Future Rally Media Coverage

There has been a lot of discussion on how Rally is covered today and has been in the past. Motors TV has been given a lot of uppercuts on how their first weekend went, but are learning. North One Sport ( http://www.northonetv.com/ ) owns the rights, and has a contract with FIA, that also say that they will develop WRC to a Premier Brand ( http://www.crash.net/world+rally/New...mpionship.html )

What do they need to do to get there ?

What media to use to reach that goal, and how to use them: TV, Internet, Mobile phones and so on ?

If you could have your saying, what would you like to have to improve your experience using new technology ?

They're bad..

They've a long way to go. A Premier brand - honestly, I can't see it.

They have big name now: The Ice Man. But he will soon go from this sport.. If they want brand they must have highly paid drivers.. Now it's sport where rich sons pay their seats so why to pay somebody..

I feel that the first step would be for terrestrial TV coverage. The BTCC has grown in popularity in the UK because it is screened on ITV. If people have the choice between watching some reality TV show or motorsport then we might stand a chance!
However, for watchable TV coverage we need a mixture of hardcore footage - incar, static and helicam and 'layman' footage where an educated presenter explains what seperates the cars from road cars, how the technology affects us daily, proves that rallies are financially beneficial to the locals etc etc
Radio coverage is essesntial too. On BBC radio 1 F1 is the only sport that gets a mention. Again, the national papers dedicate a decent amount of coverage to F1 but next to nothing on rallying - if Northone or the FIA have to pay to take out an advertorial then so be it!
Web coverage can always be improved but it is actually the 'least worst' coverage we are recieving at the moment!

This would be a start! As for 'superstars'... well we have them already, just none are British! how much terrestrial coverage (TV, paper, radio) does the WRC get in France, Spain, Norway and Finland? I'm sure it is a fair bit as they all have stars in the sport!

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Originally Posted by Barreis

They're bad..

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Sulland tries to start a discussion. You sabotage it. If you have no other agenda, why the f... do you bother?

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Originally Posted by Barreis

They have big name now: The Ice Man. But he will soon go from this sport.. If they want brand they must have highly paid drivers.. Now it's sport where rich sons pay their seats so why to pay somebody..

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I agree about the last part especially when drivers like PG's careers are
going nowhere because they can't find enough sponsors to pay for the 50000€ that is required to rent the Fabia S2k for a rally.

This means that its only a rich boys championship.

Sure there will probably be more factory teams next
season but are they different?

Then about coverage.
It needs to be accessible with working websites, live streams and live broadcasts, both in-car and outside-car, and more new camera angels.
The live internet video feeds doesn't need to be commentated but rather have just authentic sound. Simply put they put up some cameras on the stages and connect them to separate internet streams (one for each camera).

As a complement there should be an audio stream (like WRR but without the music and with less nonsence) with info about stage times and interviews.

There should/could also be a sort if live blog/live ticker with general info about what's happening in the rally. Stage times, incidents basically the same as the audio feed.

Stage and Rally area maps with live car position (via GPS).

There should be at least one live stage per day.
Perhaps one "Forrest stage"+SSS live.

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Originally Posted by Sulland

There has been a lot of discussion on how Rally is covered today and has been in the past. Motors TV has been given a lot of uppercuts on how their first weekend went, but are learning. North One Sport ( http://www.northonetv.com/ ) owns the rights, and has a contract with FIA, that also say that they will develop WRC to a Premier Brand ( http://www.crash.net/world+rally/New...mpionship.html )

What do they need to do to get there ?

What media to use to reach that goal, and how to use them: TV, Internet, Mobile phones and so on ?

If you could have your saying, what would you like to have to improve your experience using new technology ?

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UK perspective only!......

Lots to do, but It wont happen overnight - lots of people on this formum think that each wrc went they will got corner by corner action 24/7 on the internet and free to view TV. Its simply not going to happen (unless you get the guys who just won £100+million quid on sponsoring it)
Live stages / hellicopters etc all cost big money and with pressuire from the FIA, events and teams to cut costs revenues have been cut. But saying that new sponcers have some into the WRC.

TV
Lets face it - we will never get to see rallying on mainstream primetime tv.
The likes of BBC and ITV like high viewing numbers and rallying wont give them that. Also the 3-4 day format of rallying does not suit mainstream tv, where as f1 in a couple of hours slot does.
What does suit rallying is the old channel4 program of a roundup show, offering the days highlights plus extras.
Those who think the golden days of BBC coverage are coming back are living in a dream world!
The likes of MotorsTV (sorry not seen the coverage so cant comment on the quality) are the way forward offering a roundup show at the end of each day.
The Dave show has improved - noticed the lack of z-list celebs, but I would like to see the following week with extra coverage of lower the field.

