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Cycling on TV "not so highly rated"

Quote:

According to the [GfK media appreciation] panel the most loved sports on TV are Football, Rugby, Cricket, Formula One and Tennis. However Cycling, Darts & Extreme Sports are not so highly rated.

So, do you think this means we won't see more cycling on TV next season?

The bulletin item doesn't say how many sports they asked about or what the ratings actually are.

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21 comments

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a.jumper | 12 years ago
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The initial quote is from an email from them and yes, it was a survey asking people what they like on TV. The people were drawn from a panel.

They do also ask people what they watch, a diary audience survey, but this isn't from that.

It seems like the BBC use it to ask about their shows sometimes.

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KirinChris replied to a.jumper | 12 years ago
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Must be this one.

http://www.project-survey.com/surveys/uk-bbcsurvey/

Suggest you all join and tell them how much you like cycling on TV.  3

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a.jumper replied to KirinChris | 12 years ago
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abudhabiChris wrote:

Must be this one.

http://www.project-survey.com/surveys/uk-bbcsurvey/

No, that looks like one of those scams where your personal data gets sold on for profit. I suggest you run a mile from it. https://panel.gfkmedia.co.uk/ says:

Quote:

The participants of the online Television Appreciation Survey were chosen so that the group as a whole represents the British population in terms of age, sex and level of education. If you are not a panel member yet, it is not possible to apply yourself for participation.

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Gotta Ride | 12 years ago
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I think if you were to add a ball to the sport of cycling, and races were won by the rider who crossed the finish line with the ball in tow, ratings would be high.  35

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KirinChris | 12 years ago
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Where was that original item from ?

Without seeing the survey and the methodology it's hard to say but it doesn't look like they are talking about actual ratings there. In the UK that comes from BARB not GfK.

It sounds like it is basically a consumer survey asking people what they like(d) on TV not an actual measurement of what they watched, or who watched it.

The two things may sound similar but there are substantial differences. A survey (online or phone) is basically an opinion poll, and it is a known effect that more popular or better known brands come out ahead, so not surprisingly this would apply to the more popular sports.

And if it isn't a random sample and doesn't take other factors into account (social class, age, gender etc) then it is unlikely to be a major factor in channels deciding what they show.

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step-hent | 12 years ago
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Chain Reaction advertises on Eurosport when the cycling is on, too, and most of the ads are cycling related (the two most repeated ads during cycling coverage being Garmin-Transitions ("Hi, I'm Tyler Farrar...") and Sidi's amazingly ridiculous series of adverts with pro-cyclists dressing in ridiculous outfits (or no outfit at all, in the case of Pozzato)).

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a.jumper | 12 years ago
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Wiggle and Evans indeed had some ads on ITV 4 when they had the TdF on. I think Wiggle also had them during the Vuelta.

The top races have got cameras on some bikes and graphics and telemetry overlays. The ASO races are the leaders, then maybe the Flanders classics and our own Tour of Britain (but ToB isn't shown live, so it should be pretty good), the RCS races can be a bit random and the Vuelta is pretty low-fi.

I guess for ITV, it'll come down to whether the advertisers will pay.

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step-hent | 12 years ago
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@cborrman - I can see that cycling on TV won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it sounds like you just aren't that bothered about watching cycle racing (as opposed to other forms of cycling). I'm not sure that TV coverage is really the issue, as much as interest in the racing.

For me, the beauty of cycling as a sport is about the effort of the athlete and the drama of the race. There are loads of races that are dull, but that's not because of the TV coverage, it's because of the racing. What the TV coverage does do is give a good variation between shots following or riding ahead of the riders, and overhead helicopter shots which give the overall perspective. Sure, having shots from the racers' bikes would be great (and that is being worked on - some riders in this year's tour had go pro cameras on the back of their bikes, set up by their teams) but cycle racing isn't as scientific as F1, and is often more about who's head is in the game than who has the best power output and gear selection(see Voeckler in this year's tour, for example, but there are soooooo many others). So long as you can see the riders, it can be a great sport to watch (and if you want to see a great bit if descending, followed by a motorbike, search youtube for Cancellara's descent in the yellow jersey in 2010, trying to catch the peloton after a puncture - amazing stuff, and brilliantly captured on camera).

So, to say that cycling coverage is rubbish without additional data misses the point, for me. I'm not saying that I'd oppose more camera angles and more data being available. But a good race, for me, is not about the numbers (though the numbers certainly add something, don't get me wrong) - it's about the spectacle, and the effort, and the competition. In my view, you can capture all that from a helicopter and motorbike....

