World Rally Championship
Discussion
Hi all,
Am currently working on this at ITV and we're desperately trying to restore the sport to its former level of popularity.
I was just wondering if there were any big rally fans within the Piston Heads club (see http://www.wrc.com for more info) and if you had any thoughts on how to pull larger audiences in.
Cheers
Tim
Am currently working on this at ITV and we're desperately trying to restore the sport to its former level of popularity.
I was just wondering if there were any big rally fans within the Piston Heads club (see http://www.wrc.com for more info) and if you had any thoughts on how to pull larger audiences in.
Cheers
Tim
Longer time slots
More sensible programming
Get rid of Angus Scott
Less analysis, more action
More in-car with no voiceovers
More advertisement of programs
No arty farty slanted camera shots that change every 1/2 second
Do a bit of history for each round, an excuse to show 'proper' cars for 3 minutes
More sensible programming
Get rid of Angus Scott
Less analysis, more action
More in-car with no voiceovers
More advertisement of programs
No arty farty slanted camera shots that change every 1/2 second
Do a bit of history for each round, an excuse to show 'proper' cars for 3 minutes
rubystone said:
Yes, decent timeslots - not 11.30pm - and advertise the times in advance.
I guess as it's a highlights type program you're not tied to the race times like MotoGP or F1 so either put it on during peak times or advertise it so I can set the video. I'd love sections on old rally cars, about the country the rally is in, modifications to the cars to suit the stages.
I know it's a bit more specialist but IMHO it's far more watchable than F1.
As a competitor and spectator I think less patronising and repetitive stuff from Robbie etc, I must say I find it most frustrating that they seem to feel the need to explain road "cleaning" to me at every opportunity. But that's just my pet hate and most unlikely to be that which you are seeking.
Anyway, here's my point of view (others may disagree with me but that is their perogative)...
The problem with Rallying on TV, is visibility. A one hour slot on a Sunday afternoon does not do it justice nor does it encourage potential viewers to get into the sport. The fact that a rally (WRC event) takes place over a number of days presents you with a spectacle that is more akin to golf events and the like, rather than F1. Okay, so you show qualifying and the actual race fopr F1, but in order to draw existing fans and new viewers what needs to be done is to raise the profile of what is happening over the days that a given rally takes place.
To do this I would suggest that (as with F1) that the ITV news should be encouraged to give updates on positions and retirements etc throughout the rally. Plus maybe a small slot late evening (Fri, Sat, Sun) to give a roundup of the days sport. I think, this little but often approach would help draw viewers to your main slot of Sunday.
A bit more might also be done to try and develop the stars as personalities in the same way at F1 drivers are (although they are rather a wooden lot at the moment
). At would also perhaps be useful to make viewers aware whilst WRC is the World Championship, that a great deal of other rallying takes place in the UK and Ireland, that some people might not realise it is taking place virtually on their doorstep. Whilst Wales Rally GB is obviously a must for most British rally fans, it only takes place once a year, to achieve continuity and a degree of interest it would be useful to make viewers aware that they can play a part in their sport, whether as spectators, marshals (of which many organisers find themselves desparately short) or , indeed, to make the step into competition.
As a TV company, you have the unique opportunity to show people what they are missing and perhaps spark their interest to take things a bit further by joining their local motor club and learning about what goes on and what they can do.
So there you are, probably not explained in the best way, but I think that's what is required. Let me put it another way:
I don't recall ever seeing a TV program that actually showed people how to get started in rallying, what's required, how much does it cost? that sort of thing, you know a sort of reality TV with a point and a bit of action, danger and thrills.
You could try PMing TheExcession, I'm sure he'd have some opinions and You may find alot of folk on www.britishrally.co.uk forums are able to give you a few more hints.
Cheers,
Steve
just some thoughts in no particular order....
one thing that grates me is the interviews after the stage. Granted they are not too frequent but if Loeb is interviewed and is asked how the stage was, it is fairly likely that Gronholm, Solberg et al will say something very similar.... there is no need to show three people saying " it was slippy and rough"
I like camera angles which show about five seconds worth of stage and then watching about 20 cars through it rather than the two second view, then another two second view, then another....as it makes the viewing very fragmented. I think someone else commented on this. you do not get a feel for the stage. this would be my first issue i would address given the opportunity. lots of cameras does not mean better viewing though i respect it is dependant upon the stage.
an idea F1 tried to develop was the race from someone elses point of view other than the drivers. they have started to have someone from the team in the pits on radio etc so why not something like that. after a service maybe talk to the service crew, it might give a better appreciation of what goes on there. next raly, maybe the michelin guys etc etc an insight into the modifications to the car would be very interesting for each rally.
the technology involved especially the overlapping of the cars to show speed loss etc is very good.
