OLN-TV cycling coverage gets even thinner!

  • Thread starter Steven L. Sheffield
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Steven L. Sheffield

Guest
Only weekend coverage of the Giro d'Italia; no live coverage of Classics.
Combined coverage of Paris-Roubaix and REDLANDS????? Combined coverage of
Liege-Bastogne-Liege and SEA OTTER?????

Once again, OLN is proving to be the ONLY LANCE NETWORK!


----------------------------


Press Rel: OLN's Cycling Coverage!

CYCLING SEASON OPENS ON OLN WITH CYCLYSM SUNDAYS

OLN¹s Comprehensive Same-Day Cycling Schedule Debuts March 6th

STAMFORD, CT (Feb 10, 2005) ­ OLN®, the home of professional cycling,
introduces Cyclysm Sundays, a new, weekly show dedicated to the races, the
athletes and the teams that cycling fans are watching throughout the season.
Airing every Sunday at 5:00 PM ET, Cyclysm Sundays will feature same-day
coverage of many of the major cycling races, including the Spring Classics,
and will be hosted by the rotating team of cycling experts ­ Phil Liggett,
Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll.

"Cycling is hugely important to OLN, and the Spring Classics are some of
the most exciting races out there," said Gavin Harvey, President of the
network. "By presenting cycling every Sunday, we're creating a basis for the
entire season. Fans, even those who only recently caught the cycling bug,
can turn to OLN to watch the season unfold and experience the building drama
of this punishing sport."

In addition to race coverage, Cyclysm Sundays will feature a weekly update
on Lance Armstrong and the Discovery Cycling Team; training tips from Chris
Carmichael, personal coach to Armstrong; and coverage of the National
Championship Series, a U.S.-based cycling series in which the top domestic
cyclist is crowned at the end of each season. The format of Cyclysm Sundays
will change somewhat in June, when the show focuses mainly on previewing the
Tour de France.

³We¹re excited about this new format,² said John Carter, Vice President of
Production and Executive Producer. ³It¹s going to be a fantastic showcase
for Lance's team as they take on the heaviest schedule ever for these great
classic races.²

The race schedule for Cyclysm Sundays follows (same-day unless indicated;
subject to change):

€ March 6th Paris-Nice (France)

€ March 13th Paris-Nice (France)

€ March 20th Milan San Remo (Italy)/Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy)

€ March 27th Criterium International (France)

€ April 3rd Tour of Flanders (Belgium)

€ April 10th Paris-Robaix (France)/Redlands* (USA)

€ April 17th Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands)

€ April 24th Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Belgium)/Sea Otter* (USA)

€ May 1st Tour de Georgia (USA)

€ May 8th Giro d¹Italia (Italy)**

€ May 15th Giro d¹Italia (Italy)

€ May 22nd Giro d¹Italia (Italy)

€ May 29th Giro d¹Italia (Italy)

€ June 5th US Pro Cycling - Philadelphia (USA)

€ June 12th Road to the Tour (Tour de France preview)

€ June 19th Road to the Tour/Nature Valley Classic (USA)

€ June 26th Road to the Tour

€ July 3rd - 24th Tour de France (France)***

€ Sept 4th Vuelta a España (Spain)

€ Sept 11th Vuelta a España (Spain)/San Francisco Criterium* (USA)

€ Sept 18th Vuelta a España (Spain)/Tour de Cliffs* (USA)

€ Oct 15th Giro di Lombardia (Italy)

* Tape delay

** Giro d¹Italia coverage may be expanded to include Saturday Coverage

*** Tour de France will include daily coverage


--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [foreword] slash
 
Steven L. Sheffield wrote:

> Only weekend coverage of the Giro d'Italia; no live coverage of Classics.
> Combined coverage of Paris-Roubaix and REDLANDS????? Combined coverage of
> Liege-Bastogne-Liege and SEA OTTER?????


Blame it on the skimpy viewership. If OLN doesn't get the eyeballs,
they can't sell the ad time. They're better off playing reruns of
bull riding and fishing.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/
 
"Terry Morse" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Steven L. Sheffield wrote:
>
>> Only weekend coverage of the Giro d'Italia; no live coverage of Classics.
>> Combined coverage of Paris-Roubaix and REDLANDS????? Combined coverage
>> of
>> Liege-Bastogne-Liege and SEA OTTER?????

>
> Blame it on the skimpy viewership. If OLN doesn't get the eyeballs,
> they can't sell the ad time. They're better off playing reruns of
> bull riding and fishing.


And yet they seem to put bicycle racing on at weird times. Let's face it,
putting on racing at 6:00 pm thursdays isn't going to be a big viewer hit.
Nor putting it on at 12:00 pm Saturdays.

The big question is why are they setting it up for a fall?
 
Is there some way we can be done with it and petition to get Eurosport in
the US? I'm
just flabbergasted they're cutting the daily Giro. Really disappointing.

-Kris
 
"garau" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Is there some way we can be done with it and petition to get Eurosport in
> the US? I'm
> just flabbergasted they're cutting the daily Giro. Really disappointing.
>


Eurosport's footprint does not cover North America.
 
