njlonghorn

slcbob

They've already added La Vuelta. ASO bought it. NBC's deal is with ASO. It will be on this fall. Not sure how much, likely less of it broadcast than Le Tour but all of if via NBC Sports Gold.

RCS owns the Giro and it won't be in the package.

2cam16

Well someone is lying. lol

Wildwood 

Bob Roll in a suit & tie on Sunday was disturbing. Stop it.

work4bike

I would like to see them put non-expert commentators (who are very interested in cycling) on with the experts and have the non-experts take the experts to task with really good questions.

Maelochs

As has been noted, it is a global feed ... but this is still a good suggestion.

There is a lot more they could do with graphics. I did see "distance to top of climb" a few times ... but I want to see incline as well, I have seen some races that show the incline the leaders and the chasers are facing .... in cases where the leaders hit the 11 percent portion while the chasers are still on the three-percent incline. NBC only occasionally show incline at all. I als like to see the race profile, and where the riders are on it. Plus tons of other stuff I cannot think of now.
Yeah, stuff like this. With So much time to fill during most stages, and so much screen (except for people watching on their phones) there should be plenty of info they could be delivering.

As has been noted, it is a global feed ... but this is still a good suggestion.

Meh. For people who ride Grans Tours, just finishing Isn't a major accomplishment, really ... maybe for the most injured, or the youngest. The Lanterne Rouge will generally be sprinters, or domestiques from small teams maybe ... what have the done, besides not quit? Not saying riding three weeks is easy .. but it is their job. I don't get a bonus for not quitting.

50PlusCycling

NBC could do a better job by giving up sports broadcasting entirely, and letting ABC handle it. I stopped watching the Olympics on TV when NBC took over, I got bothered by having to see 6 minutes of commercials and commentary and 4 minutes of sports.

MKahrl

Not only that but his suit fit better and he looked more comfortable in it than the other two commentators.

When I saw him uncork a champagne bottle with the single swipe of a sword I knew his pool of skills ran deep.

spokes5678

Bob is the same in real life as he is on the show.
His knowledge,genial demeanor and all round good eggness is real and genuine.
I think if Phil and Paul groom anyone to take over it should be Bob.
They've curbed his habit of going off on bizarre tangents from previous years.
Christian's ok but a little reserved.

Maelochs

Bob Roll rides without a helmet. His stock has raised immeasurably since I learned that. He and Chris VdV can handle the commentary .... Bob gets a little crazy Chris keeps him anchored ....

Giacomo 1 

Bob is on my list of "people I'd like to have a beer with". He definitely strikes me as the real deal, no gloss, no filler, no superstar ego, just a regular down-home guy. He has some great stories to. Still looks as though he could get out there and ride a stage or two also!

Christian has gotten a lot better since he started. He was pretty hard to listen to early on.

As far as grooming them to replace Phil and Paul, well, Ill have to hear them call a sprint finish before I bless them. Phil and Paul do that very well!

SJM205

Marcus_Ti

LOL asthmatic hypochondriacs? Oh well.

slcbob

Bob Roll
Nicolas Cage
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Christopher Walken
John Malkovich
and to some degree, Wiggo & Sagan

What a cast of characters.

RIP Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton

Chicago Al 

I like this whole thread! NBCSn seems to have come up with a good plan for coverage this year's Tour. And though cycling fans may be a tiny minority, we can also be a passionate one, so I intend to write them an email and let them know how much I appreciate the coverage. I suggest you do the same.

I work in media, though not broadcast sports, so I have a bit of tech insight, and can tell you that some of the suggestions here, though they sound like fun, would not/will not fly. Literally. With French TV's helos in the air over the race, no way will drones from other operators be cleared to fly there. Have you seen the video story about the Tour production done a few years ago? Those spectacular helo pullbacks, where the camera (for example) rounds a mountaintop castle, then reveals the peloton (and so on) are carefully planned and rehearsed. A rando drone interfering with that...not gonna happen. Possibly French TV will find roles for them as the tech advances, but if so it'll be part of the regular feed. As far as that video feed itself, I that is French TV all the way, being 'called live' as they say. Possibly there are some options provided, but if so very limited. There's a reason that the shot often cuts away before Phil and Paul can describe what's going on, or even who is who, or when they express frustration that they don't know what's going on with certain riders...that's because the director calling the shots is not listening to them, in fact cares nothing about their commentary! I imagine the Tour as French TV's equivalent of the SuperBowl; they throw all their resources at it...and they are damn good. Compare the Tour coverage to the Vuelta or Giro and you'll surely see the difference, those races will have fewer helos, fewer moto cameras, more breakups in the video, etc. (Some of the classics are also done by French TV, like Paris-Roubaix.)

