Bt Coverage

[tigerowl 630]

That was the first speedway I have seen all season, live or otherwise, and I have to say I enjoyed it.

 

The coverage was as good as Sky and better in some instances.

 

Natalie Quirk is an excellent link and clearly knows her stuff. Some of the female presenters on Sky were very poor.

 

Steve Brandon is also very good and the sparse use of interviews was a good idea. The interviews with riders after each race that Sky did was boring - 'track is patchy' 'going to make some changes' and that was about it.

 

The worst thing for me was the number of times Nigel mentioned that 90% of the riders rode for at least two tracks. I think people watching the racing who don't usually go must have been impressed with the action but would have been confused and put off by the ridiculous notion that the winner rode for Belle Vue (and Workington) the runner-up rode for Belle Vue (and Newcastle) and the third placed rider rode for Ipswich (and Wolverhampton).

 

For me, this shows that speedway can be a wonderful sport, but is being absolutely destroyed by the promoters who have stripped it of any credibility it once had,

[Rob B 1,257]

Mine taped the whole show including the interviews after, I've got BT on the sky platform, no understand why others had problems

 

Same here, originally it was scheduled for 2 hours 30 mins but my sky box recorded for 3 hours so recorded everything.

[marko 956]

Agree with tigerowl, there is no need for Nigel to keep exposing the sport to viewers who already know who rides for who or those who don't know and frankly don't need to know.

In team events they shouldn't even mention riders who are guests, just say this is the teams.

 

The media should always exaggerate the positives and hide the negatives.

[Midland Red 2,383]

Overall, I thought the presentation was pretty good

Plus points: Natalie Quirke and Steve Brandon; fewer rider interviews between races

Minus points: Camera work as mentioned; Brando's time always seemed to be cut short, as if he hadn't quite finished; poor graphics; Pearson (not Pearce, Mr Shovlar!) still Sir Shoutalot

 

Graphics - found the digits difficult to read on some captions, small black numbers on brightly coloured backgrounds. And I do believe that they showed points for riders' 1-5 rides and finishing positions in 6th (semi-finals), without distinguishing between points and finishing position - could have been misleading for those who could read them clearly, and it only happened (obviously) on two occasions!

 

One final point - I would like to have seen the "dodgy starts" looked at in a bit more detail - although Kelvin Tatum thought otherwise, I felt that Barker's first start, which was allowed, was 100% fair - he didn't move till the tapes started to rise. Tatum was quick with his verdict, would like to have seen it checked

[Big Al 708]

One observation in addition. Occasionally slow to update riders positions during races.

 

Also no sign of Chris Louis (bad thing or good??) but was probably there in a different capacity so unable to take part in broadcast.

[Speedy swindon pete 509]

Never had a problem with a programme over running whilst recording on a Sky TV box, but having switched to BT on the YouView platform a couple of years ago, it stops recording on any programme that over runs, on any channel.

 

The box and system are so awful compared to sky, it's like comparing running windows 7 (or what ever incarnation it is these days) on a brand new modern PC, then trying to run the same thing on some machine from the 90's. Totally useless. The user interface is glacial. Can't wait to not have to use it when I move!

 

In short I don't think it's BT sport's fault....more a fault of their archaic system and box.

[Midland Red 2,383]

One observation in addition. Occasionally slow to update riders positions during races.

Also no sign of Chris Louis (bad thing or good??) but was probably there in a different capacity so unable to take part in broadcast.

TV showed him in conversation with Danny King

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

TV showed him in conversation with Danny King

CHRIS is not part of the BT team.

[Whisperer 276]

Some of the folk on this thread had better smarten up, don't fret over how many cameras or who did the commentary, don't even compare the coverage to Sky. Just decide whether you want the sport on TV or not and then let the experts get on with managing their production and presentation over this first season. BT Sport love the GP series and dearly want the league coverage to be as well received and popular, that is what will encourage them to extend their interest beyond this season. I can tell you that the Sky production team started to believe some of the unfounded comments on this forum and whilst it will always be denied this forum is/was an indicator of some of the public opinion that did/can influence forthcoming decisions.

 

I'm not suggesting anyone sugarcoats their comments but do keep them balanced.

 

Pearson and Tatum ain't going anywhere soon so don't kill the constructive opinions on this thread with constant and facetious slagging of the duo. Philip makes the point about the budget - Sky eventually became like the Beeb and rocked up with lorry loads of cameras and equipment, catering trucks, a scanner full of bodies and it goes on but eventually their commitment to other sports meant huge cutbacks across the board.

 

BT took this product at the 11th hour having already committed their budget elsewhere but felt it had to be given a decent shot and whilst it would have been financially easier to have a year out went with a proposal of shared and reduced costs to maintain continuity of broadcast presence so that a qualified decision could be made on any future commitment. Philip may reveal how it is funded, I won't, but it would be nice for them to understand if their risk is worthwhile or not.

