeting was getting on  my wick, dancing back and forward to get the riders up to the tapes.

Edited July 4, 2020 by tyretrax

[racers and royals 8,717]

5 minutes ago, tyretrax said:

Don't know about the riders but the start marshall in last nights meeting was getting on  my wick, dancing back and forward to get the riders up to the tapes.

And do you know why ?? was that the 1st Polish league match you have seen ??

[geoff100 1,420]

Gardening and the start marshalls can add up to a minute to a race of 60 odd seconds and they wonder why fans get fed up !

[racers and royals 8,717]

10 minutes ago, geoff100 said:

Gardening and the start marshalls can add up to a minute to a race of 60 odd seconds and they wonder why fans get fed up !

Fans in Poland don`t though because they know there are very few race starts called back as the riders know they cannot mess about !!!!

[tyretrax 2,252]

9 hours ago, racers and royals said:

And do you know why ?? was that the 1st Polish league match you have seen ??

No and not the first speedway meeting I've seen either, so what's your point?

Edited July 4, 2020 by tyretrax

[racers and royals 8,717]

8 hours ago, tyretrax said:

No and not the first speedway meeting I've seen either, so what's your point?

The point is that is the norm for Polish speedway starts and it works. The start marshall and the referee are connected by headsets and in Poland every rider must have his front wheel right up to the tape and every rider( especially gate 4) must be lined up straight. So the start marshall was doing his job- the ref was doing his job and it works because in Poland there are very few races stopped for  unsatisfactory starts.

[False dawn 2,294]

2 hours ago, racers and royals said:

The point is that is the norm for Polish speedway starts and it works. The start marshall and the referee are connected by headsets and in Poland every rider must have his front wheel right up to the tape and every rider( especially gate 4) must be lined up straight. So the start marshall was doing his job- the ref was doing his job and it works because in Poland there are very few races stopped for  unsatisfactory starts.

This, of course, reopens the whole starting procedure debate. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have recently watched some quite old matches. Seeing riders charging the tapes, rolling back and forth, lead to some awful starts, uneven and even unfair.
The overall rules governing starts in Poland and Britain are the same. But it is quite clear watching Polish meetings that the rules are more stingently applied in Poland. And guess what? Riders sit still, in a straight line and starts are rarely unsatisfactory. It's only human nature. Riders will muck about and push the envelope if there is a chance of getting away with it. Reduce that chance and you seeing better behaviour at the tapes. Not perfect, but better.
The increase in power given to the starting marshall is also to be applauded. How many times have you watched meetings over here where the starting marshall might as well not be there? The riders ignore him where they can. Give him some real teeth, as they appear to have in Poland, and all of sudden the riders do as they are told. (the exception is when riders are called to the tapes - even in Poland, they come forwaard when they are good and ready).
And even the flying starts seem to be reduced. Again not eliminated but reduced. Could it be that riders are conscious that they can be given a warning even after the race have an effect?

I know the "Free for all" side of this argument won't agree, but I think we can learn from watching the experience in Poland.