maybe follow a local guy or team on each rally. just a few minutes is all thats needed but it would be an interesting insight into life away from Loeb et al and their multi-million dollar budgets
one thing that grates me is the interviews after the stage. Granted they are not too frequent but if Loeb is interviewed and is asked how the stage was, it is fairly likely that Gronholm, Solberg et al will say something very similar.... there is no need to show three people saying " it was slippy and rough"
I like camera angles which show about five seconds worth of stage and then watching about 20 cars through it rather than the two second view, then another two second view, then another....as it makes the viewing very fragmented. I think someone else commented on this. you do not get a feel for the stage. this would be my first issue i would address given the opportunity. lots of cameras does not mean better viewing though i respect it is dependant upon the stage.
an idea F1 tried to develop was the race from someone elses point of view other than the drivers. they have started to have someone from the team in the pits on radio etc so why not something like that. after a service maybe talk to the service crew, it might give a better appreciation of what goes on there. next raly, maybe the michelin guys etc etc an insight into the modifications to the car would be very interesting for each rally.
the technology involved especially the overlapping of the cars to show speed loss etc is very good.
maybe follow a local guy or team on each rally. just a few minutes is all thats needed but it would be an interesting insight into life away from Loeb et al and their multi-million dollar budgets
grahamdance said:
Longer time slots
More sensible programming
Yip. Was the one hour per day programming on C4 costing too much to edit and produce?
Possibly extending the 'summarise the whole event in one program' format to 90 minutes to 2 hours might help.
grahamdance said:
Less analysis, more action
More in-car with no voiceovers
I think the virtual spectator is good analysis to compare multiple cars. Good visual aid to draw interest from all levels of viewer.
In car doesn't always work - camera position vs windscreen sunstrip. Possibly the teams could be even more media friendly - forward facing on dash, forward facing external (if the production team want to risk the expense)
Watching a driver/co driver doing their normal thing is not interesting so restrict those shots to reaction to problems. (although the odd dancing feet shot is interesting to show how hard the game is)
grahamdance said:
No arty farty slanted camera shots that change every 1/2 second
Do a bit of history for each round, an excuse to show 'proper' cars for 3 minutes
Agreed!
Does the production team make it well known that they're very interested in amature footage. I'm guessing spectators pick up lots of events where TV cameras are not located.
Give the jwrc more air time in longer programmes. I'm interested in Wilks & Meekes.
If there are Brits privately entered, I'm interested. Not seen an entry list yet but I'm guessing a few of the British championship guys have entered wrc gb?
TeamD said:
Lots of good stuff and.....
At would also perhaps be useful to make viewers aware whilst WRC is the World Championship, that a great deal of other rallying takes place in the UK and Ireland, that some people might not realise it is taking place virtually on their doorstep. Whilst Wales Rally GB is obviously a must for most British rally fans, it only takes place once a year, to achieve continuity and a degree of interest it would be useful to make viewers aware that they can play a part in their sport, whether as spectators, marshals (of which many organisers find themselves desparately short) or , indeed, to make the step into competition.
It is poor that the British chapionship gets a measley half hour program per round. I mean the best event I've spectated this year was the Jim Clark. Half an hour cannot get close to showing how good it was this year, and I especially include the Scottish championship on the Sunday. (Finding out when the TV coverage of the Scottish and Irish boys is pure luck)
Of course the British championship/Scottish championship/Irish Championship .etc. are not ITV's problem at the moment.
Possibly TeamD's point is that all levels of the sport deserve better programming at sensible schedules to increase the popularity.
Of course, track sports are easy TV but that is one reason why super special arena stages were invented.
Tim,
obviously the biggest problem is that there are no british drivers competing - that makes a big difference, if you could find your way to investing in a wrc ride for kris meeke etc, then most of your problems will be solved!!!!!!!
however in terms of the actual content of the programmes, may i suggest that you take a good look at some of the classic rally videos of the 80's.
the 1 hour slot on the sunday is fine ( so long as it is always at the same time) but the rally needs to be filmed as an event, that is the hour long slot takes us from the start to the finish with no recaps on what happened yesterday, jus the story of the event. one commentator talking us through the three days of action. iirc in the old days you never got to see the commentator he just read the report off a script into microphone, and overlaid it onto the video.with the locations, cars, drivers etc, there should be enough interesting happening at each event to make a story, rather than just the bland, " and heres what happened in stage two" or "heres what happened on the superspecial" style of reporting. rallying is an event that can be easily romanticised, something which can't be said of formula 1.
iirc jim rosenthal used to do the rally commentating in his 'world of sport' days, so maybe that could be considered, it certainly needs someone who can inject some enthusiasm into it. ( although i would imagine that someone else wrote the script)
of paramount importance is in car footage, which is a lot better than of yesteryear, but it needs to be special, perhaps concentrating on one car for the duration of the event ( obviously the one that finishes not crashed out on the first stage)
getting to know the characters of the drivers would help with perhaps some behind the scenes stuff, but not the technical stuff, the drivers home lives stuff,
the master of rally film production is barrie hinchcliffe of bhp productions, he is still in existance, and assuming you work for itv and not chrysalis you would be well advised to give the filming contract to him, or if not, then get him as a consultant.
