Professional Cycling - My opinions of OLN's TdF coverage...

... is that OLN's TdF coverage SUCKS SH*T big time.

I swear, watching today's prologue TT...

1) There were more commercials than tour coverage.

2) I felt like I was watching the Food Network at some points, with that woman Kirsten (or whatever) showing us the nice seafood in that town by the ocean. If they were going to do Food Network spots, at least give me Rachael Ray or Giada de Laurentiis.

3) Al Troutwig is a moron and should stick to basketball or football or whatever the hell he's familiar with

4) Is it the TdF or still the Lance Chronicle's?

5) They didn't bother show ANY footage of the American guy who actually won the stage... THAT's SH*TTY COVERAGE!!!! Wait... THAT'S NOT COVERAGE AT ALL!!!

Sucked ass today and the Lance ass kissing was a bit much...

I already posted this in the 'Why no Zabriskie coverage?" thread but I'll suggest it here too:

Maybe we can take up a collection from all of you and me send to France with my camcorder to get some real coverage. I promise no commercials every 30 seconds and will limit the words 'Discovery, Trek and Lance' to no more than once per 10 seconds.

If you can, try and catch the live coverage with Phil and Paul. While they don't show all of the stage, they also don't add as much fluff either. And the reason they didn't cover Zabriskie was because he started so early in the day before the broadcast timeslot kicked in. Additionally, I would add that if you have TiVo, you could start watching about 30 mins delayed. This way you can fast-forward through all the commercials and it will never catch up to you by the end. ;)

Ditto to the live coverage. Set the VCR, tape it and watch at a convenient time. There's much less fluff.

As far as the Lance ass-kissing... it's the price you pay for having TdF coverage on 3x a day. Let's see what happens next year without Lance drawing in sponsors and viewers...

Ditto to the live coverage. Set the VCR, tape it and watch at a convenient time. There's much less fluff.

As far as the Lance ass-kissing... it's the price you pay for having TdF coverage on 3x a day. Let's see what happens next year without Lance drawing in sponsors and viewers...

I rarely watch TV other than major sporting events otherwise I would get Tivo. I should tape it though.

I was in Italy one year and watched the Tour on RAI. Surprisingly, a lot more fun/interesting watching without commericals and learning some Italian!

Seriously, OLN has improved Tour coverage in the North America, but it's still very irrating and not always their fault.

Its better than nothing.....I agree tape the live covergae and watch that later. :)

Except for a few of us.... most of the people who are watching only care about Lance... so it makes sense that OLN does what they do. Its unfortunate...but I doubt we will get any coverage next year. Trautwig does suck, but its better than reading updates on the net...

Its all about gay ratings..the public wants to see armstrong and thats what they are getting.

I was a bit pissed that I don't get OLN, but I feel better now. Seems I am not missing much after all!

wtf...i ust got done listening to Phill Liget talk about the reality show Surviver for a minute during cycling coverage.

OLN isn't ideal, but I can't believe all of the whining! What would you all do if you didn't have OLN to complain about?

Of Course the OLN Coverage is Lance Biased. LANCE is the ONLY reason that OLN even covers the Tour, and newsflash, he's won it 6 years in a row! If the North American public (In general) cared about the other riders, we'd see them more. The truth is that most of the public JUST care about what happens to Lance.

Perhaps if we as a group cared more about the sport and less about one American rider, than the coverage would be more like the European Coverage.

Sure the folks on this forum are CYCLING fans not just LANCE fans, but we are the minority in North America.

I think the coverage is absolutely great!

Of course the focus is on Lance. His story is inspirational and he's trying to win this race for the 7th consecutive time. It's a big deal.

I like seeing the local coverage and sidebars. A little exposure for the municipalities that support the race doesn't hurt either. I especially liked seeing the towers to climb on in case you get caught to far from shore when the tide comes in. We don't have those around here.

I don't get all the whining. If you don't like it don't watch it. I was so disappointed they didn't cover the Veulta last year. The commercials are the only reason they broadcast at all, or even have the race, for that matter. If you want to do something to keep/expand/improve cycling coverage contact the sponsors and tell them how much you appreciate their support.

I'm without OLN, but get Canal Evasion. It's basically the same live coverage with french-language announcers. I miss phil and paul, but at least there isn't the lance-worship. The announcers are pretty good and straightforward and there isn't all that dumb feature stuff. However, I still tape the live AM coverage and watch it later, since there are fewer ads. When I got OLN, I'd do the same thing- morning coverage was much better. However, remember to set it with an extra half hour in case it runs late. Except for TT stages which of course, finish on time.

I can't believe they still have that moron trautwig! Glad I'm missing that.