> Blame it on the skimpy viewership. If OLN doesn't get the eyeballs,
> they can't sell the ad time. They're better off playing reruns of
> bull riding and fishing.
> --


I don't know about all of you, but when you train on a bike everyday,
the last thing I want to see on the tube when I'm relaxing is more bike
racing. I kind of like those fishing shows. They're quiet, and peaceful.
Unlike that creepy noise those eurocrowds emit during a bike race, that just
give you more fatigue.
 
On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 11:43:05 GMT, "Callistus Valerius"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I don't know about all of you, but when you train on a bike everyday,
>the last thing I want to see on the tube when I'm relaxing is more bike
>racing. I kind of like those fishing shows. They're quiet, and peaceful.
>Unlike that creepy noise those eurocrowds emit during a bike race, that just
>give you more fatigue.


Yeah, but I prefer the test pattern. Or in winter the yule log. I
wonder if I can get a DVD of that?

JT

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Remove "remove" to reply
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> > I don't know about all of you, but when you train on a bike everyday,
> >the last thing I want to see on the tube when I'm relaxing is more bike
> >racing. I kind of like those fishing shows. They're quiet, and

peaceful.
> >Unlike that creepy noise those eurocrowds emit during a bike race, that

just
> >give you more fatigue.

>
> Yeah, but I prefer the test pattern. Or in winter the yule log. I
> wonder if I can get a DVD of that?
>


OLN hasn't figured out how to cover cycling yet. They tried Trautwig,
and that was a flop. I think they need to use some technology, like Fox
covers NASCAR. Camera on the bike, during fast descents, more on the
technology of the sport, that's what Americans like. You can't cover it in
a Euro way, for an American audience. The Euro way, makes them look like
they're taking a casual ride around central park, sightseeing. And how many
castles do you have to see? They have to get cameras in the peloton, and
someway show the hazards that this sport has. Crashes are always good, but
we don't want that, so have a huge archive of crashes to show during the
boring segments. And please find a way to mask, that retarded crowd noise
the eurocrowds emit. It's as irritating as crickets. The reason bullriding
is more popular is because of how American the performers act, and the
audience response is American. So the key is to mask out the Europeans,
even having a tight shot so that you don't have to endure watching the Euro
crowds.
 
"Callistus Valerius" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> > I don't know about all of you, but when you train on a bike
>> > everyday,
>> >the last thing I want to see on the tube when I'm relaxing is more bike
>> >racing. I kind of like those fishing shows. They're quiet, and

> peaceful.
>> >Unlike that creepy noise those eurocrowds emit during a bike race, that

> just
>> >give you more fatigue.

>>
>> Yeah, but I prefer the test pattern. Or in winter the yule log. I
>> wonder if I can get a DVD of that?
>>

>
> OLN hasn't figured out how to cover cycling yet. They tried Trautwig,
> and that was a flop. I think they need to use some technology, like Fox
> covers NASCAR. Camera on the bike, during fast descents, more on the
> technology of the sport, that's what Americans like. You can't cover it
> in
> a Euro way, for an American audience. The Euro way, makes them look like
> they're taking a casual ride around central park, sightseeing. And how
> many
> castles do you have to see? They have to get cameras in the peloton, and
> someway show the hazards that this sport has. Crashes are always good,
> but
> we don't want that, so have a huge archive of crashes to show during the
> boring segments. And please find a way to mask, that retarded crowd noise
> the eurocrowds emit. It's as irritating as crickets. The reason
> bullriding
> is more popular is because of how American the performers act, and the
> audience response is American. So the key is to mask out the Europeans,
> even having a tight shot so that you don't have to endure watching the
> Euro
> crowds.


I have to disagree. OLN has figured out it's market rather well. Cycling
was important in building its base and getting its foot in the door with
cable providers. Remember all of those cyclists begging their cable
companies to carry OLN? It worked but as their market grew, their
demographics changed. Fishing, hunting, gun sports and associated markets
(the RV crowd) are now their staple market. Cycling is a marginal market
for them unless Lance is the centerpiece which he will not be with the
Discovery deal. Welcome back to the good old days. I expect that WCP's DVD
"division" will do increasingly well in the years ahead.
 
> I have to disagree. OLN has figured out it's market rather well. Cycling
> was important in building its base and getting its foot in the door with
> cable providers. Remember all of those cyclists begging their cable
> companies to carry OLN? It worked but as their market grew, their
> demographics changed. Fishing, hunting, gun sports and associated

markets
> (the RV crowd) are now their staple market. Cycling is a marginal market
> for them unless Lance is the centerpiece which he will not be with the
> Discovery deal. Welcome back to the good old days. I expect that WCP's

DVD
> "division" will do increasingly well in the years ahead.
>

Oh, I forgot about "Discovery", you're right, cycling will be out on
OLN. Yep, if you want to watch some cycling, go down to your LBS and buy a
DVD. That's back to the future.
 
