Abc/espn Coverage
 

Wow, were they horrible...mikes that didn't work, both in paddock and on out riders...two live mikes open at one time post race...opening scenes going to color bars before tape rolls....not showing races that they should have. Did they send in the interns today to do the production.

Looked like Hank had some cold ones again. Jeanine look great as usual;)

What a disgrace:mad:

Agreed. Embarassing, and I am not being dramatic. Truly embarassing.

You beat me to it. Terrible.
Now to Jennine. Thanks, Kenny. Im her w To P cher and he wi . Tha Ke yne Cant be a ys je isnt s wher .....

Before we start getting all nuts bashing ESPN/ABC...let's remember something.......How many races did you see on Television before say...10 years ago? If you were lucky...just the Belmont. Now, you are getting a full day of races from 12-6:30. Not bad. Let's just relax a little.

note to ABC -

Horse Racing, like to see HORSES RACING, like those TWO RACES you ddi not EVEN MENTION!

Props to Jay and Rece, great job in my opinion

FPSOXFAN, I respectfully disagree with you. Let's forget for a minute that the NTRA couldn't even work out an arrangement for TV viewers to see the Acorn. ESPN went off the air 6 minutes before the race, and ABC didn't show it. The NTRA is supposed to promote this sport, and they blew a golden opportunity to do SOMETHING, instead of their usual nothing. Since the inception of the NTRA, the sport has become LESS popular.

But back to ESPN/ABC, which is the same company. ABC's coverage was awful. Microphones that didn't work on at least 4 occasions. Interviews conducted off camera that could be heard on TV. And two Grade 1 races that were not shown, while we get lame jockey interiews in the locker room.

I'll even forgive ABC for not showing the Manhattan. I understand that they have to appeal to a wider audience. But there is no reason that a national TV audience couldn't have seen the Acorn. I had to watch on Youbet.

They looked like a bunch of amateurs today, and they should be embarassed.

I watched the entire day and the 5 to 7 slot on ABC was the worst coverage of a sporting event I have ever seen...mics not working, interviews a mess, not showing the 9th and 10th races, Brent Museburger....christ they could have done better with Marv Albert....it was embarrassing to put it mildly....I will give them credit on some pretty good camera angles of the races, that looked awesome in HD...but that's it...

"My whole World Lies Waiting Behind Door Number 3"
 

Yep. When producing live TV YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS. More and more these productions get larger and larger and spread out around the track grounds. I lost count of the on camera faces. I watched most of ESPN and all of ABC. How many air people did we see? Is it really necessary to have them all? I don't know. Chirp in. I'd be interested to hear.

And what if you had say......nooooo coverage at all?????????

agreed....Janine Edwards should be in an office now with the execs demanding an apology....she's as good as it gets and I'm sure is fuming...

yeah but there was coverage.....and they did a lowsy job of it...

Also...did I see every race? Yep...I'm on a deck party..I could give a shiat about interviews, etc. etc. etc.

Suggestion...Go to the track next time.

I just expect better from ESPN/ABC.


This was more like "Al's Broadcast Company".

So in your eyes we should be thankful for that disgrace of a TV production they put out today? They were on the air and DIDN'T even show two grade 1 races. Instead, ABC showed the same interviews that ESPN just showed earlier of Assman and others. How many times did we see the Cajun jockey segment? Did they think that horse racing fans WOULD ONLY tune in to EITHER ESPN OR ABC. Horse racing fans watched BOTH. ABC would NEVER show the same NFL pregame interviews on ESPN and ABC right after each other on say Monday Night Football!

All I'm saying is that in this day of TV production, the masses should not be subject to the poor technological audio they did today. If that was say, ESPN/ABC production of the Daytona 500, you KNOW millions would be upset. And NASCAR is a relatively new sport on TV...compared to horse racing. NASCAR TV production is light years ahead in a short period of time!

The suits at ABC should follow one of my favorite quotes for their production:

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
Robert Kennedy

yeah okay....:rolleyes:

I understand that you'd like to see the best of the best...and so would I..but let's face it...Nascar is light years in front of Horse racing in terms of fans. The only thing I'm saying is,,,for our lack of fan support and sponsorship we should be happy to have what we have.

Read post #17 to see where I'm coming from...