Of Course the OLN Coverage is Lance Biased. LANCE is the ONLY reason that OLN even covers the Tour, and newsflash, he's won it 6 years in a row! If the North American public (In general) cared about the other riders, we'd see them more. The truth is that most of the public JUST care about what happens to Lance.


Also, OLN is one of Lance's Team sponsers.

Now they have Lance's sister on, I think her name is Sheryl Crow ( ;) )
I don't know the names of the guys doing the 'play-by-play', so to speak, but the Brit is great.
:D

Phil Liggit and Paul Sherwin are the commentators...They have been commentating on the tour for years and yes they are great. I think Phil is the best cycling commentator I've heard.

Phil Liggit and Paul Sherwin are the commentators...They have been commentating on the tour for years and yes they are great. I think Phil is the best cycling commentator I've heard.

IMHO, Phil has the best sports commentating voice ever of anyone I've heard. I'd say the close second would be the late Harey Carry (yes I'm a Chicago boy). I mean, Phil's plugs made the other OLN shows seem exciting... even the BBQ showdown!

wtf...i ust got done listening to Phill Liget talk about the reality show Surviver for a minute during cycling coverage.

Kind of ironic when you think about it since the TdF (and bicycle racing in general) is really the original televised "survivor"-type reality-based competition. And it's truly unscripted. :D


Drama!
Exposed to the elements
Occurs across a period measured in weeks
Multiple teams
Subtle strategies, tactics, scheming, pacts and alliances
Various nested challenges (contests within contests) with intermediate prizes
Roving/mobile coverage
Tight clothing
Eliminations - lag behind and get thrown out

[QUOTE=G-Unit]... is that OLN's TdF coverage SUCKS SH*T big time.
I swear, watching today's prologue TT...
1) There were more commercials than tour coverage.

I taped the TT on my vcr while watching it last night. I was careful to only record when they televised actual racing. The complete coverage was 2 1/2 hours. However when I checked the amount of time I used on my vcr of actual race footage it was only 54 minutes.

That means over 100 minutes of commercials and special interest stories. I guess OLN is trying to accomodate viewers who not cyclists.

-I don't care too much for the non-cycling stuff. Why do I want to know about salt and how it's made?

-Too much Lance. Yes, I know he's their man and all, but seeing as though once he retires, they will need to find something else to focus on, why not try to find some cyclists with future promise and spend time talking about them too? I'm not saying cut Lance out 100%, but cut him out 50% and bring on more talk about other cyclists. Talk about the other members of the team. Speculate about who's going to take over the team when Lance leaves. Give me profiles on the Discovery riders. Speculate on why certain riders didn't get picked for the squad. Then, if there's time left, talk about the other big teams that have American riders. Go through their roster. Let us know how you think those Americans will do with their teams. Give me more than just Lance, Lance, Lance, salt, Sheryl, Lance, seafood, and Bob Rolle nekked on a bike during commercials.

-I don't like the commercials, but I know they're necessary. They still make more money from their other honkey-tonk shows ("Guns n' More", "Even more Guns", "Everything You ever wanted to know about Guns and Flyfishing", "Bullfighting", Bullfighting and Guns", "Monster Trucks and their Gun Owners", and "Celebrity Poker"). Hee hee... I'm just kidding about the shows, but you guys get it. Someone has got to pay for the coverage so they can get in the live feeds. Maybe we should blame the French for charging so much for it! I don't think anyone on that staff particularly cares about those stupid Survivor shows, but I think they're kind of forced to promote it because OLN wants to increase exposure to those reruns they got. That's smart (but irritating) promotion.

-Call Powerbar please, OLN. I was thankful when Powerbar would sponser the last half hour of the shwo so we wouldn't have something as stupid as a commercial break during a crucial time in the show.

-Too many broadcasters and folks with little segments. Just split them up and give the two nitwits the night spot for expanded coverage and let Phil and Paul do the commentary for the daytime stuff.

-Thank God for Tivo. It's not my plan to ever watch it live. I'll Tivo it every single day and cut out the babble, side stories, and commercials.

-Overall, it's better than nothing.

Koffee

Aren't the Powerbar 1/2 hours only during the Mountain stages? They might still have them this year.

I didn't notice when Powerbar did it... just was thankful for the lack of commercials at crucial times during the stages.

Go Powerbar!

Koffee

On the plus side, I could listen to Phil and Paul talk about doorknobs until my ears bleed.

Yes, it's too Lance-centric. More palatable for the American audience I guess. Once you realize this, you adapt, hit FF a couple times, and you're on your way. Yes, PVRs are a godsend!

All of you whiners will be sorry when there is little to no coverage after Lance is gone, and all of a sudden you will even miss Al Trautwig.

I mean Jeez!, OLN is an American network and Lance is THE biggest story ever in American cycling...and yes it is about ratings and advertising. That is what drives American television.

