Niche Sports TV - Promoting Speedway

[NickRushbrook]

Hey everyone.

I, along with a few associates have created the aforementioned channel to (hopefully) raise awareness of lesser known sports.

As a life long speedway fan, we are starting here and on Friday, filmed our first feature for the channel at Lakeside.

We hope to cover as much speedway in the UK as possible.

Of course, if we can help any particular club in any way, please get in touch.

If any of you good speedway folk would be so kind as to, 'like', 'follow' and 'subscribe' to our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages, we would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance

Nick

Links as follows:

https://www.facebook.com/nichesportstv/

@nichesportstv (Twitter)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC17nUiZ9Wqy2Bps22yDs72Q?view_as=subscriber - first feature released this week.

 

 

[WalterPlinge]

What do the BSPA charge you for media accreditation and a licence to film?

And did you get your media accreditation direct from the BSPA?  Or do Go-Speed still hold the media rights?

 

[NickRushbrook]

I'm not sure about Go-Speed.

As far as your other question, I think you would need to speak to the BSPA directly.

[topaz325]

Not sure if Go speed are still involved, maybe the BSpa hold the rights

[WalterPlinge]

4 hours ago, NickRushbrook said:

As far as your other question, I think you would need to speak to the BSPA directly.

I asked you.

Surely you know who you got your Media rights licence from?    (I'm presuming you're not just breaching copyright).

 

[The Doctor...]

27 minutes ago, WalterPlinge said:

I asked you.

Surely you know who you got your Media rights licence from?    (I'm presuming you're not just breaching copyright).

 

I was gonna reply earlier to wish these chaps luck but the swerving of your question stopped me.

I personally think all the permissions that the bspa/go-speed require/d for anyone to film are crazy, but still.

 

[racers and royals]

8 hours ago, WalterPlinge said:

I asked you.

Surely you know who you got your Media rights licence from?    (I'm presuming you're not just breaching copyright).

 

Can`t see why you feel the need to get uppity with Nick Rushbrook- if he doesn`t know about Go speed he obviously didn`t deal with them- so that leaves the BSPA themselves. So like him i suggest you ask them !!!

[IainB]

I'm not sure about the naming of the channel... you may as well have called it CrapSportsTV
But, good luck

[NickRushbrook]

Guys, 

There is no swerving here at all.

I'm not at liberty to discuss payment and amounts etc on a public forum.

This has been done with permission, is what I'm prepared to say.

As, I said, if you want to find out for yourself, please contact the BSPA via the correct channels.

[martin297]

Good luck to you Nick, Anyone sticking their neck out to give more coverage to speedway in general deseves to be congratulated.

[ch958]

or certified

[WalterPlinge]

2 hours ago, racers and royals said:

Can`t see why you feel the need to get uppity with Nick Rushbrook- if he doesn`t know about Go speed he obviously didn`t deal with them- so that leaves the BSPA themselves. So like him i suggest you ask them !!!

It's only you who got "uppity".

Nick said he'd done a media deal with the sport.  I was just curious how such things worked in the post-GoSpeed era, and asked a simple question.

He could have simply said "I don't want to divulge details of my deal", which he now has done

In the past the BSPA seemed to have given the media rights away to GoSpeed for little or no money, while GoSpeed appeared to do nothing with them to promote the sport or make money for the sport apart from the main TV deal.   I wondered whether things had changed now and the BSPA were exploiting other media revenue streams.

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by WalterPlinge

[RobMcCaffery]

Good luck with this, if you indeed have the proper rights and permissions in place, which is a little surprising given BSPA 'form' on this kind of thing. Since UK domestic and FIM TV rights are held by BT Sport, One Sport events by Eurosport and Swedish/Polish by Premier Sports/Freesports I'm intrigued to know what your content will consist of. Are we looking at just interviews and opinion plus scenes away from the track, as with Speedway Portal or are you able to show actual race action? 

Now, noble as it is to give 'niche sports' exposure I'd suggest that with coverage of three European leagues, BSI and One Sport events sharing space on channels which also feature top-class football, rugby, tennis, motorsport and professional American sports and whose on-air promotion is bundled-in with our own whether the term niche is actually that appropriate, at least in TV terms. Yes these are pay-TV channels but that's where most sport is these days, sadly, bar the occasional highlights deal or what they term "sporting crown jewels' like the Cup Final. 

I do hope that you can offer a service that is useful to the sport and respect your efforts in setting it up. I'm sure you can understand my curiosity that while the sport needs as much help as possible, exactly what your service will 'bring to the table', given that no actual content has yet been published? I see you are starting out wisely with the underserved Championship and look forward to finding out. 

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by RobMcCaffery

[racers and royals]

33 minutes ago, WalterPlinge said:

It's only you who got "uppity".

Nick said he'd done a media deal with the sport.  I was just curious how such things worked in the post-GoSpeed era, and asked a simple question.

He could have simply said "I don't want to divulge details of my deal", which he now has done

In the past the BSPA seemed to have given the media rights away to GoSpeed for little or no money, while GoSpeed appeared to do nothing with them to promote the sport or make money for the sport apart from the main TV deal.   I wondered whether things had changed now and the BSPA were exploiting other media revenue streams.

