The Cycle Show ITV4
Comments
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I think having three articulate guests on the sofa helped a lot!0
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Just watched it and except for the weak segment on maintenance that was a very very good edition. Good guests, good interviewing, couldn't fault it unless you're Mr Picky of Picky Street Pickwich. And the quite attractive blond sitting over Mark Beaumont's right shoulder was a welcome distraction too.
Excellent. Shame it's coming to the end of its run.0 -
Hi all,
I look after the online side of things for TCS, book most of the guests and generally help out a bit. Other than the contracted days I work on the show, I am in not an employee of the production company (Century TV), Chain Reaction Cycles nor ITV. So my opinions are just based on my personal observations on the project and I could walk away from the show immediately if I wanted to.
I try and keep an eye on forum threads, this one was off my radar (no pun intended) though. I am sure there are a lot of excellent ideas and suggestions in here, however they seem to be lost amongst personal insults against people on the show and it makes it hard to look for the constructive ideas.
I will say this though, the show has always encouraged constructive feedback through Twitter and FB, those who chose to communicate in such a way will always have their views considered seriously and we will have a 2 way conversation with them.
The show is very much still finding its feet and there a lot of things the production team wanted to do with the show, which they haven't been able to due to logistical reasons. Just to get the show on TV was a huge achievement as, like it or not, TV broadcasters are nervous of putting cycling on TV as, believe it or not, cyclists tend to be a negative community.
This show was planned for 2013, but was pushed through a year early as ITV felt it was the best time as they (at the time) anticipated Wiggins' TdF success and that it was the right moment. Effectively this series has had a 6 week planning period for an 8 week run, which just ins't conducive to producing the show that was planned. Established shows with similar formats have 4 months to plan an upcoming series of a similar length, this with episode budgets which are bigger than our entire series.
If the ratings and support for the show are good, then we hope a bigger budget will follow and obviously a much longer planning period for a second series.
If you have genuine ideas for improvements (most of which we should have identified ourselves anyway) please let me know as I'll be popping back here, but if you want to insult people please keep it out of the public domain because it doesn't help us improve the show and certainly doesn't encourage broadcasters to put more cycling on TV when they already consider it a risk.
Cheers,
Stu0 -
Whats a "negative community"???0
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rodgers73 wrote:Whats a "negative community"???
Lol .. have you read this thread?All the above is just advice .. you can do whatever the f*ck you wana do!
Bike Radar Strava Club
The Northern Ireland Thread0 -
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s2_art wrote:Hi all,
I will say this though, the show has always encouraged constructive feedback through Twitter and FB, those who chose to communicate in such a way will always have their views considered seriously and we will have a 2 way conversation with them.
Sorry to continue the negative stereotype but a few weeks back I collated from this forum the, what I thought were, good ideas for the show - I emailed them to century and their response.......an email saying thanks for your email but we dont have any jobs at the moment but we will keep your CV on file.
You see if you ignore what the consumers of the show want it's not too difficult to see why they come across as negative.The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
I have enjoyed this show, the climb on tonight's show was good viewing, would like to attempt it myself sometime.
Not enough on roadbikes for me but I suppose they have to cater for a mixed audience so accept the format.
Hope it returns next year.
Thanks0 -
Cleat Eastwood wrote:Sorry to continue the negative stereotype but a few weeks back I collated from this forum the, what I thought were, good ideas for the show - I emailed them to century and their response.......an email saying thanks for your email but we dont have any jobs at the moment but we will keep your CV on file.
You see if you ignore what the consumers of the show want it's not too difficult to see why they come across as negative.
Thanks Cleat. That was quite early on, as after you contacted us I made sure the auto response was updated to something more meaningful (you initially got in touch via FB if I recall). You sent through a very good and useful list. You're on our 'thank you' list of people to reply to now we have the time to respond to emails and DMs, we get on average 100 emails a day and have to prioritise the urgent ones. You'll hopefully have noticed some of the suggestions coming through the remaining episodes. The 60 minute slot (minus ad breaks) has allowed us a lot more breathing space, but most of our features were filmed for the original 30 minute slot we were given. So it has all been a bit disjointed. The Stelvio Pass piece was the one feature I took personal responsibility for as it was my suggestion and I wanted to show what a proper planning period would allow us to do (I started working on that in July), so if it's not hit the mark you can definitely blame me for that and it'll probably because of my lack of experience in TV.
I hope that helps explain things a bit.0 -
s2_art wrote:Cleat Eastwood wrote:Sorry to continue the negative stereotype but a few weeks back I collated from this forum the, what I thought were, good ideas for the show - I emailed them to century and their response.......an email saying thanks for your email but we dont have any jobs at the moment but we will keep your CV on file.
You see if you ignore what the consumers of the show want it's not too difficult to see why they come across as negative.
