Live coverage exclusive to DGPlanet???

[anathematize]

dgplanet, despite not having the best history, DOES seem to have more production gear than smashboxx. TriCaster, multiple cameras, etc.

they just really need to work on their delivery and polish up the 'in studio' portion of the broadcast instead of letting the hosts improvise. they need stacks of facts, stats, etc that they can dig into during lulls in the broadcast.

 

[Mocheez]

There seems to be a conflict of interest with Rebecca Duffy being part of the "on air talent" for DG Planet TV while also serving as the President of the PDGA. Hopefully she removed herself from the conversation when the decision was made to give DG Planet the exclusive rights.

 

[anrew18]

Meh, I didn't mind their coverage at all and rather enjoyed Crazy's perspective.

For the first little bit I HATED Crazy. But I agree it does make it nice to fill in those gaps of dead air. Would be nice if someone else with a personality could co-host instead of a someone who just lets him ramble. Crazy runs the gambit of Funny to embarrassing. and provides little to no insight to the play at hand. mixes up terms, players, etc.

 

[Jenga54]

I just hope we get some new commercials... that "it's in the air" commercial hurts my brain after about 5 seconds :gross:

 

[Cgkdisc]

The DGPtv and Beach Sports Network deal may have been for 3 years so it's possible this current year discussion on exclusivity is old news.

 

[DiscJunkie]

I think the PDGA actually pays DGPTV to broadcast Worlds...
Not 100% sure, but seems like that little tidbit came up in the PDGA's published Budget.
Can anyone confirm?

The PDGA helps underwrite DGP (they sponsor the show). That's not a secret. There are PDGA ads and mentions all over their broadcasts. I wouldn't call it expressly paying them to broadcast Worlds though. They're underwriting the production of the television show which obviously includes a lot more than just Worlds.

Like I said upthread though, I wouldn't be surprised if the rights to Worlds were a part of the package. The rights fee the PDGA might charge for Worlds is waived in return for either a lesser fee as an underwriter or a bigger return on their investment...they get the Gold level advertising package for Bronze level cost. Or something like that.

Understand that we should probably call it sponsoring or underwriting as opposed to "PDGA actually pays DGPTV to broadcast Worlds".

Also a little surprised by how civil the conversation has been so far. Maybe we're making some progress toward civility in the exchange of ideas here on DGCR...
Thanks to everyone! (so far)

 

[BgWvDave]

Crazy has the potential to be a great host/commentator. I think he just needs to prepare more. His colorful personality, voice and his pro career make him a natural candidate.

 

[DiscJunkie]

Crazy has the potential to be a great host/commentator. I think he just needs to prepare more. His colorful personality, voice and his pro career make him a natural candidate.

I think you are right on the money, Dave.
He really has a natural voice for the media, but it's like he's lost out there, and that makes it just irritating.
Maybe if there were better prep for players, backstories, backgrounds and even some personal player "color", it would go a long way to filling in the dead space And filling the dead space is where he typically goes bad.

 

[JTacoma03]

Why shouldn't they get exclusive rights if they took the steps to secure it? Pretty sure Smashboxx had exclusive rights to do live coverage of the Memorial last month. Should they not have had that?

Exclusive rights is how broadcasting generally tends to work. NBC didn't have live coverage of the Masters last weekend because CBS had exclusive rights to the coverage. ABC doesn't cover the World Series live because the rights belong to Fox. Etc, etc, etc.

^^ Yep.

And DG Guy got live coverage because no one else wanted to do live this year.

Not true. Just FYI. The backstory doesn't matter but in the end Smashboxx had exclusive live of Memorial in the same way that DGPlanet has exclusive live of Worlds.

Nobody with a brain would do a live broadcast if they didn't have exclusivity. Live broadcasts are exponentially more expensive (not exaggerating) than taped coverage.

 

[TAFL]

I haven't heard anybody provide commentary worth a damn, live or in studio, so I don't think it really matters who's providing coverage. As long as they actually get good shots of the of throws, I can turn down the inane commentary and listen to something else at the same time.

 

[Understable]

I think you are right on the money, Dave.
He really has a natural voice for the media, but it's like he's lost out there, and that makes it just irritating.
Maybe if there were better prep for players, backstories, backgrounds and even some personal player "color", it would go a long way to filling in the dead space And filling the dead space is where he typically goes bad.

