TNT no more?

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

15 hours ago, enotian said:

 

I can guarantee you riding or being a mechanic or a TM/Promoter at a speedway meeting is way more exciting than it is attending one as a supporter. 

I can tell you from vast experience from a mechanics point of view from heat 1 to heat 15 the meeting feels like it’s going 1000 mph, you rarely get to see any other races except your riders races and you are constantly working on the bikes inbetween his races and if you are a trusted and long term mechanic (not just for a night )the intensity is amplified because their race win/loss becomes your win/loss and from a riders point of view depending on how involved you are with your bikes the meeting ticks along just nicely, it is a completely different experience to the fan experience and far more intense 

Edited 11 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[MattB]

3 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I can tell you from vast experience from a mechanics point of view from heat 1 to heat 15 the meeting feels like it’s going 1000 mph, you rarely get to see any other races except your riders races and you are constantly working on the bikes inbetween his races and if you are a trusted and long term mechanic (not just for a night )the intensity is amplified because their race win/loss becomes your win/loss and from a riders point of view depending on how involved you are with your bikes the meeting ticks along just nicely, it is a completely different experience to the fan experience and far more intense 

I often say that being a fan on the terraces at a tv meeting means you are effectively a TV extra, except you've paid for the privilege.

[Ben91]

A speedway race is the ideal sport for this short attention span, TikTok generation. The racing itself has always been the attraction, the convoluted rules that go with it are a massive turn off. 

The sport needs TV coverage. TV doesn’t need speedway. It’s on the people running the sport to make it a product a television company (ideally multiple) desires and wants to throw money at. Television puts out things people want to watch, it isn’t there to promote or sustain the sport. That’s the job of the promoters. 

TNT don’t want speedway. They had it, let it go and inherited it again as part of the Eurosport/Discovery deal. 

Meetings take too long to run. That’s a sport wide problem. Some of it is necessity, some could be improved upon. For the sake of the fan in the stadium and to make the sport more palatable for the TV. 

A highlights show could be very interesting, showcasing the best of the weeks racing. The hurdle there would be gaining permission of whoever has the right to film/broadcast meetings. Presumably BSN. They’d need to be paid well for it, because they’d basically be giving the best of their product away for free each week otherwise.  

[enotian]

8 hours ago, ouch said:

Don’t know if I’m easily please but I’m happy with the usual 90mins it takes to run a meeting. Even if it runs over at 120mins its ok with me. The replays and interviews on the big screen plus those over the mike keep my interest between heats, if I’m not chatting with folk that is. Add in the antics of Chase and his interval white line challenge for the kids (big & small) pass the time nicely. 

Andy sticks to his regular quick track grades with only two of the four “holding things up” as the others are at the interval and before heat 15 when there are breaks anyway. 

Pre meeting we have Philips manager interviews and post meeting we have the press conference with Hayley & Lee before we can have one to one chats with the riders, all in the lovely surrounds of the Peter Craven suite. 

Being from an era of three TV channels, a whip & top to play with and chippy tea being a treat, perhaps my entertainment sensibilities are out of step with current trends. 
 

I agree about the stats thing and I’ve spoken with people trying to produce an app to draw the kids in using stats but nothing has surfaced yet. Also there should be more for the managers to do and us second guess them as currently the format is far too ridge, for no apparent reason that I can see. 

Sounds decent enough. Not my cup of tea but more importantly clearly not the TV viewing publics either.

Don't get me wrong TV companies love filling their schedules with content...     ...if people are watching and clearly they're not.

Highlights show is fine but it will end up being on the graveyard slot and as someone has said what's the point if someone likes the highlights show enough to turn up to a meeting and it's nothing like the highlights!

Everything now is in short bites. It's why nobody watches Match of the Day anymore. The goals from other games are available on the way home from the match. You've see everything you need to see in 10 minutes and you haven't had to listen to Alan Shearer waffle on.

Speedway heats are ideal for that just not if you have to wait 10 minutes between them. Speedway was always a family sport but families are a different animal now where the kids call the leisure shots and they just don't like waiting for anything.

