Boston TV coverage was AWFUL - here's the fix

How about just having some cameras/infrastructure that actually work? Get the broadcast capabilities fullproof and then get 2 cameras for each men and women. One followes the leader(s), one follows the chase pack. Record the streams and cut back/forth as needed or show replays of how it happened.

It's not like there was one camera going back & forth between men & women.

Nutella1 wrote:

First no updates from the womens field, then missing the break of Meb and Boit, then missing the break from Boit, then missing Meb catching and eventually passing Boit. They also missed how the womens field dropped Flanagan.

All in all, just plain awful.

The Brojos have pointed it out on multiple occasions: having the womens field start half an hour before the men is not a good idea.

Here is the fix:

9:20 Mens elite start (subelites with under 2:30 credentials can chose whether to start with pro field or the wave 1)

9:40 Womens elite start (again, subelite may start here or wave 1)

10:00 wave 1

The great thing about this approach would be that you could cover the mens race in its entire length, then cut over to the last 30+ min of the womens race.

Nutella, great post. I started a piece last week but never put it up but did talk to NYC marathon people about it in Boston. My #1 complaint is the races need to start further apart and then men start first.

I'd like to see the men start 45 minutes ahead of the women so when they finished, you could watch the 2nd half of the women's race.

First, I don't see the problem. Sure there are going to be challenges covering 4 races over 26 miles on a point-to-point course. But I thought the split screens and continuous video during commercial time worked great. (I was watching local Boston tv.)

Second, any time changes would have to be made very carefully. Keep in mind that the elite races are just one part of this event. The other waves cannot really be delayed, if you don't want (many) runners finishing after dark. And an earlier start creates more inconvenience and expense for the towns along the course.

Nutella1 wrote:

First no updates from the womens field, then missing the break of Meb and Boit, then missing the break from Boit, then missing Meb catching and eventually passing Boit. They also missed how the womens field dropped Flanagan.

All in all, just plain awful.

I agree the coverage was awful.

In the Tour de France, they usually have at least four cameras on motorcycles. A marathon should have at least three... one on the leader, one on the chase pack, and one that can move around to show breaks. When did Chebet break away? How did the gap change as he chased down Meb? In cycling, the race coverage would have made this really exciting.

Heck, even a couple of GoPros on mounted on bicycles would have given us more coverage and a feel for how the race developed.

It was not as bad as it seems and certainly not as bad as previous years. Mostly, you can't expect them to know when the breaks are going to happen so how can you expect the camera to always be on it? And I don't think the races should start far apart. Then you make the spectators sit there for an hour with nothing to do.

My main complaint is that they can only show whoever is in first place when often the most interesting part of the race is the chase pack. They should have vehicles with a camera following the chase pack too.

Toni Revis talking in January about last year's NYC Marathon broadcast:

"I can tell you that the reason American TV doesn't show the runner in the red singlet coming up from behind, or the top American way back in the distance, is because there is only a budget for two cameras for the entire men's elite race, and two for the women. That's it.

Running in the USA isn't a big enough sport with big enough stars to warrant Japanese or Tour de France style coverage with multiple cameras following several story lines throughout the course.

Running in American is thought of more as a healthy lifetstyle activity and charity fund-raising mechanism than a top-end sporting competition. Until that dynamic turns around, we will continue to cover the sport in this same fashion."

fisky wrote:

When did Chebet break away? How did the gap change as he chased down Meb?

Exactly, HUGE missed opportunity. They only really could report on it when we saw how big the gap is on camera.

Also, the third guy finisher. No word about where he was until he closed the gap. Remember, he just finished 2s back.

Nutella1 wrote:

Also, the third guy finisher. No word about where he was until he closed the gap. Remember, he just finished 2s back.

I heard them talking about -- and showing --the third guy miles before the finish. Maybe we were watching different broadcasts?

you can expect the camera to be on it because they have one camera truck for the men's leaders and one for the women's.