[OveFundinFan 4,143]

Well, I am supporting BT as much as I can in as much I signed up to have BT Infinity fast fibre and tv package in 2 rooms.

Trouble is, I ordered that off BT 9th March, given a start date of 29th March, well in time for the first Speedway GP at end of April, and I am still waiting for Openreach to complete the job of getting the fibre cable from literally across the road (on a "private" estate) to a connection box behind my garden shed, then into the house (partly done).

Excuse after excuse given by the poor bloke working for BT who faithfully rings me every week to report the progress. Informed last Friday that today, Tues 19th, an engineer from Openreach would be coming to sign off the job so the final connection can be made next week. I told him last Friday no engineers have been to dig up the road/my drive to get the fibre cable across the road up my drive to the box behind my shed. He assured me it had been done, I assured him there is no digging visible in the road nor my drive. Today he rings to say the connection is going ahead next week. I told him no inspection was made today. Poor guy, he just reading a computer screen no doubt.

Meanwhile I'm still waiting to start paying BT in return for their investment.

[bruno 1,790]

Off on a tangent a bit but I swopped my broadband to BT mainly because of the deal on the speedway and because talktalk customer service is shocking. Changeover went smoothly and the speeds as good as talktalk. However,I got an email off talktalk saying my final bill was a credit of 20.19. Good so far, you would think they would automatic refund me but no, it's gone into my talktalk account and I have to apply for it which I've done. I wonder how many don't bother or forget and all the refunds are sitting in talktalk accounts

[The White Knight 9,039]

Off on a tangent a bit but I swopped my broadband to BT mainly because of the deal on the speedway and because talktalk customer service is shocking. Changeover went smoothly and the speeds as good as talktalk. However,I got an email off talktalk saying my final bill was a credit of 20.19. Good so far, you would think they would automatic refund me but no, it's gone into my talktalk account and I have to apply for it which I've done. I wonder how many don't bother or forget and all the refunds are sitting in talktalk accounts

Seems like a bit of sharp practice to me.

 

If you had owed them £20.19 they would have been after you quick enough.

 

No the wonder some Companies get a bad name. I am not thinking of changing my provider at present but if I was, I would avoid talktalk like the plague.

 

Thanks for the tip Bruno.

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

Some of the folk on this thread had better smarten up, don't fret over how many cameras or who did the commentary, don't even compare the coverage to Sky. Just decide whether you want the sport on TV or not and then let the experts get on with managing their production and presentation over this first season. BT Sport love the GP series and dearly want the league coverage to be as well received and popular, that is what will encourage them to extend their interest beyond this season. I can tell you that the Sky production team started to believe some of the unfounded comments on this forum and whilst it will always be denied this forum is/was an indicator of some of the public opinion that did/can influence forthcoming decisions.

 

I'm not suggesting anyone sugarcoats their comments but do keep them balanced.

 

Pearson and Tatum ain't going anywhere soon so don't kill the constructive opinions on this thread with constant and facetious slagging of the duo. Philip makes the point about the budget - Sky eventually became like the Beeb and rocked up with lorry loads of cameras and equipment, catering trucks, a scanner full of bodies and it goes on but eventually their commitment to other sports meant huge cutbacks across the board.

 

BT took this product at the 11th hour having already committed their budget elsewhere but felt it had to be given a decent shot and whilst it would have been financially easier to have a year out went with a proposal of shared and reduced costs to maintain continuity of broadcast presence so that a qualified decision could be made on any future commitment. Philip may reveal how it is funded, I won't, but it would be nice for them to understand if their risk is worthwhile or not.

BT's operation is part funded by the BSPA. Viewing figures (which translates as more people paying for BT Sport and the internet) will determine what happens next year.

 

Apparently the head of BT Sport (Simon Green) was at Belle Vue on Monday and was hopefully encouraged by what he saw. Pretty sure that his Sky equivalent, Barney Frances, never attended a speedway meeting, not even Cardiff.

 

Viewing figures for the SGP are significantly up on BT Sport which suggest more people are taking the plunge now that both domestic and international speedway are available on the same channel.

[waytogo28 2,054]

To me it was at least as good as the Sky coverage. At the British Final and for the GPs. I have long been a fan of Pearson and Tatum, they are not perfect but provide a good balance of the knowledgeable entertainer and the expert who has ridden at the highest level. I was surprised that the BT coverage started in mid June but it is very full from now until the end of the season. I sincerely hope that they maintain their coverage for next season and in the future. There are no other options and if fans do believe that broadcast TV is good for the sport, we should welcome them with open arms.

[Midland Red 2,383]

Knowledgeable entertainer? Who's that then?