Sky 2014

[BWitcher]

My silence has more relevance than your rantings on most subjects. A non supporter who knows how to right the world, yea right.

 

Still only 'like'ing Dave J. Good contribution

 

 

 

BWitcher will think you are in on the conspiracy now R & R.

 

Same old tired argument you keep trotting out about 'non-supporter' which of course couldn't be further from the truth.

 

Try debating the issues which the rest of the people on this thread are doing.

 

You won't do that though, because there is no way you can defend yet another shambolic display from those running the sport. into the ground.

 

Here`s the rule taken straight from the rule book

15.11 After Heat 10 in an official Team fixture, only the Team that is losing may request a track

inspection, or seek abandonment of the Meeting

As I watched the farce on fast forward the following morning-I have to ask did Poole request the match to be called off at that point because if they did that would be against the rules

 

There was a sudden huddle called in which Poole did all the talking, Tony Steele nodded like a lapdog and then called the referee with some BS excuse of the 'moisture' coming out of the track. Belle Vue's team manager said nothing.

 

The very fact that Tsunami thinks the debacle is worth laughing at pretty much sums things up.

Edited September 26, 2013 by BWitcher

[jimmy jimmy]

I think you will find BV wanted it over as soon as they could.

[cityrebel]

i think watching the belle vue fiasco was one of my lowest points in 45 years of supporting speedway. the sport that miserable evening looked flawed and corrupt, and 'match fixing' is not too strong a word to describe it. i have found it very hard to keep on attending meetings in these last few weeks of the season, but watching the british youth championship at sittingbourne last sunday felt like a breath of fresh air in these dark times for the sport. the only downside is, that iwade is another track that might be consigned to the history books because of the need for a compulsory air fence.

[Guest]

As I have said before nothing has been decided for definite on Sky sports coverage of Speedway in 2014 but there will need to be some changes. Lets wait and see if these happen and then decisions can be made.

My understanding on British Eurosport coverage of BBL Basketball will be on the same basis of Sky's deal with Netball Superleague the league association like BSPA pay Televideo to produce coverage and provide all OB facilities then SKy just pay a fixed price per programme.

If there was to be any new broadcast partner for British Speedway it is likely to be BT sport who are keen to help fill their midweek summer schedule Speedway fits ideal if the price is right

 

Are attendances high enough to justify this move by BT?

[arthur cross]

I can understand plenty of folk within speedway reckoning BT Sport could be interested in using British domestic speedway in 2014 & beyond to fill its rather thin amount of live summer sport in the football/rugby off-season and I hope BT Sport do indeed show an interest in snapping up the Elite League (or whatever next season's top division is called) if Sky don't renew their current deal.

 

But if BT Sport get on board with British domestic speedway, the BSPA/SCB (along with all our clubs) had better be prepared for how fussy BT Sport are determined to be to make sure what they're showing looks as smart and well-organised as possible.

 

Their deal with the production company for their Premier League football matches includes far stricter guidelines (with hefty financial penalties written into the production company's deal) than Sky have ever felt it necessary to impose ... BT Sport are so determined to make sure that the live action takes priority over any slow-motion replays that there's even a fine documented for the live taking of a corner being missed, never mind a much bigger fine for the live scoring of a goal being missed.

 

BT Sport don't mind showing events with small attendances as they've taken over the live coverage of the Skrill Conference (English football's top non-league division) and the Hyde-v-Grimsby game they showed on the August Bank Holiday Monday attracted a crowd well under 1,000 ... but that still didn't stop them wanting to do an "access all areas" style of coverage which included interviewing both teams' fans on the terraces as well as the usual pre-game and post-game manager & player interviews.

 

Can you see the BSPA coping well with letting a BT Sport reporter wander through an Elite League crowd ? !! ... and I can't imagine BT Sport would put up with speedway's current rulebook that has required two of this country's brightest young riders, Craig Cook and Richie Worrall, to miss different live tv-meetings this month because another meeting in this country on the same night but at a lower level had to take priority (Cook missed Belle Vue-v-Poole to be Edinburgh's number-1 at Workington while Worrall missed Birmingham-v-King's Lynn to be Newcastle's number-1 at home to Plymouth).

 

I suspect "filling-up our summer gaps" won't be a good enough reason on its own for BT Sport to strike a deal with British domestic speedway ... they'll also want to ensure they're showing something with which they really want to be associated.

[RobMcCaffery]

i think watching the belle vue fiasco was one of my lowest points in 45 years of supporting speedway. the sport that miserable evening looked flawed and corrupt, and 'match fixing' is not too strong a word to describe it. i have found it very hard to keep on attending meetings in these last few weeks of the season, but watching the british youth championship at sittingbourne last sunday felt like a breath of fresh air in these dark times for the sport. the only downside is, that iwade is another track that might be consigned to the history books because of the need for a compulsory air fence.

