I’ve just had to accept that the Chicago Marathon coverage is just not sports coverage. This is produced like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Times Square NYE broadcast. They didn’t even realize they had an American men’s camera and not an American women’s cam until halfway through the race.
It doesn’t make sense how bad the production is until you understand this is the approach. You’ll have to get NBC to see the elite race as its own event if you want to see coverage improve.
Or just take my approach and try to forget you’re a track fan for a moment, and pretend you’re a retired suburban Chicagoan just tuning in for the human interest stories and shots of the crowded downtown during breakfast.
I agree with this in practice, but it stlil doesn't make any sense to me. No random Chicagoan (let alone random non-Chicagoan) is tuning into this coverage on a Sunday morning. The only people sitting and watching this race for an extended period of time are hardcore American running fans that want to watch Mantz, Popehn, and whoever is battling for the win.
I’ve just had to accept that the Chicago Marathon coverage is just not sports coverage. This is produced like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Times Square NYE broadcast. They didn’t even realize they had an American men’s camera and not an American women’s cam until halfway through the race.
It doesn’t make sense how bad the production is until you understand this is the approach. You’ll have to get NBC to see the elite race as its own event if you want to see coverage improve.
Or just take my approach and try to forget you’re a track fan for a moment, and pretend you’re a retired suburban Chicagoan just tuning in for the human interest stories and shots of the crowded downtown during breakfast.
I agree with this in practice, but it stlil doesn't make any sense to me. No random Chicagoan (let alone random non-Chicagoan) is tuning into this coverage on a Sunday morning. The only people sitting and watching this race for an extended period of time are hardcore American running fans that want to watch Mantz, Popehn, and whoever is battling for the win.
the majority probably just run it in the background as a screen saver.
turn their head every 15 minutes and think " oh isn't that nice :)"