 

If you weren`t being uppity- i would hate to see you when are are !! re-read your post "i asked you" "surely  you know" . He said(in so many words) he hadn`t dealt with Go speed  and he mentioned the BSPA  so in this case 2+2 does actually add up to 4.

[waytogo28]

4 hours ago, NickRushbrook said:

This has been done with permission, is what I'm prepared to say.

That's all we needed to know. Hopefully we will see some plum heats then.

[NickRushbrook]

I'll leave this here while the forum goes into meltdown!

Seriously though, we kept things simple this time around but stuff to work on etc.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC17nUiZ9Wqy2Bps22yDs72Q?view_as=subscriber

 

[bigcatdiary]

I watched a few minutes but got bored with same questions to everyone, probably not a good idea to interview someone near bikes warming up either but keep at it.

[iris123]

11 minutes ago, bigcatdiary said:

I watched a few minutes but got bored with same questions to everyone, probably not a good idea to interview someone near bikes warming up either but keep at it.

Pretty much agree with that.First interview was ok,but the background noise for the second and the fact that by then I got a bit fed up with the woman and the questions......

You have got to start somewhere though and the opening titles looked slick until the Lakeside bit come up which looked a bit of an amateurish add on.Tie that woman hands up for a starter!!!

[NickRushbrook]

Constructive feedback is appreciated.

Can't guarantee that I'll always agree but I'll certainly take criticisms/suggestions into account.

It's definitely a learning curve.....but a fun one.

We've gone over it and will implement certain changes for next time.

Oh and the 'woman' is a friend of mine. I gave her the direction with regards to questions so that was my call.

Thanks for (almost) watching!

Edited June 7, 2018 by NickRushbrook

[RobMcCaffery]

Nick, thank you for the link. It's always difficult reviewing first efforts like this but my comments are meant as constructive. I don't want to put you off.

Firstly, I started out ion the speedway video 'game' 36 years ago with the sport's pioneering company, KM Video and went to record about 200 commentaries for them and later the country's first Sports TV station, Screen Sport. It's been a while since I held a mic but I hope my comments can be helpful. Incidentally, I commentated and presented the video of the first-ever speedway meeting at Arena Essex in 1984. 

First, there are some technical points that you need to address:

Camera framing. There was far too much what is termed "headroom" in the interviews. The camera needs to be angled down slightly. We want to see the people, not the sky.

Sound: Riders are generally quiet. You need to get the mic right into them. It looks like you've kept the mic with the camera. It does need to be in the presenter's hand and right up to the rider when he's talking. The levels are all over the place. The action inserts and music boom, the presenter's level is fine but the riders are a strain to hear. This will also help if you do have bikes revving in the background, or planes going overhead. There was excessive wind noise on the Pottinger interview. I'd suggest tighter editing, especially where the interviewee briefly freezes or wanders off the topic.

Your presenter seems reasonably comfortable and bubbly -, good for a first attempt. The dinner party question was a little trivial for my taste, but that's just me, but it's a bit clunky to use it three times.

One key point. You have to get facts right (something even Nigel Pearson's fouled-up lately). Dudley were renamed Cradley some times ago. It grated to hear it used twice and note how Will Pottinger emphasised 'Cradley' in his answer. Cradley fans are proud people and many weren't happy with the Dudley name ;-. Preparation is essential, even on  something like team names.

You have got a foundation to build on. It's not a mess and much more professional than efforts I've seen from long-established video companies. In fact I despair to see how little progress has been made by some since my day.

I'm uncomfortable with the term 'Niche Sport'. Speedway takes minor placing in the national press and even the local press in the south east but in other parts it does get very serious non-niche coverage. I was reading the Stoke daily paper which ran a half page on the National League Potters lat Friday while tracks like Poole and Ipswich get coverage almost as equal as football in their local dailies. It all depends on where you are.

As I suspected you weren't able to show racing apart from the action montages. I take it another company still has the rights to race videos at Lakeside.

So, after the interviews the only real reference to the meeting is the statement "Lakeside have beaten Workington and go top of the table". No score even.

You need to decide what you are trying to achieve. If it is a report on the meeting then it's tough not being able to show racing. Perhaps you need more 'reaction' interviews such as asking the away team manager "So you lost tonight by 10 points, where do you think things went wrong. Did that heat 10 exclusion cost you?" (Don't forget to say what happened). Then over to Will "So, they think the ref got heat 10 wrong - what's your view".

If it's not a report on the meeting just treat it as a chance to meet the people behind the scenes. 

As I mentioned before there is another business trying this, Speedway Portal who are covering Poole and Isle of Wight. They have their weaknesses but the key difference is that they have filming rights at the Isle of Wight.

Good luck with the project. Is this a hobby or a business? If the latter, where's the revenue coming from? Take a look at Speedway Portal's work. It may give you ideas and food for thought on how you would tackle what they have. I hope you take these comments in the spirit in which they are intended. I have seen many come to the sport claiming they're going to do this and achieve that, and watched and waited for their product. You're on the ground. I hope my suggestions can help you to run. At all times you have to ask "What am I bringing to this particular 'table'?"

 

 

Edited June 7, 2018 by RobMcCaffery