Thanks Cleat. That was quite early on, as after you contacted us I made sure the auto response was updated to something more meaningful (you initially got in touch via FB if I recall). You sent through a very good and useful list. You're on our 'thank you' list of people to reply to now we have the time to respond to emails and DMs, we get on average 100 emails a day and have to prioritise the urgent ones. You'll hopefully have noticed some of the suggestions coming through the remaining episodes. The 60 minute slot (minus ad breaks) has allowed us a lot more breathing space, but most of our features were filmed for the original 30 minute slot we were given. So it has all been a bit disjointed. The Stelvio Pass piece was the one feature I took personal responsibility for as it was my suggestion and I wanted to show what a proper planning period would allow us to do (I started working on that in July), so if it's not hit the mark you can definitely blame me for that and it'll probably because of my lack of experience in TV.
I hope that helps explain things a bit.
Just before I read your first post this evening I had intended to come here to say that I thought you'd been reading this thread. This weeks was really pretty decent .. it was weighted towards road riders, and I think that's a good thing, as its the roadies that are the ones that follow the pro riders, whose success the show should be / is trying in piggyback.
The quieter, better laid out set was an improvement. But you need someone in the studio to relax your guests better, tell them to look excited and smile, rather than being a bit apprehensive. I'm presuming you do an interview rehearsal? If you want to make cyclists see cool they absolutely must have charisma, not just info. Do a social network appear for cyclists to do videos of them talking about their life on 2 wheels or something.
On the whole I've enjoyed watching, and hopefully the evolution of the show will guarantee a 2nd series, which i hope in turn can continue to improve.All the above is just advice .. you can do whatever the f*ck you wana do!
Bike Radar Strava Club
The Northern Ireland Thread0 -
Proff wrote:I think having three articulate guests on the sofa helped a lot!
I've not read the background post to this one, but I assume the three did not include: Graeme (What on earth is he on about?) Obree; and Rob (Wake me up when he's finished completely missing the point) Hales.I'm at that difficult age... somewhere between birth and death.0 -
dw300 wrote:
Just before I read your first post this evening I had intended to come here to say that I thought you'd been reading this thread. This weeks was really pretty decent .. it was weighted towards road riders, and I think that's a good thing, as its the roadies that are the ones that follow the pro riders, whose success the show should be / is trying in piggyback.
The quieter, better laid out set was an improvement. But you need someone in the studio to relax your guests better, tell them to look excited and smile, rather than being a bit apprehensive. I'm presuming you do an interview rehearsal? If you want to make cyclists see cool they absolutely must have charisma, not just info. Do a social network appear for cyclists to do videos of them talking about their life on 2 wheels or something.
Thanks. Great to see feedback that we have been heading in the right direction, even if there's still quite a bit to go yet.
We've learned quite a bit with the set from this series. We always planned to take the show on the road, it just wasn't possible to do that at such short notice. So with enough planning we can find different locations around the UK where people will turn up to watch the recording, but the set is a slightly better fit for the chat elements of the show. Due to limited run in period from the time we were commissioned, there were key members of the production team booked up for the Olympics and other jobs, so we've lacked the consistency which has led to guests not always being relaxed and chatty. These are all easy fixes which will ensure that a second series will be a big improvement.
I love the idea of the personal video. We're unfortunately restricted by ITV broadcast regulations and the quality of video used. We could get great videos which are unusable (which has happened this series). We had wanted to have a fan submitted 'video of the week' feature, but it proved unworkable for a number of reasons.
My eyes have been opened to what a headache TV production is, especially compliance and technical broadcast requirements (each broadcaster have different guidelines).0 -
I was actually suggesting that as a way to find people who could participate in segments shot by your crew. The videos would be the way to find articulate, enthusiastic people with interesting ideas on what you could feature.All the above is just advice .. you can do whatever the f*ck you wana do!
Bike Radar Strava Club
The Northern Ireland Thread0 -
I see what you mean. Very very good shout.dw300 wrote:I was actually suggesting that as a way to find people who could participate in segments shot by your crew. The videos would be the way to find articulate, enthusiastic people with interesting ideas on what you could feature.0 -
s2_art wrote:Hi all,
I look after the online side of things for TCS, book most of the guests and generally help out a bit. Other than the contracted days I work on the show, I am in not an employee of the production company (Century TV), Chain Reaction Cycles nor ITV. So my opinions are just based on my personal observations on the project and I could walk away from the show immediately if I wanted to.
I try and keep an eye on forum threads, this one was off my radar (no pun intended) though. I am sure there are a lot of excellent ideas and suggestions in here, however they seem to be lost amongst personal insults against people on the show and it makes it hard to look for the constructive ideas.
