The end of Tour de France on ITV is nigh
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Hard to disagree unless looking forward to trips or reliving memories.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Once again - South Park the Streaming Wars - stream online
(Of course you have to pay for it now...)
We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
Just been listening to some of the collateral damage that is Never Strays Far.
Ned seems to have seen the writing on the wall, Millar had an undercurrent of annoyance and bolshy anger typical of the beast, and Pete stopped short of oh dear, what a pity never mind yet still didn't disclose his new job even though he started last week.
They did remind me of the broader cultural buffet that viewers get invited to and Millar made a good point about kids with parents who have no interest in sport (such as mine and his) would never countenance subscribing to a sports channel and could never stumble upon the sport of professional bike racing.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body1 -
It doesn't take a genius to see that the advertising market for their live coverage isn't very strong
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Millar has, on the face of it, a very good point.
However, when you scratch the surface, FTA highlights will still be available I suspect on Quest, and Kids have more to occupy themselves with than TV when they get home from school. Im not sure losing out on FTA TV is all that in 2024. People dont watch random TV anymore to pick up, for example, cycling. Unless it's on you tube.
I should add, I still think it a shame even though I rarely watch on ITV these days.
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Training his hair
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Give me the Pete Shelley original any day of the week.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body3 -
I still think the ITV presenting team have a very niche appeal and they are part of the explanation for the declining audience. Imlach should probably have been replaced years ago and Boulting is just unsuited to commentary. Maybe if they'd stuck Boulting on presenting and got in a better commentator and someone with a bit of TV presence instead of Kennaugh - someone a bit more like Blythe to balance Millar who can be quite intense - it'd have been more watched. I just think they got too comfortable.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
Just shows it's all about opinions.
I spend much of the tour wondering why Imlach isn't on TV more and I think Boulting has really grown into the commentary role; give me an hour of him over CK.
Millar, for me doesn't give the impression that he's a cycling fan. When you listen to him on their podcast you realise that, for one reason or another, he doesn't seem to watch much cycling unless he's being paid. After enjoying his café ride series, I'd happily see Chat Stephens on co-comms.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body3 -
Yeah, Imlach is the stand out in the ITV team for me. I don’t like watching them live and find Millar’s style a bit boring.
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The ASO though the European Broadcasting Union ( nothing to do with the EU) do arrange for free to air coverage in Europe and a lot of European broadcasters have taken packages.
No UK broadcaster (including ITV) could even be bothered to put in a bid for a UK package. ☹️
Van Nicholas Ventus
Rose Xeon RS3 -
I would always take listening to Boulting, Millar and Kennaugh over Blythe, Kirby and Hatch. I can't stick Orla either too much in you face, faux excitement and lack of depth.
The thing about free to air highlights as well is it'll likely be 20 minutes of ads, 10 minutes of racing and 30 minutes of Orla chatting.
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And yet many are framing it as though they've been forced out of the market. It feels more like they just don't want it any more.
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I can think of other sports where similar has happened; the broadcaster didn't bid/ renew because the finances don't add up - in other words, the viewing figures aren't very good, which affects advertising revenue. Repeats of Minder, The Sweeney, etc will pull in more.......
All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."1 -
The problem is the ITV coverage hasn't pulled in the viewers - rather than try and shake up the coverage they've dropped it.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]1 -
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=GB&q=Bikes&hl=en-US
Let's face it during COVID there was a big boost for lock down cycling, we've seen a slump since.
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Said it a the time. I thought 2016 was peak cycling. Cycling may have increased during covid for the average person but it has been declining as a sport in the UK. Chris Froome, Gee and the Olympics kept it going for a while but still.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Yep, it's getting so unpopular now it might be time for me to start riding again.
I'd say a fair percentage of young kids use scooters now too, which doesn't bode well for future sales. A new craze need to be created akin to BMX, baskets aliens n stuff.
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I guess the repeat s of Minder etc are all pretty much paid for and low cost to them. Presumably TDF rights are relatively expensive.
2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner1 -
I think that’s the real reason for no free to air coverage. ☹️
Van Nicholas Ventus
Rose Xeon RS0 -
Gary Imlach is the best thing about TV cycling coverage. I never tuned in to listen to anyone's commentary (main or co) but I would regularly tune in with a sense of excitement and anticipation for Imlach's introductory spiel.
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I recall in the early 00s when Channel 4 demoted the Tour highlights to the graveyard shift that there was "uproar" from cycling fans that its 6pm slot had been given to Hollyoaks or equivalent. But Hollyoaks generated 10x the viewer numbers, so it was a no-brainer from the Big Cheeses with advertising revenue to think about.
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Not disagreeing re 2016 being "peak cycling" but curious as to how you measure "cycling". e.g.
- Viewing figures - absolute
- Viewing figures - adjusted to be relative, given that viewers are spreading their attention far and wide on subscription TV these days so that 10 million viewers is the new 20 million viewers (if that makes any sense!)
- # of mainstream media articles
- # of bike sales
- # of recreational riders
- # of domestic races
- etc.
FWIW in my view 2011-14 was the peak in terms of general interest. Cav's world champs win warmed the public up for Wiggo's 2012 campaign which the rolled into a lot of interest in the 2014 Grand Depart. (I recall talking to the guy who ran the local bike shop in 2013 or so and he said that the game-changer re bike sales to kids was Cav winning stuff in the Tour etc. Olympic track success hadn't really had much success.)
The media interest in Wiggo in 2012 from the Tour, amplified by ringing the bell at the London OGs was at a level normally reserved for top-level wins in high profile events such as Rugby World Cup in 2003 and Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2013.
Our part of the world may be an outlier re recreational riders, but swarms of riders in the summer are just as common as they were any time in the last 10-15 years in the summer. There's fewer in the winter, but I think Zwift may be a factor here.
Caveat - From 2014 until the Covid era I was in my era as a "Swim Dad" and maybe wasn't paying such close attention to top-level sport.
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I don't measure it, just my gut feeling. Sounds like you agree to a degree. 😉
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Indeed. And per my caveat, one's own view is always coloured by what else is going on in life. My kids are adults now, so I have much more time to focus on cycling than when I was seemingly at Ponds ****ing Forge every weekend for swim galas!
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Would a highlights package of Imlach, a commentator and a pundit all based in the UK work for those who watch it? I don't know what the balance of costs is buying the rights vs producing the show but do they need to be over there ?
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
I would think so, as for road cycling, the commentators rely on TV monitors and race radio (and equivalent) etc so it doesn't really matter where they are. Very different from football etc. where a skilled commentator can add a lot from their view of action not on the TV screen at the time if they are there in person.
Though I did enjoy the episode last year when the ITV crew did the post-race punditry from what looked like a layby on the Nice ring road.
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