DCM on TV?

tunney

Marathon running is a mass participation sport.
Soccer is a mass viewing sport.

Many people run but have absolutely no interest in watching it.
Many people watch soccer but have no interest in playing it.

See where I am going with this? No one really honestly g!ves a flying fvck about the marathon coverage of fun runners. Very very few are interested in the coverage of elites.

Because the sport is important to us as participants does not mean that there is any sort of a television audience no matter how much you close your eyes and wish it so.

(yes I'm back)

asimonov

They could do things to make it good for telly, I think cut off times like they have in comrades or ironman would definitely improve the entertainment value.

mloc123

asimonov wrote: »

They could do things to make it good for telly, I think cut off times like they have in comrades or ironman would definitely improve the entertainment value.

Maybe they could mix it up a bit also, perhaps a section where they shoot tennis balls at the runners like this...



and maybe another section where they have to climb a pyramid like this...



and maybe some kind of ramped threadmill to finish like this..



If only they televised all that, I would watch it :mad:

asimonov

in fairness, i think you're probably taking it a bit far there - at best we could ask them to run through somewhere like crumlin....

..but definitely amanda byram to host it?

Pisco Sour

I think much of what has been said here is OTT. Lets be honest RTE only has a certain budget set aside for the sport of Athletics. Do you honestly think it should be spent on stuff like the Dublin Marathon? There are many people in this country that care (have a passing interest in) about elite athletics. They just need the media to show it to them. For example, last year after finishing work early to get to a pub to watch Gillick, Derval and Hesh run I got talking to a bloke at the bar. The athletics wasnt shown until I asked for it to be put on. As soon as it was turned on the bloke beside me was all talk to me about athletics and the great runners of the 80's and 90's. He had an interest and was delighted that Gilly and Derval got through. The problem was that the media coverage of it in ireland was so bad that he didnt even know it was going on.

Now on the otherhand do the general public really care if 04072511 plods around to a 4:07 marathon. No, and rightly so! Yes my friends and family would be interested, but surely if they cared enough they could muster up enough energy to get off the couch and come outside onto the streets and support me in the flesh! Surely we havent become that lazy that we need to watch our friends and family members running from the comfort of our living room.

My point is that the small amount of money RTE have for athletics should be put towards our BEST athletes and showcasing their talents to the whole nation. Rather than showing the Dublin marathon I would much prefer to see that money being pumped into Daegu 2011. We have a lot of top athletes. The strength of Irish athletics is stronger than it has been for a long time and we have quite a few medal contenders. If the Irish public got the opportunity to watch, then they would be interested. Everyone in this country likes a feel good story and would gladly hop on a bandwaggon (for example Sonia in the 90's, everyone was an expert on the sport then!).

The marathon on the otherhand would interest nobody baring the few who are involved. Also I'm pretty confident that if you asked any passive sports fan, who may have the tinyiest interest in Athletics which would they rather watch, the London Marathon or the Dublin Marathon, then we all know what the answer would be. The general public would have far more interest in Paula Radcliffe running 2:15:25 or watching Haile run then they would watching some second rate Kenyan win a second rate race. (2:08 and 2:26 a very good times dont get me wrong but in the top races those times would not rank highly).

Others may disagree but thats my two cents.

fiddy3

The highlights show at night for dublin marathon is plenty. It never has household names up there in the elite race (tho in fairness they can't be expected to break the bank to bring one in), and probably 90pc of its potential audience is either running or out there supporting on the day. RTE should save its live coverage for things like euro xc, world and euro indoors and world outdoors, where ironically, our best athletes actually have a chance of success. Five unknown Kip.......s up front in the men's race and five .......ova's in the womens isn't that interesting even to ardent fans of the sport, to the general public it would be mind-numbing.

tunney

Amazingly the Cycling board is a little more realistic and connected to reality when it comes to demands for the televising of their version of the DCM

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056071472

Seems really stupid to you doesn't it to suggest something like the W200 be televised doesn't it? Bet you think the DCM is somehow different or special? (*)

* unless you agree with me

Krusty_Clown

I'd broadly agree that DCM doesn't make great TV, and the audience isn't significantly large, however personally, I'd happily watch Dublin marathon (as long as I'm doing something on the laptop at the same time), or some of the other larger marathons (majors, Rotterdam etc).

But the fact remains that Setanta went to the trouble of putting together footage, and will be showing it this week, so obviously they feel that it is worth it.

As for watching a second rate Kenyan - last year's winner 'Feyisa Lilesa' later came 4th this year in Rotterdam, in a time of 2:05:23, and third in Chicago marathon in a time of 2:08:10, so it seems to be a good launchpad for a subsequent marathon.

Pisco Sour

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

however personally, I'd happily watch Dublin marathon (as long as I'm doing something on the laptop at the same time), or some of the other larger marathons (majors, Rotterdam etc).