I will say this though, the show has always encouraged constructive feedback through Twitter and FB, those who chose to communicate in such a way will always have their views considered seriously and we will have a 2 way conversation with them.
The show is very much still finding its feet and there a lot of things the production team wanted to do with the show, which they haven't been able to due to logistical reasons. Just to get the show on TV was a huge achievement as, like it or not, TV broadcasters are nervous of putting cycling on TV as, believe it or not, cyclists tend to be a negative community.
This show was planned for 2013, but was pushed through a year early as ITV felt it was the best time as they (at the time) anticipated Wiggins' TdF success and that it was the right moment. Effectively this series has had a 6 week planning period for an 8 week run, which just ins't conducive to producing the show that was planned. Established shows with similar formats have 4 months to plan an upcoming series of a similar length, this with episode budgets which are bigger than our entire series.
If the ratings and support for the show are good, then we hope a bigger budget will follow and obviously a much longer planning period for a second series.
If you have genuine ideas for improvements (most of which we should have identified ourselves anyway) please let me know as I'll be popping back here, but if you want to insult people please keep it out of the public domain because it doesn't help us improve the show and certainly doesn't encourage broadcasters to put more cycling on TV when they already consider it a risk.
Cheers,
Stu
Well since you're here...
I enjoyed the stelvio feature this week.. definitely worth doing more of that (climb of the week feature?)
The 'bike review' feature also worked well -> despite it not being a proper review, some of the key points were put across in the time.
and this week's episode was definitely the best of the bunch.
Other stuff that I think worked this series?
-Dan Craven was a good guest
-the roller challenge is a bit of fun.. (but since you've got an audience why not use them too?)
-Rob Hayles has his moments -> yes I do actually find him quite funny. (not sure if others will though!)
What I'd change?
-The theme music and transition jingles
-Anna Glowinski -> She's just not a decent enough presenter! sorry Anna!
-Less communting and beginner stuff -> more road/MTB focus. Mainly road.
What I'd add?
-Sportive features -> some plain and simple domestic ones aimed at beginners... then some more far and away 'special' ones. Eg. send Graham or Rob to do some of the bigger and exotic ones.
-Amateur racing features -> a look at an event or something.
thats all that springs to mind at the moment.. and to think you guys have to fill up six weeks worth of programming.. TV production is not the job for me :shock:0 -
I have been told there was a titanium on review and wondered which it was?enigma esprit
cannondale caad8 tiagra 20120 -
Loved the Stelvio ride yesterday - I fancy the Sportif over it - anyone any ideas which one it is ?
And the Ti bike was a Pretorius. You can see it on the ITVPlayer if you want.0 -
Why couldn't they have found a Wheelchair user to test the Offroad wheelchair?0
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s2_art wrote:dw300 wrote:
We're unfortunately restricted by ITV broadcast regulations and the quality of video used.
The entire final episode of 'House' was shot on a Canon 5DII. What are you saying: that ITV demand better or worse than a prime-time US TV show?I'm at that difficult age... somewhere between birth and death.0 -
Watched it with my wife, she liked the Stelvio bit but her comment on the road bike group testy; "this is sooo boring, how do they find anything to talk about? They all look practically the same!" Have to say, I was inclined to agree, there is really no need for that kind of feature to be on TV, far better suited to a magazine. General comment on the series - the guests need to be given a bit of context. Even a 60 second montage showing who they are / what they have achieved. Otherwise, its just another cycling bloke to many people. All in all though, I found it passed half an hour / an hour quite nicely, definitely had its moments and good luck for the next series.0
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s2_art wrote:Hi all,
I look after the online side of things for TCS, book most of the guests and generally help out a bit. Other than the contracted days I work on the show, I am in not an employee of the production company (Century TV), Chain Reaction Cycles nor ITV. So my opinions are just based on my personal observations on the project and I could walk away from the show immediately if I wanted to.
I try and keep an eye on forum threads, this one was off my radar (no pun intended) though. I am sure there are a lot of excellent ideas and suggestions in here, however they seem to be lost amongst personal insults against people on the show and it makes it hard to look for the constructive ideas.
I will say this though, the show has always encouraged constructive feedback through Twitter and FB, those who chose to communicate in such a way will always have their views considered seriously and we will have a 2 way conversation with them.
The show is very much still finding its feet and there a lot of things the production team wanted to do with the show, which they haven't been able to due to logistical reasons. Just to get the show on TV was a huge achievement as, like it or not, TV broadcasters are nervous of putting cycling on TV as, believe it or not, cyclists tend to be a negative community.
This show was planned for 2013, but was pushed through a year early as ITV felt it was the best time as they (at the time) anticipated Wiggins' TdF success and that it was the right moment. Effectively this series has had a 6 week planning period for an 8 week run, which just ins't conducive to producing the show that was planned. Established shows with similar formats have 4 months to plan an upcoming series of a similar length, this with episode budgets which are bigger than our entire series.