Printed Press
With the internet give near-live coverage of WRC and IRC events, to me when Motorsports News drops though the door on Wednesday/Thursday it seems very outdated. Some more in-depth items would not go amiss - especially amount of people they send to each event! Noticed Jerry from MN ranted in one of his items about a proposal to have regular indepth release from wrc during the events - which he snubbed, suppose it would cut his jolly's down each year

Radio
World Rally Radio is a great idea and to me does a good job. More stage coverage is needed, but again back to the mighty £.
5Live / Talksport - do offer some brief update, but the round up program or hourly catchup would be good.
Nice ideal is Totalrally.com - would be good to have this on mainstream radio once a week.

Internet
Well where do you start. Well anything connected to a computer costs money. Developing iphone apps and internet costs time and money. wrc.com is doing more soon so the investment is coming in along with ideas on gps tracking, slpit times, webcams etc etc

Media at WRC events
The top guys offer press releases thought the day, but smaller teams media is not on the top of the list - it would be good if someone could cover these at events and report back on them and not just the big boys.

Well thats my rant over - board at work (not rally related work!)

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Originally Posted by Audimadgeoff

I feel that the first step would be for terrestrial TV coverage. The BTCC has grown in popularity in the UK because it is screened on ITV. If people have the choice between watching some reality TV show or motorsport then we might stand a chance!
However, for watchable TV coverage we need a mixture of hardcore footage - incar, static and helicam and 'layman' footage where an educated presenter explains what seperates the cars from road cars, how the technology affects us daily, proves that rallies are financially beneficial to the locals etc etc
Radio coverage is essesntial too. On BBC radio 1 F1 is the only sport that gets a mention. Again, the national papers dedicate a decent amount of coverage to F1 but next to nothing on rallying - if Northone or the FIA have to pay to take out an advertorial then so be it!
Web coverage can always be improved but it is actually the 'least worst' coverage we are recieving at the moment!

This would be a start! As for 'superstars'... well we have them already, just none are British! how much terrestrial coverage (TV, paper, radio) does the WRC get in France, Spain, Norway and Finland? I'm sure it is a fair bit as they all have stars in the sport!

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Absolutely!! Top post!
Completely agree - 'normal' TV is an absolute must. While the MotorsTV deal might seem good, look what else they cover. All what would be described as 'minority/niche' sports. That is what WRC is now viewed as, same as MX, Enduro, etc Hardly Premier brand!!
As for Radio, Newspaper coverage - fat chance!! Take RallyGB - 5Live hardly mentioned it - on the Friday the FiA Presidential election was announced - a perfect opportunity to mention the event - Nothing!! In fact some of the panel had no idea who Ari Vatanen was. The move of Kimi was thought to be a great chance for good coverage - not really. There was an article in the Independent, but apart from that - it was disappointing. Even a lot of the car magazine websites didn't overdo themselves.
All in all it's going to be a massive job, because the sport has disappeared from public view - and nowadays there are only a few sports that get great coverage, the rest get scraps. It's been said before, but F1=Motorsport!!

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Originally Posted by Barreis

They have big name now: The Ice Man. But he will soon go from this sport.. If they want brand they must have highly paid drivers.. Now it's sport where rich sons pay their seats so why to pay somebody..

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In rallying and other forms of motorsport you always have to had money in order to get to the top where they start to pay you but what this has to do with the topic of the thread?

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Originally Posted by Iskald

Sulland tries to start a discussion. You sabotage it. If you have no other agenda, why the f... do you bother?

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Boo-frickin-hoo

He was just pointing out that in all the years the ISC/North One have been in charge they've done nothing of note. Thinking that there is going to be any change from this is foolish to say the least.

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Originally Posted by DonJippo

In rallying and other forms of motorsport you always have to had money in order to get to the top where they start to pay you but what this has to do with the topic of the thread?

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I agree, it's the wrong way around anyway. People get paid lots because it's a high profile sport, not the other way around. To be honest who actually cares how much Loeb is paid?

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Boo-frickin-hoo

He was just pointing out that in all the years the ISC/North One have been in charge they've done nothing of note. Thinking that there is going to be any change from this is foolish to say the least.

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Agree partly with your opinion of ISC/North One, but thats no reason for not discussing it.
And who says its foolish to think that there could be a change? You? Barreis? To stamp something as foolish is IMO very far from constructive.

