Two short term points.



1. You need to explain what happened to a driver if they dropped time in a stage even if you don't have footage or they are not placed in the top 4. You have a leader board of the top 10, therefore you need to explain about the drivers outside the top 4 constantly. As already pointed out, there were several occasions during Sweden where Marcus, Petter and Henning dropped time but there was no mention of it. Please make a point of explaining it even if you don't have camera footage, it helps develop the overall race picture.



2. I understand you want to use onboards, but you must understand the cameras need repositioning. Maybe not your decision but please demand it of those that can do it. I use the Citroen as an example, due to the Citroen sponsorship banner across the top of the windscreen it makes it very hard to see the road ahead under braking due to the downwards pitch moment.



Thanks for listening and I am sure if you work with the fans you can make your show excellent.



Cheers

 

BRILLIANT post RallyGuru....worthy of it's own topic imo.  Could not have said it better myself.



The above quote especially resonates with me.  I've been moaning about the abbreviated 'central service' based format for years now to anyone that'll actually listen.  Reuse of stages and shortened rally-stage distances make me sad.  It's stripped the soul from WRC.  I've been following the WRC for around 18 years now and for me 2001 was the last year of a proper championship...and even then it was on the decline.



Bring back the epic nature of rallying!  Safari rally anyone?

I wrote a more detailed post in Mr. Viger's 'WRC COVERAGE' thread yesterday.



It can be viewed here: http://www.motorstv.com/forums/car/wrc/ ... ent-130146



To answer the specific question posed by this thread....



1 - Concentrate on overall presentation of the story that is The Rally.  Continuity is key.

2 - More of a balance between in-car cam / stage side cam / heli-cam shots [20/40/40 imo]

3 - Level out the audio mix.  If your current engineers can't handle the job,  replace them.

4 - More frequent graphics to update the viewer on individual stage times and the overall order.

5 - If your current deal with North One / WRC doesn't allow for the above you need to renegotiate your contract because the current package/presentation isn't doing MotorsTV or the WRC any favors.

Well done motors TV - although your first rally wasn't perfect, at least we got to see it as it was on at the time you said and we could record it.  Lost count of the rallys missed over the years 'cos the bleedin' snooker or tennis overrun.  Eurosport NEVER prioritised rallying.



There are a lot of rather over-negative comments on here, but only to be expected I suppose - you can't please all the people all the time and all that.



My 5 key areas would be:



1)  As everyone says, less in car and more external to show speed, sliding, action etc.  You have probably noted this one!



2)  Did you show the podium presentation at the end of day 3.  Was quick if you did.  This is often missed, but it's a real buzz to see the drivers celebrating with the champagne, getting on the roof etc.  Just seems flat when it ends and that's it.



3)  Commentator - sorry but he didn't seem to know anything about rallying. Was he just told one Thursday that he had to present a rally show on the Friday?   He was so chuffed that we had an ex Formula 1 driver to honour us with his presence, he didn't seem to care about the others! Kimi Raikkonen - the MOST boring man to interview alive, surely (is he alive?).  We had GRONHOLM for God's sake - much prefer an interview with him - a legend.



4)  If someone leaves the leaderboard - tell us why!  Petter dropped off on day 1 and didn't know why. Top 2/3 drivers focussed on too much, but this always happens, especially if Loeb was in the lead - we never used to see anyone else on Eurosport!



5)  Why not have a co-presenter on the ground.  Channel 4's coverage years ago with Robbie Head and Penny Mallory would be a good place to research as they gave a lot of facts and backgrounds, interviewed co-drivers, ex-drivers, went out on stage to time splits etc.



Keep up the good work.  Looking forward to things improving rally by rally.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  At least you are listening to the fans in providing a forum (well, it feels like it anyway!).  None of the other networks ever did.

_________________

hello:



Come on don´t be so hard to motors and to the narrator, he is just a honest guy trying to make a living saying things "like bring back eurosport" the show in eurosport wasn't perfect for example

it was to short, ok there were some problems with the transmission yesterday but i liked today

show it is hard to please everyone but for example i like the inboards only with the sound of the 

engine, the cameras positions i think it isn't motors fault. Next rally the show will be better for sure,

take it easy.