I will be laughing when the same people are whining about the total lack of coverage next year and beyond.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin are the commentators...They have been commentating on the tour for years and yes they are great. I think Phil is the best cycling commentator I've heard.


Indeed....Phil Liggett is the best in the game....one of my two favorite sports commentators, the other being Mike Emrick of the NHL.

But that's the problem... there probably won't be any coverage after July 24th once Lance retires. If they're not doing anything to introduce people to other riders, then they won't feel the need to cover it anymore. We'll just end up with a hour long tour recap, and that won't be cool at all.

Now is their last chance to really delve into all aspects of cycling- get people to become more involved with cycling beyond Lance. Prepare their viewing base. But they don't do it, and to me, that says they don't plan to do much once Lance retires. I'm glad we have coverage, but I just don't think they're doing too much beyond Lance to keep the interest up, which is frustrating.

Koffee

Keep writing to the sponsors and those who are on the commercials...Tell them how much you like their products and appreciate their support of the Tour...Its all WE can do (besides buy their products of course)

Is it at all possible to have a Cycling Channel? There is a Golf Channel, after all.

There is plenty of material to cover to have a stand-alone channel for all things bicycling.
Just look at all the different forums here on Bike Forums. Certainly they can cover not only all or most of the different kinds of bicycle races, but all aspects of cycling. How many different kinds of golf is there?

Has this been discussed before? Right now, after a sixty-mile ride on my fixie today I'm too tired and lazy to look.

Is it at all possible to have a Cycling Channel? There is a Golf Channel, after all.

There is plenty of material to cover to have a stand-alone channel for all things bicycling.
Just look at all the different forums here on Bike Forums. Certainly they can cover not only all or most of the different kinds of bicycle races, but all aspects of cycling. How many different kinds of golf is there?

Has this been discussed before? Right now, after a sixty-mile ride on my fixie today I'm too tired and lazy to look.

I would think that something could be done on a global level. Certainly cycling has as big a global following as golf, if not bigger. It may have to be tied in with global advertising or something along those lines.

OLN gets their actual race feed from the local (national?) French TV company...they don't (and probably aren't allowed to) have their own cameras on the course. That's why last year you never saw Lance cross the finish line with his team at the Champs-Elysees...French TV didn't see him crossing the line to win number 6 as dramatic enough I guess. So, when OLN can get a chance to use it's camera's, it's on the sidelines doing those little features you all don't seem to like very much.

I thought it was sucky that Crowe talked about Lance longer than OLN talked about Zabriskie's TT win.
As in they gave her a longer interview.

I wish they knew how to engage Zabriskie in conversation. He seems like a really funny guy... just shy, that's all. I thought it was hilarious when he was talking about sleeping in the buff... I mean, where did THAT come from? I was just rolling on the floor laughing. Every day, he seems to have one more funny thing to say. I don't know if he does it on purpose or is just nerves and saying the first thing that came to his mind (which happens to just be funny stuff) or what, but they need to put him on camera more often. Besides, he's cute.

Koffee

Zabriskie rocks. I'd like to see him hang on to the yellow for a few more days.

OLN's coverage may be flawed, but it is light year's ahead of anything we had in the US before OLN. I really don't mind the Lance love fest. I don't mind the commercials (Have you noticed that there are less commercials during the climactic moments of the stages?) I don't mind Al and Bob (though they are the ugliest pair of TV personalities ever). I don't even mind Ms. Gum and her vapid little puff pieces. It can all be forgiven because...

Every day I get a live feed and the call from Phil and Paul.

I don't even mind Ms. Gum and her vapid little puff pieces. It can all be forgiven because...

Every day I get a live feed and the call from Phil and Paul.

I don't get it... literally. I haven't seen anything with Gum in it. But then again, I only watch the morning live coverage. Is she only in the replays later on or something?

I don't get it... literally. I haven't seen anything with Gum in it. But then again, I only watch the morning live coverage. Is she only in the replays later on or something?

Yeah she is part of the EXTENDED coverage in the evening I believe.

I actually haven't seen her either, only heard her mentioned by Al and Bob.

They had all that dribble from the roving reporters in the pre Tour special back on Saturday. I just had no love there. And I'm still just wondering why they did a whole segment on salt.

That is deleted off my tivo. I wasn't feeling that pre tour special at all.

I guess Gum is on at night. Which is why I only watch the morning live feed.

I love Phil and Paul.

Koffee

I wish they knew how to engage Zabriskie in conversation. He seems like a really funny guy... just shy, that's all. I thought it was hilarious when he was talking about sleeping in the buff... I mean, where did THAT come from? I was just rolling on the floor laughing. Every day, he seems to have one more funny thing to say. I don't know if he does it on purpose or is just nerves and saying the first thing that came to his mind (which happens to just be funny stuff) or what, but they need to put him on camera more often. Besides, he's cute.