[M.D]

9 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I can tell you from vast experience from a mechanics point of view from heat 1 to heat 15 the meeting feels like it’s going 1000 mph, you rarely get to see any other races except your riders races and you are constantly working on the bikes inbetween his races and if you are a trusted and long term mechanic (not just for a night )the intensity is amplified because their race win/loss becomes your win/loss and from a riders point of view depending on how involved you are with your bikes the meeting ticks along just nicely, it is a completely different experience to the fan experience and far more intense 

Agree, unless your rider is riding at 1 or 2 you may get to see heat 1 but other than that its the 4 or 5 rides your rider is in.

Its is an adrenalin buzz working in such an environment and after the rider I worked with retired, watching from the stands just no longer gave me the same buzz watching..

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

It’s been said elsewhere but speedway shown on BSN is a world apart from the one shown on TNT and you would think that would be the case with discovery’s multi billion pound resorces and BSNs small pot but it’s the other way around, BSN capture the essence of the sport and TNT don’t catch anything, I actually find TNT coverage quite mundane and sometimes tedious, it’s not the commentators or presenters it’s the whole package, it just misses completely the soul and passion of the sport and broadcasts it like it’s being forced to, I can’t say I’m sad to see it go and will happily be subscribing to BSN next season 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

7 minutes ago, M.D said:

Agree, unless your rider is riding at 1 or 2 you may get to see heat 1 but other than that its the 4 or 5 rides your rider is in.

Its is an adrenalin buzz working in such an environment and after the rider I worked with retired, watching from the stands just no longer gave me the same buzz watching..

I still get a buzz no matter which side of the fence I’m on, I gave up being a spannerman because I got a bit fed up with it, I did it a lot of years often alongside racing myself but I am a bit fussy who I work for and have turned down a few, not because I don’t like them but because I just didn’t think we would click as a working team but I have filled in for a couple of riders as one offs 

Edited 2 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[M.D]

1 minute ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I still get a buzz no matter which side of the fence I’m on, I gave up being a spannerman because I got a bit fed up with it, I did it a lot of years often alongside racing myself but I am a bit fussy who I work for and have turned down a few, not because I don’t like them but because I just didn’t think we would click as a working team  

I worked with Adam Shields for 9 seasons along with Paul Viney in the pits, had some great and some not so great times.

Wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

[M.D]

One story I will tell, Adam was riding for Lakeside away at Swindon.

I went to Pauls house in Broadstone, Poole.

Adam collected us in the van and said 'its a lovey day, I actually feel like riding my bike today'

Lakeside won with Adam getting paid 14 from 5 beating Leigh Adams twice and once from behind, happy days!

[Aries]

28 minutes ago, M.D said:

I worked with Adam Shields for 9 seasons along with Paul Viney in the pits, had some great and some not so great times.

Wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

I’m still a bit miffed we never managed to get Shields in at Foxhall! For someone who rode our track so so well it’s always puzzled me how that move never happened. 

[M.D]

20 minutes ago, Aries said:

I’m still a bit miffed we never managed to get Shields in at Foxhall! For someone who rode our track so so well it’s always puzzled me how that move never happened. 

First season he had in the Elite, scored 20+1 from reserve for Eastbourne, loved the place.

Edited 1 hour ago by M.D

[Aries]

5 minutes ago, M.D said:

First season he had in the Elite, scored 20+1 from reserve for Eastbourne, loved the place.

Remember it well! Incredible performance.

[M.D]

3 minutes ago, Aries said:

Remember it well! Incredible performance.

He did get offers but very much liked working with Jon COOK.

[Fromafar]

1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

It’s been said elsewhere but speedway shown on BSN is a world apart from the one shown on TNT and you would think that would be the case with discovery’s multi billion pound resorces and BSNs small pot but it’s the other way around, BSN capture the essence of the sport and TNT don’t catch anything, I actually find TNT coverage quite mundane and sometimes tedious, it’s not the commentators or presenters it’s the whole package, it just misses completely the soul and passion of the sport and broadcasts it like it’s being forced to, I can’t say I’m sad to see it go and will happily be subscribing to BSN next season 

Agree BSN’s presentation makes you think your at the meeting with there pits chatter and general knowledge of the sport. TNT’ Abi probably couldn’t name a Championship Club.

Their Moto Gp,BSB andWSB coverage is superb though.