Epic TV coverage disappointing

[Johny Bravo]

all in good time friends!

Soon the Epic TV rights would make live broadcasts a reality, but with that we will see a few changes:

- Expect the event to be cut to pro's only, with a cap on the numbers (like the Tour de France) of probably no more than say 240.

- Expect the non-pro's to have their own event

- You may even see a split in racing the Elites only and having ladies, Mixed teams, Masters and Grand Masters pooled with the non-pro's

- You will now have a situation where 240 will get reasonably good TV coverage as they would not be up to 5 hours apart on the course. The coverage of the rest of the field will then be very secondary.

- You will also see huge limitations on stage locations to ensure that live broadcasting equipment can be used. This will not make for the best / most rugged terrain, but it would look good on TV.

- Expect pro's that are outside of 15% of the winners time to be cut from the event. This way you can focus on the front 50% more.

- Expect riders to only start at 2pm in the afternoon so that they can finish around 6pm to maximize live TV and accommodate the European TV schedules.

- Expect transitions inbetween stages that will drive costs for non-pro's even higher.

That would really suck. Especially for guys like me who have dreams of one day finishing the epic.

[GLuvsMtb]

That would really suck. Especially for guys like me who have dreams of one day finishing the epic.

You heard what the OP said... TV coverage does not do the event justice, so they'll have to make some changes. We cant have our cake and eat it.

[BigGuy]

My opinion is that it COSTS everyone (excl KV) involved with the media coverage / TV highlights package too much to do a "go beyond the normal call of duty" job. It is simply the nature of how the event is partnered and marketed.

[rock]

geez, 2 days live and daily high lights, I remember when MTB got like 3 seconds per month on TV......we're lucky.....its not like its golf......oh wait.

[GoLefty!!]

I remember when MTB would get a weekly 40 min show called Old Mutual World of Endurance. Ok maybe 20-25min was MTB but its still a lot more in 1998-2002 than we get today when he sport is bigger now than ever

[raymakestv]

I've worked on the tv show at epic for two years a few years back. It's VERY stressful getting the show edited in the few hours you have before it needs to get uplinked. When I watch the show I'm very critical because I know what is going into each segment. When watching it this year I did think it was pretty bad. There are hours worth of footage to choose from and it's about selecting what to show and what to leave out. There needs to be an element of storytelling and I also believe the music should play a role in the pace/rhythm of the edit. Scripting needs to be there to fill in the story but shouldn't just be going the whole time trying to recount every little thing that goes on. Just my 2c from a guy who does this every day