RobMcCaffery

Not yet. Philip Rising has already suggested that they are serious contenders to relieve BT Sport of the contract a year early. I did say "prospect in future years" I had hoped that would be clear enough. Obviously I overestimated my south coast audience ;-)

Anyway if the deal is done we simply have to live with the consequences and after a year of potentially crazy scheduling and huge gaps in coverage, meetings being joined when 80% over and the prospect in future years of SGP fighting for a place on Saturday night's schedules again we'll be able to say this time next year. "Well, only four more years". It can be such a lovely sport but to be honest, it gets what it deserves through its short-termism and general stupidity of those allegedly running it. It's like asking your backstreet car dealer to front up a Maclaren dealership in Mayfair ;-)

Sadly the truth re Eurosport is - so many sports, so few channels.

They are all available on demand. You choose your match and watch anytime. The captions were appalling and the commentary and vast majority of interviews were in Swedish but overall it was very watchable and a unique opportunity to watch every match in a league campaign. This may be heresy from someone who's made his own share of speedway broadcasts but I didn't miss the extra cameras. After all, in the stands or on the terraces I only have one view.....

It's pretty clear that the BSPA have once more gone simply for the 'wonga', irrespective of the quality of 'service' that will in all probability result.The needs of the sports' supporters as always are secondary. Does nobody realise that it is possible to be a keen viewer of speedway both live AND on TV? The list of priorities is daunting and it's pretty obvious we'll only get airtime when they've got nothing better to show. The Olympic period will be a total non-starter for speedway. I fear we are set for more haphazard scheduling but if Eurosport Events are originating the feed themselves it would be stupid to treat the coverage as they have done with that originated by Eurosport Poland. Put simply, if they're getting a cheap programme off a sister network they may not be bothered when, if and how much they show as with the One Sport Events they may treat showing it casually, but if they've spent thousands going to a track to make it themselves they may treat it with more respect. Do we have a guaranteed number of meetings? Can you see Polish sponsors being remotely interested in the UK market? How many actually sell to this country? Fogo, Nice, Get Well? As for the GPs, lord help us if they do get their hands on again. The memory of their previous mishandling surely isn't forgotten? How much is that Eurosport Player again? Sadly it's all about the cash and not seeing the less obvious benefits. While I'm here, the ESS in Sweden, the equivalent of the BSPA have a live streaming service which has seen every Elitserien match covered this year, with up to six matches shown weekly, all but one with single cameras. The cost? SEK 189 - about £16. No, that's per month, not match. It was possible to watch over 80 matches this year for under £80.

Yes, of course being there enhances the experience, and the appreciation of it. If nothing else there are too many distractions when watching at home, but sadly that is all I have to work with now due to my health. Being in good company and enjoying a great day out in an interesting part of the world puts you in a positive frame of mind and perhaps you remember the good moments rather than the bad. It seems to this remote observer that far too much of the incident at Gustrow comes from sneaking through on the white line. I'm a total fan of the big handful round the outside. I plead extensive experience of Belle Vue and Hackney in my youth as mitigation (the family Morton being a common denominator) ... There were a couple of outside moves at Gustrow but as the meeting drew on it began to fail to hold my attention. I do't enjoy the Eurosport commentaries either (I know, I'm a heretic) and I tend to tune out mentally , especially since the pro-One Sport statement abyss of last season during the pairs. I had a couple of years working weekly at Mildenhall and know exactly how good a track like it can entertain. Looking at Gustrow I see a missed opportunity - all it needs is banking and itcould emulate West Row and finally give Germany a track that people looked forward to seeing racing from. They're similar in length and plan, with the finish line just off bend four, hence my comparison. Okay, I'm still recovering from the disgrace that was Norden.

The money available in Polish speedway is surely encouraging the best young bike racers to look to speedway rather than other sports. Add in the best of equipment and it's inevitable that they will have a conveyor belt of talent. As for Gustrow, it's like Mildenhall without banking. Without its banking a great little race track like West Row would be an awful kerb-crawling paradise - like Gustrow. Someone praised the racing last night. It speaks volumes about the standard of racing they must normally endure. For every Katowice or Torun that One Sport use there's at least one dud like Gustrow. Sadly too many venue choices are based on anything but speedway.... .

"An ideal hotel conveniently located between Cardiff and Somerset"? Steep Holm & Flat Holm don't have hotels sadly and a problem to access ;-) Otherwise ideal....

Yes, "we" as a sport. Long time since I worked for a TV station...... The overall figures are quite disappointing considering how the channel's available to most on Freeview. It's an old adage in TV that the higher the number on the epg, the fewer can be bothered to explore.

Sorry, I'm reporting ratings. I don't work for them.

The most recent ratings for Freesports make interesting reading. Obviously in TV terms these are penny numbers but at least we're doing well, although the channel's main sport, ice hockey is only just getting underway. MLS is US Major League Soccer while Liga NOS is the Portuguese Football League. The Champions Hockey League is ice hockey's version of football's Champions League. Congratulations to Dave Goddard whose hard work is at least somewhat rewarded. Freesports 26 Aug 2019 - 01 Sep 20191 SWEDISH SPEEDWAY 2019 (THU 22:30) 36,3002 MLS 2019 (SUN 27:36) 32.6003 SWEDISH SPEEDWAY 2019 (THU 23:04) 32,2994 SWEDISH SPEEDWAY 2019 (TUE 17:56) 30,9005 THE MLS SHOW 2019 (TUE 25:31) 28,0006 CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE 2019 (SAT 19:24) 24,1007 CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE 2019 (FRI 19:24) 23,6008 WORLD SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIPS 18/19 (MON 12:00) 23,4009 CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE 2019 (SUN 15:58) 19,80010 THE MLS SHOW 2019 (WED 22:00) 19,20011 LIGA NOS 19/20 (SUN 20:55) 18,70012 CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE 2019 (THU 19:25) 17,20013 THE MLS SHOW 2019 (TUE 20:12) 16,80014 WORLD SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIPS 18/19 (SAT 12:59) 16,10015 RUGBY 2019 (SUN 10:01) 15,000

I think we can safely say that Leszno will be champions

Not working for me. Just looping. I've tried both menus to see if maniak or dhrtv were using different channels. The latter has been listing football all day until just now. Don't worry, I always check your back postings. Once a researcher........

Is the Latvian one the only one tonight apart from Goldvod?

The Latvian link is working so far. http://spedway.ucoz.lv/

Vaculik currently 4th in the GP so unlikely to have needed a GP Challenge place. Iversen and Zagar well below 8th so will probably need theirs.

Fricke through!

Deleted

That's why I wasn't interested in debating the point with him. It's "allowed" by the way.

It's between him and the FIM/BSI.

Appears toi be Hungarian .hu on url

For those not on Sportowe Fakty: After 16 heats Pontus Aspgren 9 Iversen, Bjerre, Vaculik, Fricke Zagar, Loktayev all 8. Brits - Cook 5, Lambert 2, Harris 1

Cook eliminated barring mathematical phenomenon.

Stories circulating this week he's resuming the GP this year. I have no opinion on whether he should retire or carry on. Only interested in whether he does resume or not. I'll leave others to speculate.

Harris eliminated.