So here we have somebody who is deeply involved in marathon running, is passionate about it, and yet cant give his undivided attention to the race on TV and needs a distraction to keep himself interested. If this is the case for somebody who is very involved then do we really expect the general public to care. This basically proves my point, Tunney's point and indeed anybody else who agrees that it shouldn't be shown live on TV.

It also proves my earlier point that people here in athletics circles don't get behind their own sport at the elite level like people in other sports do.

Not an attack Krusty btw just a general comment

gerard65

Wonder why the BBC go to all that trouble every year broadcasting London if no one is watching. Someone should tell them their wasting their time.:rolleyes:

Krusty_Clown

04072511 wrote: »

So here we have somebody who is deeply involved in marathon running, is passionate about it, and yet cant give his undivided attention to the race on TV and needs a distraction to keep himself interested. If this is the case for somebody who is very involved then do we really expect the general public to care. This basically proves my point, Tunney's point and indeed anybody else who agrees that it shouldn't be shown live on TV.

It also proves my earlier point that people here in athletics circles don't get behind their own sport at the elite level like people in other sports do.

I don't think it proves anyone's point. I need distraction for ad breaks, helicopter panorama-cams, and interviews with people dressed as chickens. Given that I had a birds-eye view of the race from the middle of the field, it had my undivided attention.

Pisco Sour

gerard65 wrote: »

Wonder why the BBC go to all that trouble every year broadcasting London if no one is watching. Someone should tell them their wasting their time.:rolleyes:

Incomparable. Try get the Dublin Marathon to sign up Paula Radcliffe, Derartu Tulu, Haile Gebrselassie etc and then you might have a point.

gerard65

04072511 wrote: »

Incomparable. Try get the Dublin Marathon to sign up Paula Radcliffe, Derartu Tulu, Haile Gebrselassie etc and then you might have a point.

You'll find the BBC's coverage has as much to do with the 'human interest' as it has with the elites. They do their research and get inspiring stories from the also rans. Once the elites are done hours are given to the rest of the race. If you watch their coverage you'll get my point.

Pisco Sour

gerard65 wrote: »

You'll find the BBC's coverage has as much to do with the 'human interest' as it has with the elites. They do their research and get inspiring stories from the also rans. Once the elites are done hours are given to the rest of the race. If you watch their coverage you'll get my point.

I'm very aware of that. Have watched the London Marathon since 1997 when Liz McColgan won. Yes the human element is very popular and there have been some amazing stories, like Jane Thomlinson who ran marathon after marathon despite having terminal cancer. But lets be fair if they didnt have the big names like Radcliffe, Ndereba etc then it would not get the media coverage that it gets now. Even though people like to watch inspiring stories I believe the majority of people tune in firstly to watch a top quality race and the other stuff follows on from that.

gerard65

This is going round in circles, so I'm off to bed. But from what I hear Dublin may be broadcast live next year, so thats that.:cool:

Pisco Sour

gerard65 wrote: »

This is going round in circles, so I'm off to bed. But from what I hear Dublin may be broadcast live next year, so thats that.:cool:

Cant beat a good oul rumour

robinph

Put it on telly though and more regular people will sign up, more money in the coffers, more advertising money coming in, therfore you have more prize money available to pursuade the bigger names to come and visit for a weekend.

thirtyfoot

Based on the rationale of those who believe the DCM should be automatically be on TV then I believe the Womens Mini Marathon should be on rte even before they start thinking of the marathon. Relatives and friends of 40,000 people swelling the audience, even more human interest stories and more chance of the elite Irish athletes taking part.

Hard Worker

04072511 wrote: »

Cant beat a good oul rumour

It's not a rumour. He heard it from a relaible source.

robinph

thirtyfoot wrote: »

Based on the rationale of those who believe the DCM should be automatically be on TV then I believe the Womens Mini Marathon should be on rte even before they start thinking of the marathon. Relatives and friends of 40,000 people swelling the audience, even more human interest stories and more chance of the elite Irish athletes taking part.

Absolutely, and it would be over a lot quicker for those that get bored easily.

I'd still rather see them just rename it to the Dublin City Centre 10km and removed the daft ban on blokes and the confusion that having the word marathon in the title causes.

Has anyone been told by workmates that they did the marathon in under two hours earlier this year yet when explaining why your struggling to climb stairs this week?

ThisRegard

fiddy3 wrote: »

The highlights show at night for dublin marathon is plenty.