Koffee

if you want a little extra taste of his humour, go to www.davezabriskie.com. Check out his on the bike interviews of other riders, they are awesome. Especially the one with Michael Rasmussen.

Compare the OLN coverage to what we used to get, which was a weekly half-hour highlight recap on Wide World of Sports. I'll take OLN, cheese and all. I agree that Al Trautwig is a moron, but he's the generic big voiced sports guy who has to anchor the show. Sherwen and Liggett sound too English to anchor, and Bob Roll is just plain weird (but I enjoy his reports). Frankie Andreu is cool as hell, they should give him more to do. What happened to that blonde girl they had last year, Kristen or Kirsten something? Talk about a generic TV sports face.

Do you want a little fromage with that whine?

if you want a little extra taste of his humour, go to www.davezabriskie.com. Check out his on the bike interviews of other riders, they are awesome. Especially the one with Michael Rasmussen.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to take a look at it later after I finish with my tivo'ed, commercial/bob roll/al trautwig/kirsten gum-free stage 4. :)

Koffee

One great thing about OLN's coverage is having Phil and Paul. I don't even think they're that great of commentators (but still very good)... but just imagine if they weren't there! Most likely the commentary would be unbearable.

I hate having to catch the "Expanded Coverage" with Al Trautwig and Bob Roll. Quit your giggly chatter already. The primetime coverage is just full of filler with less actual racing coverage. It's so much better with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin. Have you noticed how the racing audio is so much clearer with Phil and Paul? The road/crowd noise must be on a separate audio track and turned down for Al and Bobke's masterful tree house banter. I can't wait for the DVD set so I can watch the real race.

Did you hear when they were talking about heart rates yesterday? Paul said that on average a person loses 1 beat off of their max HR per year. He then told Phil that his must be really low by now! Sweet.

Just amazing. You only get an half an hour a week summary, you complain. Then you get full coverage, live + repeats, and you still complain. Let's face it, we, riders, are not a big enough market for such a coverage. Full coverage can only be financially possible if it is able to attract a larger audience. I do not know if showing Sheryl kiss Lance is necessary but I bet some viewers get more excited by it than by watching bike riders pedaling a long, flat road in the middle of a forest.
Most people interested in the Tour are only interested in the results and if TV is involved then the sprints, and the mountains will be quite enough. Only bike nuts, like us, would be interested by the minute details of each stage.
While chatting with friends about the race last years I was amazed at comments made by several women. All were watching the race every morning. What is for Lance? No... they loved to see the beautiful villages and buildings. That's what make the OLN coverage rather good. It's being able to enlarge the field of viewers and thus attract advertisers who pay for the cost.
If OLN succeeds in bringing more people to watch the "show" and to bike more, what more do we wish? May be coverage by larger networks?
Anyway I think US Pro cycling is going in the right direction. It's not only about 1 guy, it's about a growing number of potential winners. In this year Tour there's 3 US team leaders (Armstrong, Landis, and Lepheimer) and several potential stage winners (Zabriskie, Hincappie, Julich, Horner). America like winners, more US winners will translate in greater public interest and in greater TV coverage.

Did anyone notice how Kirsten Gum looked like a noob in her cycling shorts? What sausage thighs.

Its all about gay ratings..the public wants to see armstrong and thats what they are getting.


The flipside to that is that without Armstrong next year, they may drop tour coverage altogether. If OLN really gave a poo about racing, they would show all the classics, or at least the Giro.

Ligget is driving me crazy with his pronounciation if "Liquigas", he says it, "leakygas"

One great thing about OLN's coverage is having Phil and Paul. I don't even think they're that great of commentators (but still very good)... but just imagine if they weren't there! Most likely the commentary would be unbearable.

"ya know Bob...Lance's favorite flavor of ice cream is strawberry...now let's head to a dairy in the Loire valley for a 15 minutes segment on dairy cows and strawberry harvests...Let's hope it's finished before the last sprint..."


Why is OLN video quality so crap?

If OLN succeeds in bringing more people to watch the "show" and to bike more, what more do we wish? May be coverage by larger networks?


America like winners, more US winners will translate in greater public interest and in greater TV coverage.


NOOO!!! no CBS please!!! they screw up everything they show.

Sorry, but the US has had Tour winners since Lemond, it really hasn't changed the public interest. The day cycling gets that popular in NA is the day soccer takes off here (i.e. never). Cycling does not suit short TV watching attention spans (but somehow, golf and baseball do).

I have no idea why TV is scared of showing track cycling-its fast, hairy, and exciting as hell. At the beginning of the 1900s, track cycling was the #1 sport in US, ...now it's poker.