I totally disagree with that....I'm not real sure who the negotiating parties are, (maybe justin can add some insite on that) but let's assume it's the NTRA, NYRA, CBS, NBC and ABC...The point is they won the bid and part of that offer is delivering a quality product...it has nothing to do with fan base...once they pay the millions to broadcast it, they are obligated to deliver a quality product....it's not like they had a streaker interrupt a segment....they sucked for 2 hours....

please lord let him be a gelding....:D

He is. Never married and no children. He claims to give $5 bills at Strip Clubs in South Florida on a regular basis. According to a few producers that have worked on his radio show through the years, he's simply a miserable person.

Now now, have any of them seen him sober? Give the guy a shot ;) The technical goofs were ridiculous, surely they tested those things beforehand. They've done this before and it was better handled so I'm confused. Was it B.Y.O. Microphone Gremlin day at Belmont?

I always have and always will enjoy Kenny Mayne. If he's not part of the coverage I'm always thinking Jeanine is good but geez where's Kenny? I'm very pro-dry humor but even that farming bit left me going 'huh?' still I loved hearing him and his quips. Not that I'm a huge fan but Quint's interview of Harry Aleo will always leave me with a soft spot hehe. I find myself rooting for the guy not to suck and he's managed not to botch it that badly since so thank heaven for small victories. Rece is enthusiastic I'll give him that. Randy's fun because he plays well off of Kenny and really seems to give a crap. Say what you want but I like it when you get a good blend of someone who likes to place a bet but is also intelligent and loves horses. It's a nice thing to have and I find him likable. Brent's got a nice voice. Can he read an audio book for me? I don't care what it's about, just pick something.

I actually like Bailey, he's very polished and is much more suited to this sort of thing than Chris McCarron who, bless his heart, was horrific. My one annoyance has always been that Bailey said how he wasn't really in love with horses per se til Cigar. I might be mis-paraphrasing--can anybody remember how he puts it and does it bug you? I don't want to be unfair, I just remember I grumble when he brings it up.

As bad as ABC was today, it fails in comparison to the goofs on TVG. I flipped back and forth most of the day. Turn it on ABC to watch an interview without sound (alot of the times that is for the best), then turn to TVG to see each individual's pick 4 tickets. Seriously, does anyone give a rat's ass who they pick? Why does TVG feel the need to be "all about them"? Will someone actually figure out that people want FACTS and INFORMATION about the HORSES, not a bunch of pick 4 tickets?

Given the option, I'll take the Acorn over a sober Hank Greenberg pretty near every time

after reading through this, i'm glad i was at CT and watching the Belmont feed.
i have a pretty good guess on what happen to the coverage when abc took over at 5pm.
my brother was a cameraman at Belmont today. i know he worked the espn coverage i think he was in the first turn.
he's told me how this works.
1-ALL the abc guys took over at 5pm. cameras and production truck. OR
2-espn guys stayed on the cameras and abc guys took over the production truck.
the production crews never do things the same way.

i made the statement once before. the guys on espn WANT to be there because they like horse racing.
the abc guys, like museberger are there because it's a "big" event. i think you can tell the difference between the two.
the "big" event guys take the job because they get to go for free and get paid well and only work 2 hrs IF that.
the espn guys that WANT to be there, do ALL the work from set up to break down. they try to put on a good show because they like racing.

ABC's coverage of the race sucked.
I am not concerned with all of the chatter and the interviews I am talking about the race itself. They had 19 takes(actual different camera shots in the race)This is way too many and although this field was compact for most of the race, 6 horses were within 4 lengths and one horse trailed the pack by about 5 lengths, the perspective of where the horses were is lost. In addition, the shots from the SUV that was on the widener turf are nice to see but they serve a better purpose in a post race analysis than they do in a live feed.
I just watched the race from the regular Belmont feed and it was clear, I saw all of the horses and knew what part of the track they were on and where they were in the race, especially during the backstretch.

The shots from the blimp and the cranes we saw were fine and do give a great perspective of horses finding holes, being shut off, etc. like we saw in the Derby with Street Sense. Just save it for after the race.

Make it simple, use the pan shot. Its as simple as ABC...........oops, I guess not!!!!

I was at Belmont on Friday and they were testing all the mikes during the race card all day. It looked like they had audio problems already on Friday.

A big rasberry for ABC.
Not much to add that hasn't been said.
Where's Mutton Chops?

they have a good 'capper in moss, so why have goldberg anyway? i think they had too many to go to--too much bouncing around, and of course technical issues. not very professional.