Just red in last EVO that Prodrive and Mini are close to the deal.. It's shame that Eurosport didn't do WRC instead of IRC cos I like it very much and that's future of any sport: LIVE TV.. :)

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Originally Posted by Iskald

Agree partly with your opinion of ISC/North One, but thats no reason for not discussing it.
And who says its foolish to think that there could be a change? You? Barreis? To stamp something as foolish is IMO very far from constructive.

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I don't say not to discuss it. I was simply saying that you shouldn't just dismiss what he said. Like I said, the ISC has had YEARS to change the coverage and previously we had Skoda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Ford, Hyundai, Citroen and Peugeot all in at the same time and in conjunction with the FIA they ran the sport into the ground.

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Originally Posted by Barreis

Just red in last EVO that Prodrive and Mini are close to the deal.. It's shame that Eurosport didn't do WRC instead of IRC cos I like it very much and that's future of any sport: LIVE TV.. :)

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should be on show with the DS3 at next months Geneva Motorshow

First step would be, not to treat the fans as idiots. All the fake hoopla on wrc.com is not fooling anyone. Nor are the tv-shows presented as if it were live. The obsessive media control ISC/NOT plans to do will not help the WRC in the long run.

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Originally Posted by wrc_flipper

Radio
World Rally Radio is a great idea and to me does a good job. More stage coverage is needed, but again back to the mighty £.
5Live / Talksport - do offer some brief update, but the round up program or hourly catchup would be good.
Nice ideal is Totalrally.com - would be good to have this on mainstream radio once a week.

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Maybe they can look into some new directions also, for example they could make an Iphone application to start with. Including Live Rally Radio, news, videos and pics?

IRC have an Iphone application who is updated often with news and pics (no radio, yet)

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Originally Posted by Koppomsbo

Maybe they can look into some new directions also, for example they could make an Iphone application to start with. Including Live Rally Radio, news, videos and pics?

IRC have an Iphone application who is updated often with news and pics (no radio, yet)

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The iRally application has most of that... :) At least radio and news :D

The truth is they can't do better then this 'cos nobody wants to buy live show.. This kinda show they produce right now is only about true fans and what about wide audience?! Eurosport is producing their own program and no problem 'cos they know that 12 millions people watch it (1/4 would watch whatever they have on the program that moment).. Copy/paste Eurosport.. :)

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Originally Posted by Barreis

Eurosport is producing their own program and no problem 'cos they know that 12 millions people watch it (1/4 would watch whatever they have on the program that moment).. Copy/paste Eurosport.. :)

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Eurosport is producing if someone pays for them to do it, like in MC.

Eurosport Events are organiser of IRC..
PLUS..
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81544

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Originally Posted by Barreis

Eurosport Events are organiser of IRC..

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Yes they are but there won't be a coverage like in MC without someone else paying it.

I think Armin Schwartz would make an excellent commentator, because I've seen one of his appearance as guest during New Zealand coverage and he was very perceptive. Or at least be paired with another commentator. Probably not going to happen since he's enjoying racing in America.

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Originally Posted by tmx

I think Armin Schwartz would make an excellent commentator, because I've seen one of his appearance as guest during New Zealand coverage and he was very perceptive. Or at least be paired with another commentator. Probably not going to happen since he's enjoying racing in America.

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Schwarz commentated for Eurosport Germany during Monte Carlo this year.

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Originally Posted by RS

Schwarz commentated for Eurosport Germany during Monte Carlo this year.

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I've seen him doing that for RTL from WRC events don't know if he does it still.

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Originally Posted by DonJippo

Yes they are but there won't be a coverage like in MC without someone else paying it.

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Sponsors are paying their marketing PLUS entry fee to IRC from every organiser..

A couple of things need to be done..

We need a mix of the WRC coverage and IRC coverage. I would watch Rallying all day which I have each weekend it has been on eurosport But what the IRC coverage is missing is the production value on the nightly H/Ls They need to start making the program as good as the WRC show. with more cameras on the side of the road I would watch it all again.
Someone put it to me its like cricket Some channels will be live all day and then have H/Ls at night and it gets viewers.