 

Funny, a spell at Iwade restored my faith in speedway too, seeing the families working so hard to allow their boys to chase their dreams. It reinforced my view that it's the racing that matters, not the names.

 

I can understand plenty of folk within speedway reckoning BT Sport could be interested in using British domestic speedway in 2014 & beyond to fill its rather thin amount of live summer sport in the football/rugby off-season and I hope BT Sport do indeed show an interest in snapping up the Elite League (or whatever next season's top division is called) if Sky don't renew their current deal.

 

But if BT Sport get on board with British domestic speedway, the BSPA/SCB (along with all our clubs) had better be prepared for how fussy BT Sport are determined to be to make sure what they're showing looks as smart and well-organised as possible.

 

Their deal with the production company for their Premier League football matches includes far stricter guidelines (with hefty financial penalties written into the production company's deal) than Sky have ever felt it necessary to impose ... BT Sport are so determined to make sure that the live action takes priority over any slow-motion replays that there's even a fine documented for the live taking of a corner being missed, never mind a much bigger fine for the live scoring of a goal being missed.

 

BT Sport don't mind showing events with small attendances as they've taken over the live coverage of the Skrill Conference (English football's top non-league division) and the Hyde-v-Grimsby game they showed on the August Bank Holiday Monday attracted a crowd well under 1,000 ... but that still didn't stop them wanting to do an "access all areas" style of coverage which included interviewing both teams' fans on the terraces as well as the usual pre-game and post-game manager & player interviews.

 

Can you see the BSPA coping well with letting a BT Sport reporter wander through an Elite League crowd ? !! ... and I can't imagine BT Sport would put up with speedway's current rulebook that has required two of this country's brightest young riders, Craig Cook and Richie Worrall, to miss different live tv-meetings this month because another meeting in this country on the same night but at a lower level had to take priority (Cook missed Belle Vue-v-Poole to be Edinburgh's number-1 at Workington while Worrall missed Birmingham-v-King's Lynn to be Newcastle's number-1 at home to Plymouth).

 

I suspect "filling-up our summer gaps" won't be a good enough reason on its own for BT Sport to strike a deal with British domestic speedway ... they'll also want to ensure they're showing something with which they really want to be associated.

 

As ever, highly relevant points Arthur and as a regular viewer of BT Sport I am not surprised at the 'back story'. Their tactic to take on Sky is clearly to compete on quality rather than quantity and often it is like watching an extension of BBC Sport., especially their studio discussion programmes,

 

Any thoughts on my part for BT to take on speedway are based on hope rather than expectation and I agree that the sport would have terrible problems in coping with the discipline involved. Perhaps it's not a 2014 option but given time the sport could put itself in a state where it can take on that particular top-quality challenge......if it wants to. It must have the will to reform. If it can the rewards are still out there.

[arthur cross]

As ever, highly relevant points Arthur and as a regular viewer of BT Sport I am not surprised at the 'back story'. Their tactic to take on Sky is clearly to compete on quality rather than quantity and often it is like watching an extension of BBC Sport., especially their studio discussion programmes,

 

Part of BT Sport's arrival has been its takeover of ESPN's UK rights and schedules ... for the time being, BT's 3 channels are called "BT Sport 1", "BT Sport 2" & "ESPN" but there's little doubt the ESPN tag will eventually give way to "BT Sport 3" (especially if BT don't prioritize the renewal of ESPN's various UK rights deals for North American sports).

 

Clearly, there are only a few weeks so far of BT's viewing figures to compare against ESPN's figures for the same sports but the early indications are that BT is delivering a sharper improvement for rugby union viewing-numbers than for football viewing-numbers ... given that rugby union attracts far more of the marketing-style ABC1-viewers beloved by advertisers, that's certainly a boost to any "quality rather than quantity" tactic BT Sport might be employing.

 

Worryingly for speedway in those circumstances (as debated in various threads on this forum in recent months), it's all too easy for a messy sport in mostly older or ramshackle stadiums to be perceived as being dominated by C2DE-viewers ... if BT Sport want to add more motor sports coverage to their schedule (even if only as a summer-filler), I suspect something like Touring Cars would be a better fit for them than Elite League speedway.

[salty]

Interesting input as ever from Arthur. I've watched a bit of the Conference Football coverage and have enjoyed their innovative approach and it is clear that the contract gives them a fairly free hand.

With Greyhounds, Netball and Basketball now producing their own programmes in house for selling on as a package, it would seem that does not fit with the BT sport ethos of quality coming first.

 

Edit: I hope ESPN/BTSport 3 does continue to show American sport - I would be lost without my Baseball!

Edited September 26, 2013 by salty

[BWitcher]

Salty, just subscribe to MLB.tv, can't beat it. Every game live.