1 - More out-car footage: it should amount to at least 90% of the whole coverage.

 

2 - Better camera placing: in-stage cameras are being placed in odd places, like those ones on the ground in the inside of a corner (I mean those which are sometimes hit by the wheels), or in the outside of the corner right in the place where they are caught by the dust when the car is passing (thereby blinding the viewer); this gives rise to some “psychedelic” effects, but it is not definitely what we want to see.






 

4 - More Heli-cam footage.



5 - Do not waste so much time with driver interviews; if eventually they are deemed necessary, then, during the interview, while the driver is talking, instead of his face, you could show some rally action (I mean, keep the sound from the interview, whilst at the same time showing rally action).

Ok. I'm up to day 3 rally Jordan and I don't think I can take anymore of this. If you guys think what I'm going to say is harsh I'm sorry for that. I feel that any person or business that offers a service should be held accountable for the quality of their products. I'm held accountable in my job, why not you?



1. I appreciate Simon's contribution to the sport of rallying, I really do.  My friend, you have no business struggling on with the commentary like you do. You must have recorded the commentary after watching the rally because you are commenting on things that have not even occurred yet. At one point you mention on day 1 before the final stage that it's between Jari-matti, Petter & Loeb. At that point in the race, Jari was in first, Petter in 2nd and Loeb in was in 5th. It's absolutely asinine. The broken sentences are killing me. You'll be speaking about Matthew Wilson or someone, and the beginning of the sentence is regarding the first guy, but you'll run the end of the sentence right into the next guy that's shown. I think most viewers know what I'm referring  to. It's like you're laboring through every sentence. I CAN'T remain silent and just deal with it the rest of the year.



2. The video editing is dreadful. At one point during the rally, they're showing Petter's outboard camera and the lense is just covered in dirt. They thought it was such a brilliant shot, that they chose to return to it right after the inboard shot. We sit and watch as you jump from position to position (from 1st to 5th, 1st to 2nd to 1st to 2nd to 8th?) Just take a few pointers from Eurosport (Show each driver in sequential order, unless there is a heated battle between two drivers. This really isn't rocket science. It's no wonder Simon is all screwed up.



Here's where I give you some well-deserved respect:

I really am digging the centered front bumper cam. It's so much better than the side mounted cams we've seen. It really gives you a feel for the physics involved in rallying.



Anyway sorry for being harsh but I am passionate about this sport. I could care less who wins the MLB World Series. Thanks for listening.

Well if it's true they are contractualy obligated to less then 5 minutes of exterior shots there is nothing to be done short term to make watchable shows.



But if you are stuck with c grade footage why are you choosing c grade information, editing and narrating?



You can't use information to make your own overlay graphics and explain who is running in what order to help tell some kind of story during the long boring in car footage?  You can't relay more behind the scenes info to help flesh out a story from some source somewhere?  You can't do any real editing on your own?



It seems like they get a block of footage and just throw some narration over it and don't actually edit anything.  I hope so.  13 year olds can edit video for free better than what I have seen.

 I think Motors TV has understood that the Rally audience is harder to please than they expected.

But for a channel that is a 100% motorsport channel, you would think they had the best possibility to succeed.



it is about time someone in charge in Motors TV to come out and explain and defend why the product they are delivering in regard to WRC is not better, and what their plan to improve it is !



Is the problem the raw material they are getting? If so can they buy a better package from North One ?



As I have read other places here, the commentator, Simon is aware of his challenges, and is working on improving  - that is very good.

Pls look into the possibility to hire a expert commentator, with pretty current WRC experience, that could add knowledge to the show.



Not sure what quality control Motors TV has before a show is aired, but it might be an idea to check it better before the rest of us se it.



Something has to be done, otherwise the WRC audience is lost for you. But pls explain to us the facts, so we may understand your challenges !