ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
I go along with most if not all that Si said.............did I just say that......he's a Mod :)
I wish that there was more technical detail on those long drawn out cruising sections between sprints and climbs.

Boardman and Ned are great just want more.
I would like the commentators to introduce all the men say one team a day with numbers so you can follow the riders, and the graphics to show more detail, especially real time speed and gears they are using.
More about the bikes.
Fact last non CF frame winner was Pantani on Alu......................
2005 lowest resting HR by two riders was Horner an another 35, average was 50 :o
Lightest that year 57 k and heavist 95 k

Liggett said today some of the riders were 45 k (2014) ......................is that true 7 stone :shock:

Cav was typicaly true to form in his wavy fast slow speech like a essentric record :lol:
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
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Bicycler
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Bicycler »

A continuous barrage of wattage and heart rate statistics would put me right off but YMMV. I remember a couple of interesting Boardman/Boulting pieces on aerodynamics which were quite interesting in a previous year and I wouldn't mind a few more things like that but I wouldn't want the race commentary to be full of information on bike specs (I thought that it wasn't about the bikes!)

Boardman is a good pundit and obviously a nice guy. I'm slightly uneasy with the amount of product placement of his bikes and kit in the ITV coverage.

I associate Phil Liggett's distinctive voice so much with the tour now that it would seem wrong for someone else to be doing it. He calls the conclusion of a race at least as well as anybody out there.

I've always liked Gary Imlach. His humorous remarks really make the ITV's coverage for me. I think his cynicism is a healthy trait for a cycling journalist at the current time.

Overall I do think they do a good job. I like the relatively understated production and it benefits from not being a mainstream sport on ITV1 with big name presenters. It would ruin it if an increase in the Tour's future popularity led to a brash Sky Sports-style production and presenting team.
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Spinners
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Spinners »

Bicycler wrote:Overall I do think they do a good job. I like the relatively understated production and it benefits from not being a mainstream sport on ITV1 with big name presenters. It would ruin it if an increase in the Tour's future popularity led to a brash Sky Sports-style production and presenting team.


That's a very good point.
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Ontherivet77
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Ontherivet77 »

I think Ned Boulting is good, he seems to have the right balance between being light hearted and serious and can speak several languages, which helps him get interviews. Same for the presenters.

However, Phil Liggett needs to go, his support for Lance was bad enough, but also his pandering to an american audience, bigging up the likes of Van Garderen and Horner etc. Also, if he refers to Association Football as Soccer again I'm tempted to throw the tv out the window. A previous post referred to multiple commentary streams for american channels which must explain him referring to the World Cup as the World Soccer Cup.

I think ITV should be congratulated for putting cycling on terrestrial tv, it surprises me that the BBC has not got involved considering the current popularity of road racing.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Mark1978 »

thirdcrank wrote:
Si wrote: ... ITV4 doesn't have the strange foreign adverts. ...


They do have plenty of lengthy ad breaks whose timing seems to be decided elsewhere. Some of this is predictable, such as during mountain descents, but this year, after the coming climb of Cragg Vale had been ikn the local news for months and the "world record" length of bunting had been draped there, there was an ad break during the climb, although coverage did resume to show the crowds at the top. And while I'm on, Paul Sherwen got several places on the route completely wrong. eg IIRC he was in Heptonstall when the footage showed Oxenhope. :roll:


I tried to watch most of the live coverage of Stage 1 and it was frustrating the amount and length of the ad breaks. I was interested in the road between Buttertubs and Reeth as that was a memorable part of my ride but that was almost entirely dropped for adverts - Hadn't realised at that point of course that I could have switched to Eurosport!
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Mark1978 »

Ontherivet77 wrote:I think ITV should be congratulated for putting cycling on terrestrial tv, it surprises me that the BBC has not got involved considering the current popularity of road racing.


Quite so. ITV4 has always had a sports slant since it's inception so ITV has the space to be able to go with these things. The BBC really doesn't as BBC1 and BBC2 are packed with programming and BBC3 and BBC4 only broadcast after 7pm, and they don't do sport from what I've seen.

Plus it's only really been in the past few years we can properly consider ITV4 a terrestrial channel available to all (most) TV's, so there's no need to think about those who might not be able to receive it.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by mjr »

Ontherivet77 wrote:I think Ned Boulting is good, he seems to have the right balance between being light hearted and serious and can speak several languages, which helps him get interviews. Same for the presenters.

Ned interviews in English and French but the rest are usually left to Matt. Ned's mentioned on the podcast that he's uncomfortable with Nibali answering in Italian because he can't understand much of it.
A previous post referred to multiple commentary streams for american channels which must explain him referring to the World Cup as the World Soccer Cup.


I think ITV should be congratulated for putting cycling on terrestrial tv, it surprises me that the BBC has not got involved considering the current popularity of road racing.