Callistus Valerius wrote:

> OLN hasn't figured out how to cover cycling yet. They tried

Trautwig,
> and that was a flop. I think they need to use some technology, like

Fox
> covers NASCAR. Camera on the bike, during fast descents, more on the
> technology of the sport, that's what Americans like.


i think OLN gets all their feed from euro sources and they only film
the moronic cutters shows and stuff.

if it's cheesy you can bet the euros have tried it. RAI which covers
(covered?) the giro had bike cams and cams embedded in the road.
 
"Callistus Valerius" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OLN hasn't figured out how to cover cycling yet. They tried Trautwig,
> and that was a flop.


They've tried Troutlips on the Olympics, Arena Football, Triathlons, etc.
He's been a flop at them all. Truly one of the worst sportscasters of all
time. I just want to vomit whenever I see him on TV. He ruined the
Olympics, and now I can't even watch Arena Football anymore.

> I think they need to use some technology, like Fox
> covers NASCAR.


The only technology they *need* is Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Bob Roll.
They don't film the races at all anyway, they just buy the feed from the
Euro's anyway. If OLN had to pay for the camera's and the production, we
wouldn't see any euro races at all. Actually shooting a race is
horrendously expensive

Of course, if they insist on using that Troutlips idiot. frankly I don't
want to see any more races. I'll just read about them in the magazines
instead. Let's just face it; there just aren't enough cyclists that watch
TV to support advertisers buying commercial time. It's simple math. And,
let us not forget that as soon as Lance quits, you can forget any further
coverage of the TdF in the U.S. media as well. It'll go back to one hour of
coverage on CBS on the last day of the tour, just like it was when Greg won
his.

Regards,
H.
 
On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 07:17:09 -0500, John Forrest Tomlinson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Yeah, but I prefer the test pattern. Or in winter the yule log. I
>wonder if I can get a DVD of that?


Want mine? Comes with music. You'd have to pay shipping this year, but
this time next year I may be willing to pay to get it out of the
house. One relative insists on putting it on once a season. Its either
get rid of the DVD or the relative and I'm right on the fence on
which.

I'll pay for shipping if you want the relative. The only box big
enough doesn't have airholes, so open it up on arrival. Or not, if you
prefer...

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
 
Perhapsshould Discovery be making a move to take it over next year, the
ratings will be so low they'll have trouble getting decent advertising $,
soOLN upsets their sponsoring of Lance & Co.


"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Terry Morse" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Steven L. Sheffield wrote:
> >
> >> Only weekend coverage of the Giro d'Italia; no live coverage of

Classics.
> >> Combined coverage of Paris-Roubaix and REDLANDS????? Combined coverage
> >> of
> >> Liege-Bastogne-Liege and SEA OTTER?????

> >
> > Blame it on the skimpy viewership. If OLN doesn't get the eyeballs,
> > they can't sell the ad time. They're better off playing reruns of
> > bull riding and fishing.

>
> And yet they seem to put bicycle racing on at weird times. Let's face it,
> putting on racing at 6:00 pm thursdays isn't going to be a big viewer hit.
> Nor putting it on at 12:00 pm Saturdays.
>
> The big question is why are they setting it up for a fall?
>
>
 
"Callistus Valerius" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> I have to disagree. OLN has figured out it's market rather well.
>> Cycling
>> was important in building its base and getting its foot in the door with
>> cable providers. Remember all of those cyclists begging their cable
>> companies to carry OLN? It worked but as their market grew, their
>> demographics changed. Fishing, hunting, gun sports and associated

> markets
>> (the RV crowd) are now their staple market. Cycling is a marginal market
>> for them unless Lance is the centerpiece which he will not be with the
>> Discovery deal. Welcome back to the good old days. I expect that WCP's

> DVD
>> "division" will do increasingly well in the years ahead.
>>

> Oh, I forgot about "Discovery", you're right, cycling will be out on
> OLN. Yep, if you want to watch some cycling, go down to your LBS and buy
> a
> DVD. That's back to the future.


IIRC, OLN has one more year to go on its deal with ASO to cover their races.
I suspect that they've made a profit on that coverage with the Armstrong
years and could care less about next year in relation to cycling. They'll
maximize with their core market now. How about hunting with a crossbow
while on a bicycle?
 
You're interpreting it wrong, it's a good thing. The lack of coverage
means that fans will have to depend on web resources to keep up with
major races on a day-to-day basis, leading to better web sites and
feeds for coverage. Discussions on r.b.r will likely be interesting
again, actually about racing instead of lunatics like CP and MD. People
will have to use their imaginations again to envision the attacks and
action.

And think of all that people here complain about that they won't have
to put up with. No more complaining about the commercials, no more
complaining about the camera coverage, no more complaining about
something Roll says or the latest OLN color coverage commentary. For
those who have complained non-stop for the past 5+ years, they should
be happy, too.

Zub
 
Steven L. Sheffield <[email protected]> wrote:

> Only weekend coverage of the Giro d'Italia; no live coverage of Classics.
> Combined coverage of Paris-Roubaix and REDLANDS????? Combined coverage of
> Liege-Bastogne-Liege and SEA OTTER?????
>
> Once again, OLN is proving to be the ONLY LANCE NETWORK!


Ewoud, save us!