If the ratings and support for the show are good, then we hope a bigger budget will follow and obviously a much longer planning period for a second series.
If you have genuine ideas for improvements (most of which we should have identified ourselves anyway) please let me know as I'll be popping back here, but if you want to insult people please keep it out of the public domain because it doesn't help us improve the show and certainly doesn't encourage broadcasters to put more cycling on TV when they already consider it a risk.
Cheers,
Stu
I think people appreciate your taking the time to post this. However, this is a public internet forum and people are entitled to post whatever opinions they wish, whether you feel it is constructive or not. Cycling has been a backwater for so long and longstanding devotees deserve more than what feels like a hastily cobbled together cash-in on the TDF/Olympics. That said, improvements are being made from what I can see.
As for 'believe it or not, cyclists tend to be a negative community.' - what on earth does that mean????0 -
Negative community = intensely disliked. See any DM or other newspaper on-line article on cycling and see how soon it degenerates into a rant-fest at us for being kitten murderers etc. Television people are quite reasonably not keen to associate with us, and maybe ad revenue isn't promising on the back of it. Maybe.0
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Thought it was better this week than the previous few I watched early on, much preferred the studio setting with no background noise! That said I still find the programme frustrating. I want it to succeed and it shows some promise but then fails to deliver. For example, the off-road wheelchair - great to see a bit of British invention but why only show an able-bodied user trying it out on a flat path around a lake??? Contrast this with Top Gear's approach to off-road mobility scooters when they did a (albeit Top Gear staged) race against injured soldiers up a full blown mountain. It would have been really interesting to see just what it could do and the inventor must have been so disappointed with what was shown. Again, the bike reviews - just the sort of thing I want to see but then they give them to some amateur riders who spout out comments along the lines of what they have read in magazine reviews before concluding there was no winner! Surely better to have one or two people with testing experience who can then give full rating - even the Gadget Show does that.
If it returns (and even the presenter didn't seem overly optimistic on that) I would like to see some of the better ideas kept but with more detail. Have a review team that test a few bikes / groupsets / wheels each week and possibly some long term testing. The Stelvio bit was OK - expand this to cover cycling holidays, maybe have a celebrity cyclist riding some of the biggest UK and European sportives. Provide a weekly round-up of cycle races of all disciplines and add on a bit about leisure cycling or commuting with basic tips on riding skills, safety and maintenance. Sadly, I think this effort may have killed the chances of a quality cycling magazine programme for another decade though.
EDIT Posted before I'd seen S2_art's post above. Unfortunately the rush to get it on the screen shows (although I can certainly understand ITV's reasoning for that). Hopefully it will get a second chance with a bit more preparation and the above will be seen as constructive criticism. For me the two big things are lose the LMNH setting - it's too noisy and doesn't work IMHO and ditch the slightly patronising beginner stuff such as the first episode with the man wearing his helmet in a ridiculous position for the safety check. But also stop cutting potentially interesting items short to shoe horn in more things - spread things out as otherwise you will run out of subject matter.0 -
Surely a second series would have stood a better chance if the production company had stuck to its original time scale and not allowed itself to be railroaded by ITV (in percieved commercial interest and bandwaggon jumping) to bring it forward without the neccessary planning being in place. Thus a show is produced that looks like it actually is, cobbled together in a rush.
All the best should a second series be commissioned.Tail end Charlie
The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.0 -
I think that the show needs to work out what it is and what it isn't, it cant be everything to everyone which I think it has tried to be. Maybe thats being over critical but in an hour its near on impossible to cover all the different genres of cycling and then try to pitch those from beginners to the more experienced cyclist. As explained by s2_art the programme was put together quickly, unfortunately that showed in the overall presentation resulting in some quite fair criticism of the show, that doesn't warrent the claim that cyclists as a community are negative, we love the sport and will defend it when someone comes along and shows it in such a poor medium.
Would I prefer to have a cycling show of this type or nothing at all on TV? Hmmmm, my approach to series one has been to Sky+ it and then forward through the poor parts of the show (which unfortunately is large segments each week) in order to get to the interesting bits, however I would eventually get bored of doing that so I think my answer would be nothing at all as I can get more pleasure and be better informed from reading cycling mags.0 -
Give your honest opinion
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
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Rob Hayles needs a shot of adrenaline or two. His interview(struggling to call it that) was snore-worthy.
Put a bit of excitement into it ffs!
Fifth episode and only now is there a review of an actual bike.
No gear testing/comparisons.
Very little workshop type content (unless you count changing a tube in CRC)
Nothing about nutrition (inc energy bars/gels/drinks)
Nothing about sportives
Nothing about racing
Nothing about touring or cycling holiday destinations0