Back to the NBC part of it: Bob seems to be calming down a bit but retaining his gritty charm and Christian is becoming a more polished speaker. Both know their business, and both apparently rode their bikes between the stage-end towns at least once this year, which was awesome. Christian's rides showing parts of the route were an interesting addition, and a good use of drones for some shots...before the helos were up. Paul Burmeister does an impressive job of anchoring, I think: he doesn't know that much about cycling, but he's a good sports anchor, and it's a sport after all, so he understands the underlying dynamic and what questions to ask of his experts. I can't imagine Bob or Christian taking on his role any more than I can him explaining the strategy behind getting in the breakaway on a certain day.

As far as I'm concerned they've got a good team together now...and as always with a team, you just hope they'll be together again next year!

TiHabanero

I absolutely love the coverage NBCSN provides of the tour. Honestly, it is the only time I will sit in front of the TV for more than 5 minutes. Everyday I watch from beginning to end, and then at night I watch the rerun if I have time. As with all things, improvements can be made just like the manufacturers improve their bikes every year, however I am not a broadcast expert and have no idea how they do what they to, which is quite a lot!
One bonus from watching is I got hooked on the Mecum auctions while I waited for the Tour to come on. My father in law was an auctioneer, and I love to hear top notch auctioneers at the top of their game. I love vintage cars as well and am now addicted to NBCSN for a while! They have some great stuff on that channel. Cup Seven, too!

diphthong

you forgot gary oldman...and willem dafoe.

Rollfast

A: Give it back to CBS. And if you don't do cable, none of what NBC does matters.

JTownCitycycle

Love the Tour as it is now, any tweaking, how about take away from the break away coverage especially the ones that we know have no chance of winning. Talk to Paul and try to get him to stop repeating the last sentence of Phil's analyst,irritating after a while..........more chopper coverage and drone as well, France in the summertime is heaven !

Maelochs

If they want to stick with one camera they can ... bu they cannot control what that camera operator shoots?

Anyway .... it could also be that the time and the budget for putting together a really good production on the fly isn't there (five hours live each day ... would wear out any team of directors.") Maybe NBCSN runs what it gets and then goes back for replays if needed ... but doesn't play with the main feed too much because it costs so much to do the whole package and pay the huge staff already?

Or who even knows what exactly NBC gets? Doe sit get the feed from Every camera? Doe sit buy a few? Does it take the feed from some cameras and the package deal for others?


I say again ... on-the-fly editing for a five-hour daily event with well over a dozen cameras seems like a lot to manage. I suspect they buy one of the English language packages and supplement as needed so they can put together a coherent Prime Time show.

gpsblake

Ratings were dismal this year for the TDF, some days didn't even crack the top 150 of cable programs for the day or a 0.02 rating (that means only 2 out of 10,000 people) That means advertising revenue is almost zero and cycling already has a limited advertising revenue appeal.

I blame some of this on the inconstancy of the coverage. Some days they bumped it for stuff like "Professional Fight League". Some days it was on NBC in the morning but didn't make the effort to really promote it there.

I blame some of this on the Froome BS, just another black eye that people think cycling is doped, regardless if Froome was innocent or not.

Having top sprinters eliminated or being a non-factor hurt them also.

Drone coverage might be good but how much would it cost the TDF organizers to have them? Live cameras on the bikes might help but when you factor in everything, will any rider add the weight needed for a live camera?

bbbean 

Several teams already do. There;'s an aero penalty, but a promotional benefit.

BB

Ghazmh

Marcus_Ti

All just to result in lots of shaky camera footage of racer's butts.

Welcome to US sports casting...where if it isn't NFL format (do something for 5-10 seconds and then stand around and talk for 5 minutes) they don't know how to televise it.

Maelochs

They do cram in a lot of commercials, and particularly early .... and usually 15-20 minutes commercial free at the end on climbing stages. it is how bills get paid.

It sucks, but try a sport like multi-class auto-racing----the commercials break up the race so that no one---not even the announcers---can figure out who is winning at any given time.

At least with bike racing actual "action" is pretty rare.

As for the crashes ... carashes are spectacualr and peoolpe efind them interesting. Don't blame NBC.

How many times have you sat for 20 minutes on the freeway because some guy on the other side of the media was changing a tire, but everyone had to slow down to rubberneck?

Again, it is the culture we live in.

i think you are oversensitive on that count perhaps. I watch every stage at least twice each day and it didn't seem that bad. Try watching a NASCAR super-speedway restrictor-plate race.