Chicago Marathon Brodcast

Yes, the email campaign worked so well that the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon will be shown live on TV in its entirety... in Japan and the United Kingdom.

Will this race be shown in the US at all???

It's supposed to be shown on BBC-A which is picked up on satellite by Dish Network.

thanks a la Paula Radcliffe

MFoy wrote:

It's supposed to be shown on BBC-A which is picked up on satellite by Dish Network.

thanks a la Paula Radcliffe

YEAHHhhhhhh!!! That is AWESOME! Are you 100% sure??? What time is the broadcast supposed to start? God save the Queen!!!

If your like me and have digital or satellite cable check your listings. I found out just the other day I actually get BBC-A. Last night I checked race day listings but

it indicated regular programming; not to say they wouldnt

change it for a (late scheduled) live broadcast...

Listing for Sunday morning:

6:00 am BBC World News

6:30 am Talking Movies - October 8 - October 12, 2002

7:00 am House Invaders - Episode 6

7:30 am Homefront in the Garden - Vertigo

8:00 am Ground Force - Blackhurst Hill

8:30 am Ground Force - Locklease

9:00 am Changing Rooms - Salisbury

9:30 am Changing Rooms - Leeds

10:00 am House Invaders - Episode 6

10:30 am Homefront in the Garden - Vertigo

11:00 am Ground Force - Blackhurst Hill

11:30 am Ground Force - Locklease

12:00 pm Changing Rooms - Salisbury

There have been a few times that the programming ON THE PROGRAM MENU said some show, but they were showing a meet or a horse race, or a soccer match, etc. so I'm just assuming that it'll be on there like they said. I saw it in an on-line newspaper article sometime in the last 10-14 days, but I don't remember if it was a US paper or British. I'll try to look for it again, going through the IP history on my computer and if I find it, I'll post it here. It's useless to call Dish Network, I already tried, they don't have a clue - they said they just enter the programming info they're given and sometimes it's not up-to-date for overseas stations.

This isn't the article I was looking for, but it does mention the BBC filming for a live broadcast.

http://www.chicagoaa.com/news/Maramedia02.html

Is that BBC1 or BBC2

Hey Scott, can you "share the love"? ;-)

Tell me your address and I'll come by with a sack of goodies!

I made one more attempt to get US coverage. I sent an email to BBC-America

http://www.bbcamerica.com/about/contactus_suggestion.jsp

I asked if the rumor that they will air coverage is true and if it is not, I begged them to air it.

If anyone else has time, please also email them requesting that they air coverage.

My money says BBC-A doesn't have the rights to show the UK produced version of the race. If it were that simple, it would be on, but it won't. Remember, things in this country are all about $$. The local NBC affliate probably has exclusive rights in America.

Is BBC-A the same as BBC America?

-Clay

Yes

I'd share the love personally but the Hudson Mohawk Marathon and Half is that morning and I'll be there.

The keys under the mat, theres beer in the fridge and the dogs name is Fred.

The entire marathon is broadcast live in Chicago on NBC 5 and ESPN Radio 1000. Last year's broadcast was pretty good.

In the article that talked about the media coverage, it mentioned Telemundo doing coverage. That is available with most Direct TV and Dish network packages as well as a lot of cable outlets. I could not get the Telemundo international schedule for Sunday to load but it may be worth a try.

OK, I figured out why NBC can't show the marathon on a the national broadcast: There's no time left. According to the schedule on their web site, they're showing 13 hours worth of "Gravity Games" over the next 8 weeks. Yes, GG is that stuff where people go flying down hills on a cross between a skate board and luge, only to smash into hay bales and mangle various appendages to the "delighted horror" of the crowd. Remember folks, this made-for-TV marketing product is what NBC is pushing versus long-standing athletic contests such as the Chicago Marathon. Newton Minow continues to be right; TV remains a vast wasteland. I would like to find the people who come up with these ideas and make sure that they can't reproduce.

Years ago Roger Waters of Pink Floyd sang about "13 channels of shit on the TV to choose from". With digital cable, satellite dishes, pay-per-view, and all the rest, runners in the good ole USA now have 999 channels of shit to choose from. This, my friends, is called "progress".

Don't blame TV. Mass media are notoriously reactive, not pro-active, regardign public tastes.

That GG stuff is nonsense, agreed, but I can envisions its allure to advertisers and TV producers as counter-programming to the NFL -- punk teens rejecting their dad's archaic sports who stop theri rebelellion when ti comes to spending dad's bucks.

Last year NBC picked up the NYC Marathon for tape-delay broadcast (and IMO, an hour or 90 min is a very TV friendly way to show a mthn --exhaustive coverage is less telegenic).