The problem is not with Crazy, I think he is awesome and the broadcast really benifits by having someone with his background and excellent voice. The problem is that the producers are leaving him on an island to talk all by himself, that is an almost impossible task. It would be like watching an NFL game with only John Madden and no Pat Summerall. Heck how many people would turn the channel with we only heard Jim Nantz commentating a PGA Major.

Crazy needs someone by his side to talk with, to spar and bonce ideas off of.

 

[anrew18]

The problem is not with Crazy, I think he is awesome and the broadcast really benifits by having someone with his background and excellent voice. The problem is that the producers are leaving him on an island to talk all by himself, that is an almost impossible task. It would be like watching an NFL game with only John Madden and no Pat Summerall. Heck how many people would turn the channel with we only heard Jim Nantz commentating a PGA Major.

Crazy needs someone by his side to talk with, to spar and bonce ideas off of.

^This

 

[Cgkdisc]

Consider that no combo of commentators may ever be interesting enough to cover one lead group. The current version of the game has too much time with little action in a single group making it difficult for commentators to find enough interesting patter to fill the time during dead air. That could be handled if more groups are being filmed so there's always some action on camera. But we don't have (or can afford) multiple live group coverage yet.

 

[tbird888]

Consider that no combo of commentators may ever be interesting enough to cover one lead group. The current version of the game has too much time with little action in a single group making it difficult for commentators to find enough interesting patter to fill the time during dead air. That could be handled if more groups are being filmed so there's always some action on camera. But we don't have (or can afford) multiple live group coverage yet.

If DGP could employ the second camera like Terry did at the Memorial (great idea but the implementation needs some tweaking) with Crazy in the studio, they could eliminate a ton of coverage dead spots.

And I agree about no one being able to successfully cover disc events with all the inactivity we have in the broadcasts. I think Crazy does a decent job at it, but it has to be a struggle for him.

 

[Understable]

Consider that no combo of commentators may ever be interesting enough to cover one lead group. The current version of the game has too much time with little action in a single group making it difficult for commentators to find enough interesting patter to fill the time during dead air. That could be handled if more groups are being filmed so there's always some action on camera. But we don't have (or can afford) multiple live group coverage yet.

Our communities use of Social Media is amazing. I don't think anyone can really imagine what will happen in 2-3 years. The innovation and popularity of videos and live stream will propel this sport. The future is bright and I can't wait to see what is ahead for DG broadcasting.

 

[DeadEye]

Who cares? It's live coverage.. Badly produced and low quality footage of people throwing discs and a TON of downtime. Let them have the live coverage, because the good quality footage will be out a day or two after.

 

[anathematize]

That could be handled if more groups are being filmed so there's always some action on camera. But we don't have (or can afford) multiple live group coverage yet.

I could have sworn the DGPlanet coverage of the USDGC had at least 2 cameras out on the course following different groups.

the real glaring issue was the fact that their main commentator (crazy) was out in the field huffing and puffing along with the lead card and could only commentate on the group he was following. so whenever they switched to the other group it was dead air.

i have absolutely no clue how anybody with an ounce of production experience though this was a good idea.

the main commentators should be back in the studio where they can keep track of the multiple storylines going on. the coverage would have been pretty damn solid if they would have only made this small change.

 

[JC17393]

I could have sworn the DGPlanet coverage of the USDGC had at least 2 cameras out on the course following different groups.

the real glaring issue was the fact that their main commentator (crazy) was out in the field huffing and puffing along with the lead card and could only commentate on the group he was following. so whenever they switched to the other group it was dead air.

i have absolutely no clue how anybody with an ounce of production experience though this was a good idea.

the main commentators should be back in the studio where they can keep track of the multiple storylines going on. the coverage would have been pretty damn solid if they would have only made this small change.

DGP has done a lot more "in-studio" commentary than on the course commentary...it's not all that much of an improvement (aside from not hearing the huffing and puffing). And they've never been timely in "keeping track of multiple storylines" because they're not getting any more live information about other groups by being in the studio than they would be getting on the course. In fact, they're probably more in the dark in the studio than they are on the course.

So the best way, for the moment, to have the announcer be informed about the group we're watching is to be on the ground with them. Until these broadcasts can employ scout reporters on the course to feed info back to the studio in real time, they're relying on the same tools we have to rely on to know what's going on: live scoring and live tweeting. Due to the video processing delays that are natural in streaming, we the viewers usually have the live scoring updates before the on-air talent can get them and read them off to us.