Not a bad start in my opinion. Certainly way better than that sh*te the BBC put out for the GB last year. At least we are getting the coverage that we want. Agree about the studio pieces, but if they become a little more informative and flow better then I have no objection with them.

At least the Saturday slot wasn’t a mass repeat of Friday. A quick re-cap to bring people up-to-date… job done. I don’t remember any of the Saturday footage being on Sunday either.

The reporter out on the event was fairly amusing. Tommi looked as though he thought he was going to mugged and the way he pushed the girl crouching by the side of Loebs car out of the way deserved a slapping.

....well done Channel 4 !

 

I thought the coverage was OK - but not brilliant. As so many other people have already said, for the most part they ignored all but a couple of the drivers.

Its good to see they've got a programme on next week, even though there's no rally actually on. Perhaps that will form a more grown up programme.

Seeing Max Mosely say that WRC could get as big as F1 - well better coverage will certainly be needed for that to happen.

Lunchie

P.S. For those people going on about the Europsort coverage - well there's still a lot of us out here who don't have satellite or cable!

 

As a first effort I think the C4 coverage was pretty good. I'm sure the format will change and develop as they find out what is popular. Compared to the Eurosport coverage this is a breath of fresh air in terms of professionalism (i.e the program goes out at the right time and the editing doesn't look as if it has been done by Bubbles the monkey )

Sure they focused on the big name drivers as they do in all sports (watched F1 coverage lately?), but then you have to consider that this is effectively a new sport for many people. They don't know the rules and regs and they certainly won't know all the drivers. There is a good chance people will have heard of McRae / Burns etc, but some of the others - I doubt it.

They have got to make it 'friendly' to watch - not everyone is prepared to stand in a Welsh forward getting soaked to watch these guys. If they are going to make it commercially acceptable then it must be inviting to attract in the viewers. This, afterall, is how C4 will judge its success. If it stays as a marginal program with limited viewer appeal then it will be dropped.

I'd love to see more in-car footage as it shows you just how good these guys are. Anyone who has ever seen the F1TV coverage of F1 using the multiple camera angles / views will know that it transforms watching a Grand Prix. The ability to see similar views in a rally car would be amazing. It is only a matter of time with digital TV that you will be able to watch live the in-car footage of the driver of your choice. Once this happens, then I think the popularity of rallying will really increase.

Chris

 

Strange, I thought there were more than 4 manufacturers competing for the championship.

One shot of a Skoda (hanging off the edge) and where were the Hyundais?

On the whole not bad, could have done without the "Janet and John" bit, but at least its a step in the right direction.

 

I thought it was a good attempt by C4 to bring in the mainstream viewer.

Dave Richards told the Sunday Times at the weekend theat he wants 50% of F1 viewership figures in three years time for WRC.

That’s why the coverage must be as broad as possible.

 

There are non-rally enthusiasts sitting in my office who watched the coverage and thought it was excellent.

Comments like "I know a bit more of what it's all about know" etc, mean that it has been successful (at least in my office), in reaching the 'non converted'.
The only way that we, as enthusiasts will ever get the sort of interactive coverage that football has enjoyed for years, is by making TV companies aware that rallying is popular with millions.

Give it a chance. I thought it was just right. Information for people not familiar and excellent footage. Also, who are these people 'talking poo' who know nothing about the sport?
Certainly not Robbie Head or Penny Mallory to be fair. Both have competed sucessfully at National and International level.
Jeremy Hart has also been involved with Eurosport and rallying for many years.

It could have been much worse. We've been bleating for years for some half decent covergae on terrestrial TV and no that we've got it, lets not kill it before it starts!!

blubs

 

Lots of valid points, lets hope someone from C4 reads them !! Next time round let's have better camera angles in car, wider coverage of teams/drivers and no ex formula 1 drivers.

 

In general, I thought it was not bad. I think it will improve with time.

The graphics are WRC graphics which are also seen on the WRC game. I suspect that this is part of the TV rights that they have to show these so as to provide a consistent "interface" (sorry, I don't know the bollocks marketing terms for this stuff )

TaviaRS, one of the Hyundai's went out on day one (MULLER!!!!!!!).

Roll on Sweden

Matt

 

Wasn't all that impressed.. too short..

 

Was too much studio stuff, the persenter was too dull and nervous and....

 

Was not enough cornering!!!!!!!!!

 

I didnt see it because i was there.

On the Shuttle to the plane i was talking with a chanel4 person and he said the viewing figures were great for a first series of shows. They had between 1 and 1.2 million viewers a night. He did say once Robbie Head can get over the 47 takes to make a shot syndrome things will really improve. LOL

Anyone taped the programmes? I would like to see it.

 

Enjoyed it, and the missus, who does enjoy F1 but hitherto has not really got into rallying, was grateful for all the explanations of terms.

I think they did a good job. The best thing is they are covering it, and giving us all something to comment on.....

 

Thought it was ok for a first go i'm sure they will improve as the season goes on.

 

It was great, particularly as we've traveled that route several times, (in a 406 Turbo Diesel) he's now primed for taking the Scoob next year. My hub used to do alot of rally driving and I expect he would like to get back on the circuit... if only in his mind..

PS... what was the twittering noise the Impreza was making?

P

 

Wastegate chatter (or something like that...)

 

What really bugged me was some of the editing of the brief on stage footage we got . Colin was coming into a LH bend and was about to lose it . They then cut to footage of the spectators and then to the in car camera which showed nothing of the incident . They also seemed to forget about the other classes in the event . I didn't see any super 1600 footage or results . They should give RPM the coverage job as they have done excellent work covering all motorsport here in Ireland , especially rallying .

Derek

 

2 hours of coverage from 1 rally + next weekends shakedown.

That more than a year's worth on the BBC....