There should be live GPS data by now click on a car and you can see the speed and all the data. Its there so I dont know why it isent on the internet yet.
One of the producers recently said to me that most WRC events have live stages its just that no one will show it live in the UK.. I think this is bull after seeing how many people tuned into the Mote Carlo I would be surprised they couldn't fill it with adds. ( its not like motors TV is live all day so they cant say we are live all day like europsport could)

We should all contact the bbc stating why we think they should bring WRC back. With formula 1 coverage reduced maybe they could use WRC to fill the gap. This would also mean people like jake humphrey doing something and the tax payer seeing some sort of return. As seen with F1 coverage audiences have gone up. This would make WRC a more viable option for sponsors. We have 3 weeks at the most for something to be done. We could start a petition to show the bbc that people want it back on a major channel it will im sure also cost less than F1 (any one know how much espn paid). The bbc can be contacted here for those who want to contact the bbc directly https://faq.external.bbc.co.uk/templ...duleID=contact. Any one done a online petition before?

Or to Mark Thompson director general of the bbc mark.thompson@bbc.co.uk

I already did, yesterday.

have they replied? Has anyone else? I really think a petition would be the best way forward as it allows other poeple from diffrent forums to sign up.

Just emailed Mark Thompson....

Take it many on here dont give a f**k about rallying :mad: . Many gone on about something needing to be done but do nothing WRC is going to die a slow deaf unless the we the fans do something. Its important to get it on a channel such as the bbc to attract new fans and reingage overs with the sport.

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Originally Posted by ilsit

Take it many on here dont give a f**k about rallying :mad: . Many gone on about something needing to be done but do nothing WRC is going to die a slow deaf unless the we the fans do something. Its important to get it on a channel such as the bbc to attract new fans and reingage overs with the sport.

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There are a lot of people on here who care about rallying, but perhaps we aren't minded to respond to poorly-written, garbled posts, and perhaps we think you're being a trifle simplistic in assuming that the BBC would suddenly want to take on the WRC coverage. Contacting them is a pointless exercise. The reasons why the BBC doesn't currently want to show rallying are deeper-seated and won't be resolved by a load of fans e-mailing the DG.

I like the sentiment, but people need to live in the real world. Why on earth would the Beeb start showing a minority/niche Motorsport?? This isn't the 80's/90's when the Beeb did show plenty of minority sports.

I wish we could have this for TVNZ. They give very little coverage to motorsport and they appear to have blow their program budget on the Rugby World Cup!

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

There are a lot of people on here who care about rallying, but perhaps we aren't minded to respond to poorly-written, garbled posts, and perhaps we think you're being a trifle simplistic in assuming that the BBC would suddenly want to take on the WRC coverage. Contacting them is a pointless exercise. The reasons why the BBC doesn't currently want to show rallying are deeper-seated and won't be resolved by a load of fans e-mailing the DG.

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I agree completely. We would all love to think that we could sway their attention to WRC but it is not going to happen.

Are you all not forgetting who pay for the bbc we the tax payer. If enough people say they want something they have to proved or else they would not be providing a service the public want. Again many of you on here will be moaning about WRC beinging scrapped in the future if we dont try we will never find out. The fans need to make the first move after all its us who pay their wages.

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There are a lot of people on here who care about rallying, but perhaps we aren't minded to respond to poorly-written, garbled posts, and perhaps we think you're being a trifle simplistic in assuming that the BBC would suddenly want to take on the WRC coverage. Contacting them is a pointless exercise. The reasons why the BBC doesn't currently want to show rallying are deeper-seated and won't be resolved by a load of fans e-mailing the DG.

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Well at least people are willing to try something rather than just moan. This is the reason why this once great country is on its arse right now. :mad:

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Originally Posted by ilsit

Are you all not forgetting who pay for the bbc we the tax payer. If enough people say they want something they have to proved or else they would not be providing a service the public want. Again many of you on here will be moaning about WRC beinging scrapped in the future if we dont try we will never find out. The fans need to make the first move after all its us who pay their wages.



Well at least people are willing to try something rather than just moan. This is the reason why this once great country is on its arse right now. :mad:

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It is not 'the taxpayer' that pays for the BBC, but the licence fee payer. There is a difference. And in no way is it 'the fans' that need to make the first move. The likes of the BBC will only ever want to take up WRC coverage again if there is something worth covering, which, at the moment, there isn't. In short, your sentiments are well-meaning but misguided.

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Originally Posted by ilsit

Are you all not forgetting who pay for the bbc we the tax payer. If enough people say they want something they have to proved or else they would not be providing a service the public want. Again many of you on here will be moaning about WRC beinging scrapped in the future if we dont try we will never find out. The fans need to make the first move after all its us who pay their wages.

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To be fair though, on a national level, the WRC is not as popular as say F1, and even that, despite being very popular on the BBC is being reduced. Why? Cost. Many public sector divisions are getting less funding, and need to spend much more carefully. And what is effectively a niche sport, is not going to be on the priority list for the BBC.