[skthecat]

 

 

Part of BT Sport's arrival has been its takeover of ESPN's UK rights and schedules ... for the time being, BT's 3 channels are called "BT Sport 1", "BT Sport 2" & "ESPN" but there's little doubt the ESPN tag will eventually give way to "BT Sport 3" (especially if BT don't prioritize the renewal of ESPN's various UK rights deals for North American sports).

 

Clearly, there are only a few weeks so far of BT's viewing figures to compare against ESPN's figures for the same sports but the early indications are that BT is delivering a sharper improvement for rugby union viewing-numbers than for football viewing-numbers ... given that rugby union attracts far more of the marketing-style ABC1-viewers beloved by advertisers, that's certainly a boost to any "quality rather than quantity" tactic BT Sport might be employing.

 

Worryingly for speedway in those circumstances (as debated in various threads on this forum in recent months), it's all too easy for a messy sport in mostly older or ramshackle stadiums to be perceived as being dominated by C2DE-viewers ... if BT Sport want to add more motor sports coverage to their schedule (even if only as a summer-filler), I suspect something like Touring Cars would be a better fit for them than Elite League speedway.

 

What are C2DE viewers? A new one on me!! Must be some sort of acronym??

 

Never to Old

[StevePark]

What are C2DE viewers? A new one on me!! Must be some sort of acronym??

 

Never to Old

 

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/business-english/c2de

[arthur cross]

What are C2DE viewers? A new one on me!! Must be some sort of acronym??

 

For those who haven't read the threads on this forum that have covered "marketing groups", here's the list of definitions as used by advertisers to help judge whether the products they want to advertise will match up well with the usual audience of the programmes (or other media) into which they're thinking about putting those adverts ...

 

National Readership Survey (NRS) demographic categories

A upper middle class, higher managerial, administrative or professional

B middle class, intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

C1 lower middle class, supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional

C2 skilled working class, skilled manual workers

D working class, semi and unskilled manual workers

E lowest level of subsistence, state pensioners/widows (no other earner), casual/low-grade workers

Edited September 26, 2013 by arthur cross

[Steve Shovlar]

 

(EDIT - as a tailpiece to my ramblings, I do wonder if it might be a an idea to give the likes of Poole and Torun 'Wild Cards' into their respective play-offs then the rest of the leagues can get on with their seasons without their shenanigans while both cope with the fact that their seasons only begin to have meaning in September ;-) )

 

Poole have battled to the playoffs and are there with a team built within the budget of the club. The riders are paid, there are no debts.

 

Both Swindon and Brum are there under almost false pretences, as neither promotions can afford the teams they are running this season.

[RobMcCaffery]

Poole have battled to the playoffs and are there with a team built within the budget of the club. The riders are paid, there are no debts.

 

Both Swindon and Brum are there under almost false pretences, as neither promotions can afford the teams they are running this season.

 

On this unique occasion I agree with you on the point of budgeting, although without seeing the accounts it's impossible to be certain. If this is correct then they seem to have at least behaved correctly in one aspect of their business. On the other hand I doubt signing Hancock, Jonasson and Pawlicki was in the budget - just can be covered by the business without bankrupting itself.

 

By the way, this particular discussion is about the future of the sport on TV, not how wonderful Poole are. There's a lot of speedway outside Dorset you know. I hear you were back at your old track at Swindon recently so you may still be aware of this.

 

Fish elsewhere.

Edited September 26, 2013 by rmc

[The White Knight]

I appear to have run out of the 'Like' option for today.

 

If I still had enough - I would 'Like' the recent Posts by rmc and Arthur Cross on this Thread.

 

Excellent, well thought out Posts and well worth reading.

 

Thank you guys.

[skthecat]

[quote name=The Abbott' timestamp='1380202301' post='2351750'

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/business-

english/c2de

 

So, no posh g**s so speedway anymore, just us bottom feeders???? Thats an outrageous statement!!!!

[flagrag]

If no deal can be agreed with Sky for 2014 British Speedway I would be very surprised if BT Sport did not come in with an offer it may be very low offer just to try their hand or even on a we will pay the production costs and give TV exposure to club sponsors but not pay anything for the rights. Which I could not see the Elite league operating on that basis as the clubs need their share of media rights income.

I do know there is one large well known brand who are interested in sponsoring a club for a large amount and even possibly sponsoring the league if on TV. They dont care about corporate boxs,letting staff in or fringe benefits they just want to see their logo on tv on a regular basis.

 

Although Speedway does not always attract the marketing groups that may be desired by some it does have niche markets to appeal to.

 

As well as filling BT's summer schedule it would also increase subscriber numbers for them which they have got to do especially the 3 play business which in simple terms is getting the phone and broadband business off Virgin media and Sky.

