This week the Versus channel (owned by Comcast-will change name to NBC Sports in Jan) is covering the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. Why they came up with this name instead of just calling it the Tour of Colorado is beyond me. Anyway it is a 7 day race featuring most of the top finishers in the Tour de France.
Today was a disaster. not the race, the coverage. Halfway through the live coverage they suddenly lost the picture. For two days I have been watching this & wondering why the picture keeps freezing up. never does this in France, even when it's raining, which it wasn't doing today.
I tried to stay with it. but after a half an hour of no live shots I gave up. The announcers, who BTW are the same announcers who broadcast the Tour de France & have for over 10 years, were making every possible excuse. The weather (clear skies), the mountains (never lose the picture in France, even over the Galibier or Alpe D'Huez), or my favorite "it's too high".
Really? With all this modern technology, you can't broadcast because of the altitude? Worst excuse I have ever heard. More likely, Versus & it's owners Comcast/NBC, or whatever they're calling themselves went on the cheap. France is covered by the french broadcaster with Versus simply picking up the feed, like Speed Channel does with Formula One. I'm guessing the equipment used is not of the highest quality & therefore more unable to deal with weather or geographic issues.
It is disappointing since I wanted to watch this because most of the top finishers from France were in this race. I hope this isn't a preview of how this channel will be used in the future. Viewers expect these channels to be up to date on the latest technology & not have to make excuses like "we have no pictures because it's too high an altitude". No one will believe that anyway.
Today was a disaster. not the race, the coverage. Halfway through the live coverage they suddenly lost the picture. For two days I have been watching this & wondering why the picture keeps freezing up. never does this in France, even when it's raining, which it wasn't doing today.
I tried to stay with it. but after a half an hour of no live shots I gave up. The announcers, who BTW are the same announcers who broadcast the Tour de France & have for over 10 years, were making every possible excuse. The weather (clear skies), the mountains (never lose the picture in France, even over the Galibier or Alpe D'Huez), or my favorite "it's too high".
Really? With all this modern technology, you can't broadcast because of the altitude? Worst excuse I have ever heard. More likely, Versus & it's owners Comcast/NBC, or whatever they're calling themselves went on the cheap. France is covered by the french broadcaster with Versus simply picking up the feed, like Speed Channel does with Formula One. I'm guessing the equipment used is not of the highest quality & therefore more unable to deal with weather or geographic issues.
It is disappointing since I wanted to watch this because most of the top finishers from France were in this race. I hope this isn't a preview of how this channel will be used in the future. Viewers expect these channels to be up to date on the latest technology & not have to make excuses like "we have no pictures because it's too high an altitude". No one will believe that anyway.
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