BBC has broadcast the UCI Road World Championships the last few years, on the red button streams. BBC3 may be evening-only but has broadcast some sport, but that doesn't matter as it's up for the axe. This is a good thing, as ITV usually has the sense to use their good TdF presenters on other races. If the BBC did it, they could use Simon Brotherton from their good but spasmodic radio coverage (in other words, when there's no cricket or tennis or competitive snail baiting) on Radio 5 Sports eXtra, but more often they've persevered with Hugh Porter who I don't really enjoy.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Mark1978 »

I do wish ITV would go further and provide coverage of both the Vuelta and the Giro. I think for most people in the UK it's just like they only ever watch tennis when Wimbledon is on, they only watch cycling when it's the Tour de France.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by mjr »

itv4 have shown the Vuelta a couple of times - I think live at weekend and highlights every day. If Chris Froome rides this year, I hope for an itv announcement soon after the Tour. When itv tried to get the Giro to complete the set a few years ago, RCS reportedly wanted more for highlights than ASO got for the Tour live+highlights and their spring classics highlights combined. :roll:
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Shuggie
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Shuggie »

When I was over in the States for a few years in the noughties I had to watch TdF on Versus, can't remember what they called it before they changed the channel name. Paul & Phil did the commentary and it was clear they were covering other channels simultaneously. I do find their cliches rather trying, they often miss key moves & were rather too Lance loyal, but no one is perfect [emoji6] I do miss Duffers though for watching live rather than highlights. Ad breaks in the States were however the most annoying, always on during the key parts of a stage, especially the run up to the finish and their duration increased towards the finish as well. One year I recall there was a 'commercial-free' half hour sponsored by P#bar, great except for the constant ticker tape saying that is what it was & it was followed by a prolonged Ad break with all the ads that had been stacked up in the interim. So ITV4 and Eurosport are much better IMHO.

Ned needs to wear his 'hat' properly or not at all (lights blue touch paper & retires) [emoji6]
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Mark1978 »

Chris Boardman is a natural in front of the camera, so not only a decent cyclist - in his day and now.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Bicycler »

Ontherivet77 wrote:However, Phil Liggett needs to go, his support for Lance was bad enough, but also his pandering to an american audience, bigging up the likes of Van Garderen and Horner etc. Also, if he refers to Association Football as Soccer again I'm tempted to throw the tv out the window. A previous post referred to multiple commentary streams for american channels which must explain him referring to the World Cup as the World Soccer Cup.

Lots of people of Liggett's generation and older refer to soccer, particularly those who were brought up in areas where rugby was popular. In any case, I don't see the problem with using language everyone understands. Wouldn't it be a tad arrogant to address a worldwide audience and refer to Association Football (or soccer) as "football" as if it's the only sport carrying that name?

FWIW, I'm heartily sick enduring the media's preoccupation with that sport. I find it annoying when newsreaders assume everyone's first language is soccer, eg. like the way that they refer to the England football team as England or Wigan Athletic FC as Wigan as if it's obvious what is meant by "England playing tonight" or "Wigan won yesterday".

As for Horner and Van Garderen, they are quite big names. Horner won the Vuelta last year. British TV's Team Sky focus is more blatant than any pro-American bias in the commentary.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Bicycler wrote:FWIW, I'm heartily sick enduring the media's preoccupation with that sport. I find it annoying when newsreaders assume everyone's first language is soccer, eg. like the way that they refer to the England football team as England or Wigan Athletic FC as Wigan as if it's obvious what is meant by "England playing tonight" or "Wigan won yesterday".

As for Horner and Van Garderen, they are quite big names. Horner won the Vuelta last year. British TV's Team Sky focus is more blatant than any pro-American bias in the commentary.

Yes "Sports News" is just football and Fergy still gets in there, tho not every day like before, Becks has retired and heads an american team and lives there but is still big with british media, tho has never won a world stage award :?
Two days after the England novelty team can surface again when its all over, UTD anounce a 750 mill contract with Adidas, so why cant they use some of this to help the country win the cup :?:

You cant really blame a country for just promoting their team and of course contracts are in place for exclusive reporting too.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Mark1978 »

I remember watching a local ITV sport roundup programme - some years ago now. Where I the title sequence they had football, cricket, basketball, rallying, speedway and others.

I thought if would give it a try as I like most of those sports except football. I waited and waited and the programme ended without them mentioning anything other than football.
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Re: ITV TdeF coverage; any good?

Post by Si »

Regarding the commentary 'pandering' to Americans, I was under the impression that Liggett and Sherwin were working for an American TV company and that ITV4 bought the feed off them (this is why you never get any chat between the commentators and the pundits/presenters). Which might explain why it is American biased, if it is still the case.
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