 

i agree they have set some strong contarcting terms for the football and Rugby but Speedway would likely be produced by their internal production teams like Sky do currently. BT's Speedway production costs would likely be 10-15k a week cheaper than Sky as they do not physically have to pay for their broadcast circuits on the fibre network or switching via BT tower even more saving from the more remote tracks that require Sat uplink tracks as little costs as they do not have to pay for any bandwith as all leased whether they use it or not. Just as a side note had a quick look at the Sky internal figures for Mondays play off and they were very good including a very high number of people watching time shifted e.g On Sky + also good number who watched via Sky Go and Sky catch up on HD boxes

[rob tatum]

I have no idea how much money sky paid to cover speedway BUT maybe air fences at every track would of been a sound investment. Where did the money go ?

[orion]

Poole have battled to the playoffs and are there with a team built within the budget of the club. The riders are paid, there are no debts.

 

Both Swindon and Brum are there under almost false pretences, as neither promotions can afford the teams they are running this season.

There is no that Poole have run within there budget this year ...who knows what teams have debts and have not paid riders ...I expect there are plenty more in both leagues who are in the same boat .

[arthur cross]

If no deal can be agreed with Sky for 2014 British Speedway I would be very surprised if BT Sport did not come in with an offer it may be very low offer just to try their hand or even on a we will pay the production costs and give TV exposure to club sponsors but not pay anything for the rights. Which I could not see the Elite league operating on that basis as the clubs need their share of media rights income.

I do know there is one large well known brand who are interested in sponsoring a club for a large amount and even possibly sponsoring the league if on TV. They dont care about corporate boxs,letting staff in or fringe benefits they just want to see their logo on tv on a regular basis.

 

Although Speedway does not always attract the marketing groups that may be desired by some it does have niche markets to appeal to.

 

As well as filling BT's summer schedule it would also increase subscriber numbers for them which they have got to do especially the 3 play business which in simple terms is getting the phone and broadband business off Virgin media and Sky.

 

i agree they have set some strong contarcting terms for the football and Rugby but Speedway would likely be produced by their internal production teams like Sky do currently. BT's Speedway production costs would likely be 10-15k a week cheaper than Sky as they do not physically have to pay for their broadcast circuits on the fibre network or switching via BT tower even more saving from the more remote tracks that require Sat uplink tracks as little costs as they do not have to pay for any bandwith as all leased whether they use it or not.

 

Thanks for lots of useful info, especially BT's ability to effectively save production costs within its sports department by using its own company's fibre network, bandwidth, etc

 

However, if there's a sizeable company keen to sponsor a speedway club or the whole league just to get its logo on tv, then why hasn't it been doing so this season (or even earlier) when there's been a well-established tv-contract already in place rather than looking ahead towards a much vaguer tv-future ? !!

 

The bigger problem about waiting to see whether Sky, BT Sport or anyone else want to do a 2014 tv-deal (and how it would compare financially to the existing deal) is that the tv-companies won't be in as much of a hurry as the clubs to get the deal done.

 

Sky or BT or another-tv-channel can easily wait until the New Year to reach the deal that suits them and still have a couple of months to organise their coverage and work out how it will then fit into the rest of their schedule.

 

But in the meantime, where does that leave the more careful Elite clubs in November & December trying to budget for the year ahead and sign the appropriate riders (never mind the clubs who don't appear to budget at all) ? ... in turn, where could that leave Premier clubs being uncertain how many of their riders might be needed for doubling-up duties (or whether they could yet be swallowed up into one big league) ? ... and in turn, where does that leave riders (both Brits & foreigners) trying to weigh up how much British racing they'll be getting (and for what level of points-money) in 2014 against more clear-cut plans and offers from the rest of Europe's domestic leagues ?

 

It could easily end up with a reasonably lucrative tv-deal being signed just a few weeks before the new season only for the bigger-name riders that can then be afforded by the British clubs having already committed themselves to club schedules that were much clearer-cut in Poland, Sweden, Denmark, etc ... hence, it's then difficult for them to fit into a British fixture-list that can only finally be settled now its tv-deal has been struck ... and, hey presto, we're heading straight back towards this year's bugbear in the Elite League of too many riders missing too many meetings because of their commitments elsewhere !!

 

There won't be any tv-deal struck until the BSPA can actually show its format for how British clubs will compete against each other in 2014 to any interested tv-companies (or at least show a few sketches of the format depending on different amounts of tv-income) ... just a couple of weeks ago (as far as I'm aware), the BSPA had still only reached the stage where club promoters were being asked to put forward their ideas for next season's format.

 

Given that we're currently in the last season of the existing tv-deal with clearly no guarantee of renewal, that sort of consultation with the clubs about next season should have been done and dusted midway through this season instead of still bumping along at play-off time.

 

Good luck trying to get from "any ideas please" to a nailed-down tv-deal in the space of just the next couple of months !!