some videos you need to look at:
from harogate it started 1971 rac
1983 RAC (duke marketing)
a little bit sideways 1978 british rally championship
man against man (1981 manx rally)
this should give you a good idea of what I mean.
obviously the biggest problem is that there are no british drivers competing - that makes a big difference, if you could find your way to investing in a wrc ride for kris meeke etc, then most of your problems will be solved!!!!!!!
however in terms of the actual content of the programmes, may i suggest that you take a good look at some of the classic rally videos of the 80's.
the 1 hour slot on the sunday is fine ( so long as it is always at the same time) but the rally needs to be filmed as an event, that is the hour long slot takes us from the start to the finish with no recaps on what happened yesterday, jus the story of the event. one commentator talking us through the three days of action. iirc in the old days you never got to see the commentator he just read the report off a script into microphone, and overlaid it onto the video.with the locations, cars, drivers etc, there should be enough interesting happening at each event to make a story, rather than just the bland, " and heres what happened in stage two" or "heres what happened on the superspecial" style of reporting. rallying is an event that can be easily romanticised, something which can't be said of formula 1.
iirc jim rosenthal used to do the rally commentating in his 'world of sport' days, so maybe that could be considered, it certainly needs someone who can inject some enthusiasm into it. ( although i would imagine that someone else wrote the script)
of paramount importance is in car footage, which is a lot better than of yesteryear, but it needs to be special, perhaps concentrating on one car for the duration of the event ( obviously the one that finishes not crashed out on the first stage)
getting to know the characters of the drivers would help with perhaps some behind the scenes stuff, but not the technical stuff, the drivers home lives stuff,
the master of rally film production is barrie hinchcliffe of bhp productions, he is still in existance, and assuming you work for itv and not chrysalis you would be well advised to give the filming contract to him, or if not, then get him as a consultant.
some videos you need to look at:
from harogate it started 1971 rac
1983 RAC (duke marketing)
a little bit sideways 1978 british rally championship
man against man (1981 manx rally)
this should give you a good idea of what I mean.
Given the format of a WRC rally in the modern age I think you would be struggling to make it grab the attention span af anything more than a special interest group audience. Assuming that would be the aim.
And if we end up with Ford and not many other manufacturers next year I can't see it doing much in the global ratings.
I agree with many of the previous comments but frankly I could understand why the camera work and editing is designed and delivered the way it is. There are, what, 12 cars of any interest to a global audience, the rest being largely local. It's a bit like the Porsche Cup races where showing the entire field on the grid tends to highlight just how few cars are on track.
I have no problem with the highlights format - even for the UK round. The old RAC could affer a much more varied event with the potential for extreme weather, extended distances and the number of days it covered and the night driving sessions. Stages were won or lost by seconds or even minutes rather than fractions of a second. There was always the hope of a stunningly spirited drive coming along to change the leader board rather than reliance on accident or severe puncture.
I get the impression that a lot of the current WRC events are long periods of inaction followed by a few minutes blast on a rock strewn road. The drivers probably have time to go home for lunch ...
I have seen a few of the programsd reporting in domestic rallies. Now they looked interesting considering the relatively low budget - but seemed to suffer from strange editing to make the competition appear to last longer than it did - which generally left me confused about overall progress. Or maybe that was because they are usually on at about 4am!
And if we end up with Ford and not many other manufacturers next year I can't see it doing much in the global ratings.
I agree with many of the previous comments but frankly I could understand why the camera work and editing is designed and delivered the way it is. There are, what, 12 cars of any interest to a global audience, the rest being largely local. It's a bit like the Porsche Cup races where showing the entire field on the grid tends to highlight just how few cars are on track.
I have no problem with the highlights format - even for the UK round. The old RAC could affer a much more varied event with the potential for extreme weather, extended distances and the number of days it covered and the night driving sessions. Stages were won or lost by seconds or even minutes rather than fractions of a second. There was always the hope of a stunningly spirited drive coming along to change the leader board rather than reliance on accident or severe puncture.
I get the impression that a lot of the current WRC events are long periods of inaction followed by a few minutes blast on a rock strewn road. The drivers probably have time to go home for lunch ...
I have seen a few of the programsd reporting in domestic rallies. Now they looked interesting considering the relatively low budget - but seemed to suffer from strange editing to make the competition appear to last longer than it did - which generally left me confused about overall progress. Or maybe that was because they are usually on at about 4am!
grahamdance said:
Longer time slots
More sensible programming
Get rid of Angus Scott
Less analysis, more action
More in-car with no voiceovers
More advertisement of programs
No arty farty slanted camera shots that change every 1/2 second
Do a bit of history for each round, an excuse to show 'proper' cars for 3 minutes
Seconded - some much needed thoughts here.
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff