Live DVR: C - With no easy way to rewind or fast forward it was a chore to interact with the stream. This was a major blow and was very frustrating. But at least they allowed you to click on a point past or present and not force you to watch live only. The quality of the stream was rock solid 95% of the time. If the DVR features were more robust the grade would have been an easy A.
Live Video Production (camera work, presentation, etc): B - What keeps this from getting an A from me was the strange camera work. Too many extended close ups of facial reactions. Especially on the drive, I would much rather watch the disc fly instead of looking at the player's face after the disc is released.
I also thought the zooming in on players while they were talking, standing, walking, etc, looked a bit uncomfortable at times for the players. When a player makes a bad shot, do we really need a head shot? We can still get the drama framed further back while giving the player some respect. The players knew when the cameras were close so they did their best humanoid impression to not show any emotion after a bad shot. That blank expressionless face zoomed in did nothing for me as a viewer.
The drone views were hit and miss. I'm guessing due to noise levels they couldn't be lower so it was hard to follow a disc. The overhead marching ant view was over used. I definitely could see it being used primarily as an
occasional intro/outro.
There was some questionable views of the ladies, but perhaps unavoidable in a sport where players are constantly interacting with their bags. Seeing Paige warm up was cool, but we really don't need extended close ups. Again..a bit further back in the frame is fine.
No streaming issues at all. Image quality was stable, looked like around 480-720p. I have a slow connection so I don't know if 1080 was even possible. The only hiccups I noticed were when it was raining.
Audio (levels, eq, etc): C - Levels were better in later rounds, but Philo and Ian still sounded thin compared to the ladies and there seemed to be no compression on vocals so once in a while you would get a sonic blast. Ladies overall levels sounded fine, probably due to them having a more consistent speaking volume.
MPO Commentators: C - When it comes to sport's commentary of any kind, the first thing you need is someone with a clear speaking voice to limit ear fatigue due to a long broadcast. Ian unfortunately has a vocal delivery that does not suit live public speaking. It's crazy how fast he talks at times which also caused occasional stuttering, stammering, etc. With so many better options available, I'm still scratching my head how he got the job.
While knowing if the player is throwing a driver, fairway, mid, putter is great info and something the casual fan could latch onto, we really don't need to know the manufacturer or the mold for every throw. Maybe at some point simply show a stats screen with a breakdown of what the player has in his bag for the tournament.
Philo's speaking voice was great. I could listen to him recite the phone book with no problems. You know what I mean?
I could see Philo having a long career as a disc golf commentator. Plus..c'mon...the dude absolutely looks great on camera.
I really hope Nate Sexton and Philo are in the booth next year.
FPO Commentators: B+ - I thought the ladies did a great job. Both of them looked great on camera and have very clear speaking voices. Juliana seemed very much at home behind the mic and her knowledge of the game was amazing. You could tell we were listening to the mindset of a 5x champ. A fantastic choice and I hope the DGPT has her in mind to replace Val in the future.
Hannah obviously has a bright future in commentary. She tried too often to be "as smart as Juliana", instead she should have deferred to Juliana for basically anything shot related. She also suffered from Nate Doss verbiage barrage but I think this will improve as she gets more experience commentating.
Overall Value: B - I paid $40.00 for the gold package because someone said I'll be able to sell the disc for around 20-30. I think a fair market value for this event is anywhere from 5-15.00. However, at the 20.00 price I'm assuming a full professional production with a more solid camera crew/commenting team.