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cborrman | 12 years ago
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firstly the caveats:

1) i do not watch sport on TV, in fact i do not really watch tv, but have been known to watch football finals, tennis finals and odd scenes of cycling and the odd triathlon

2) i love cycling, to obsession; mountain bikes, road bikes, single speeds, steel, carbon, alu, titanium, on road, off-road, lesiure, commuting, etc, etc.

3) the only sport I do is cycling and triathlons

despite this, i have to say that even then cycling is waaaaaay down my list of spectator sports: unless they start putting cameras on the bikes, and graphics and telemrtry overlays like in F1, i do not see how this can improve.

What I have noticed, is that I can playback hours of gopro footage, on fork, pointing back, pointing forward, pointing up at face, etc, etc and its all a million times more watchable than some donkey-eye's view from some bloke perched on the back of a motrobike that is just getting in the way and cannot follow a road bike down a mountain pass anyway.

basically, I think sports haave different appeals, F1 is terrible to watch there, its just a blur, on screen it was good since on-board cameras and telemetry overlays. tennis is good for both, as you can see everything.... this could go on, but basically i think the best spectator sports are those that allow you to see all the action in one view, like stadium sports.

actions sports need just that: action footage, give us wirless gopro hd steams form varied angles with telemetry overlay (cadence, speeed, altitude, grade, and with Di2 even gear???) and i will be hooked.

keep sticking blokes on the back of bikes: i will keep fast forwarding the replay for 10 mins before going to bed...

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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I thought Wiggle and Evans had some ad's on ITV 4 when they had the TdF on or was it purely Halfords?

But as i never watched ITV 4 i don't know

The manufactures names you mention, they are mainly American, so i guess they would focus their advertising budget on TV exposure, not to say they don't have a market for products throughout the world, just a larger one over there?

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wakou | 12 years ago
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I think we should be asking why Wiggle, Evans, CRC, Trek, Cannondale, Giant, Shimano, Campagnolo, etc etc are not supporting Cycling on TV by advertising when it is on.

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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Indirectly maybe, but you don't see any Sky products on their shirts, not like the massive sky logo's on their cycling team

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PeteH | 12 years ago
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I thought Sky already sponsored about 20 football teams?

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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Just had a thought, but can't back it up with any info from google, but i'm sure there was a ruling somewhere involving Sky and them not being allowed to sponsor a football team and show them on live tv??

So if they can't sponsor a football, then how would it be looked upon by owning a cycling team and showing them live  4

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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With cycling on TV getting ever more popular its almost inevitable that Sky will muscle in on it

Much like with F1, they have a contract saying it must be provided on free to air channels, but somehow Sky have managed to work around this by letting the BBC show a half season live and highlights  14

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PeteH | 12 years ago
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Don't have anything against Sky, per se, I have a subscription so am fortunate enough to probably have access to any cycling that is on tv (although I don't watch much tv as it goes).

But it would be a shame to lose the sport from free-to-air tv. Aside from the fact that we're all "in the know" and understand the buzz that it is possible to get from cycling, two of the biggest problems we face as a society today are obesity and carbon emissions. And cycling tackles both of these head-on. If watching the Tour de France causes even one person to get on a bike and start riding to work, say, then that has got to be good. From that aspect alone it'd be a pity if coverage became more exclusive.

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a.jumper | 12 years ago
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Last I knew, Sky part-own "British Eurosport" (the rest being Eurosport) so they do really.

I won't subscribe to Sky, for similar reasons that I won't buy the Sun, so I hope Sky don't get exclusives on any cycling!

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TheHatter replied to a.jumper | 12 years ago
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a.jumper wrote:

I won't subscribe to Sky, for similar reasons that I won't buy the Sun, so I hope Sky don't get exclusives on any cycling!

I hope they don't get exclusives too but the contracts are up in a couple of years and they haven't pumped millions into team sky for nothing. Its inevitable - I just hope they don't have the same impact they had on football.

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Municipal Waste | 12 years ago
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 39 I've always thought to myself how it's strange that millions of people tune in to watch football matches but do not play the sport themselves, even socially.

I also think it's a bit odd that Sky sponsor a team but never show any cycling!  26

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TheHatter | 12 years ago
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And I quite like darts on telly too.

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JohnS | 12 years ago
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Bob only knows how GfK worked that out. There's hardly any cycling on free-to-air telly anyway, so how could they do the sums?

I'd be interested to know the question they asked, and how many people they asked.

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