That's only if you have the channel it's being shown on, otherwise it's useless.

eon1208

04072511 wrote: »

I think much of what has been said here is OTT. Lets be honest RTE only has a certain budget set aside for the sport of Athletics. Do you honestly think it should be spent on stuff like the Dublin Marathon? There are many people in this country that care (have a passing interest in) about elite athletics. They just need the media to show it to them. For example, last year after finishing work early to get to a pub to watch Gillick, Derval and Hesh run I got talking to a bloke at the bar. The athletics wasnt shown until I asked for it to be put on. As soon as it was turned on the bloke beside me was all talk to me about athletics and the great runners of the 80's and 90's. He had an interest and was delighted that Gilly and Derval got through. The problem was that the media coverage of it in ireland was so bad that he didnt even know it was going on.

Now on the otherhand do the general public really care if 04072511 plods around to a 4:07 marathon. No, and rightly so! Yes my friends and family would be interested, but surely if they cared enough they could muster up enough energy to get off the couch and come outside onto the streets and support me in the flesh! Surely we havent become that lazy that we need to watch our friends and family members running from the comfort of our living room.

My point is that the small amount of money RTE have for athletics should be put towards our BEST athletes and showcasing their talents to the whole nation. Rather than showing the Dublin marathon I would much prefer to see that money being pumped into Daegu 2011. We have a lot of top athletes. The strength of Irish athletics is stronger than it has been for a long time and we have quite a few medal contenders. If the Irish public got the opportunity to watch, then they would be interested. Everyone in this country likes a feel good story and would gladly hop on a bandwaggon (for example Sonia in the 90's, everyone was an expert on the sport then!).

The marathon on the otherhand would interest nobody baring the few who are involved. Also I'm pretty confident that if you asked any passive sports fan, who may have the tinyiest interest in Athletics which would they rather watch, the London Marathon or the Dublin Marathon, then we all know what the answer would be. The general public would have far more interest in Paula Radcliffe running 2:15:25 or watching Haile run then they would watching some second rate Kenyan win a second rate race. (2:08 and 2:26 a very good times dont get me wrong but in the top races those times would not rank highly).

Others may disagree but thats my two cents.

Lilesa, top 3 in Rotterdam and Chicago since Dublin last year, I think his time is down to 2.05... Second rate , I dont think so

Brianderunner

ThisRegard wrote: »

That's only if you have the channel it's being shown on, otherwise it's useless.

Are there really houses out there without setanta ireland. Every house i've been in and everyone i know has it?

eon1208 wrote: »

Lilesa, top 3 in Rotterdam and Chicago since Dublin last year, I think his time is down to 2.05... Second rate , I dont think so

Second rate at the time he entered Dublin. We just caught him at a good time, can't see him coming back.

eon1208

tunney wrote: »

Amazingly the Cycling board is a little more realistic and connected to reality when it comes to demands for the televising of their version of the DCM

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056071472

Seems really stupid to you doesn't it to suggest something like the W200 be televised doesn't it? Bet you think the DCM is somehow different or special? (*)

* unless you agree with me

How do you propose piquing peoples interest in the sport to get up off their backsides by blithly condemning any form of media exposure of the marathon...I run, I love the sport and I love watching athletics...Almost all countries broadcast except Ireland and dont come back with cost analyses considering the money wasted in this so called wealthy country in the last decade..

kennyb3

Brianderunner wrote: »

Are there really houses out there without setanta ireland. Every house i've been in and everyone i know has it?

More people would have sky dishes than upc, and the majority with these dishes wouldnt have setanta.

eon1208

Brianderunner wrote: »

Are there really houses out there without setanta ireland. Every house i've been in and everyone i know has it?



Second rate at the time he entered Dublin. We just caught him at a good time, can't see him coming back.

We could do with a couple of your so called 2nd rate marathoners here in Ireland running 2.08

Brianderunner

eon1208 wrote: »

We could do with a couple of your so called 2nd rate marathoners here in Ireland running 2.08

Not sure you're getting my point here, Roy Keane played for Cobh Ramblers at one stage, does that make them a world class club? DCM managed to attract Lilesa at the start of his upward progression but he's now up and beyond that level, never to return.

Make no mistake, Mondays 1,2,3 in the mens were 2nd rate marathon runners at this moment in time.

ThisRegard

Brianderunner wrote: »

Are there really houses out there without setanta ireland. Every house i've been in and everyone i know has it?

I reckon the majority of people with a Sky subscription who don't have the sports package or NTL don't have it.

Incidentally, is it on Setanta Ireland or one of the Setanta Sports ?


Edit: Just spotted Kennys post, same point I made.

gerard65

ThisRegard wrote: »

I reckon the majority of people with a Sky subscription who don't have the sports package or NTL don't have it.

Incidentally, is it on Setanta Ireland or one of the Setanta Sports ?


Edit: Just spotted Kennys post, same point I made.

Its Setanta Ireland, the free one that's on the basic NTL analogue package.
(well its not FREE, still have to pay NTL, but you know what I mean)

Pisco Sour

I dont know of a single house that doesnt have Setanta Ireland. Now if it is being shown on Setanta 1 or Setanta 2 then thats another story.