FSC's Coverage of Relegation Sunday (Possible Spoilers)

[GeordieInExile]

One word - disappointing!

Just to start off with, I already knew the results of the games from subscribing to an English team's 'World' broadcasts so I am grateful that FSC are covering the games - they make great viewing, but for arguments sake, let's say that I'm a neutral.

Now, the first game, Fulham v Norwich. I won't mention any scores incase someone around here hasn't seen the games. But when the match finished, the bottom of the league was shown detailing the results of the other matches!

What is the point in displaying the results of the game that is immediately following especially with so much riding on the outcome? This takes away all element of holding viewers attention for the next game (it did me anyway). Surely it would have been better to not show the league table until after the second game (Charlton v Palace)?

I know you can't do it 'live' all the time, but a little better scheduling could have produced a far more interesting viewing event (or even if Max had said "look away now to avoid seeing the table" etc). If a person had skipped listening or viewing any websites this morning just so they could find out by watching both games, they were in for a shock.

[penubly]

I was disapointed in the coverage. Not one live game! And this from the league that is the bread and butter of FSC :mad: ! It makes you ask some embarrassing questions about their coverage.

Whatever happened to the thread counting down the number of "live" games shown?

I am happy that I get to watch more coverage than prior to FSW/FSC, but it could be better. Paid programming and the Sky Sports news while live games are on killed me.

[MasterShake29]

FSC was offering a live game at 10:00 ET, you just had to pay $20 to see it on PPV.

[T308]

Now, the first game, Fulham v Norwich. I won't mention any scores incase someone around here hasn't seen the games. But when the match finished, the bottom of the league was shown detailing the results of the other matches!



I figured they'd do something like that, so I prepared myself. I Tivoed all three games (including the ManU/Soton game PPV) and didn't start watching until it the Palace game was over. I also broke out the old "ESPN2 bottom line blocker" (a strip of paper across the bottom of the TV) in case they showed the scores on a crawl during one of the later matches. I'd flip back and forth and watch each 10 minutes of each game. Needless to say I stoped watching the Norwich/Fullham game after the half and focused on the Palace/Charlton game after that.

As all the games started at 15:00 there wasn't really going to be a way to watch one without hearing about another (unless you watched without sound), but it was fun regardless. The situation this weekend is one of the reasons I love football. The fight to miss the drop is always fraught and this years battle in the EPL was special indeed. Even though FSW messed up I never saw it until I watched the wrap ups after seeing the games. I was still thankful to be able to see three of the four games on the same day and enjoy the ebb and flow.

Football and Tivo, a match made in heaven!

[wjarrettc]

I must admit that FSC's coverage was poor when compared with what Setanta offered of the Championship the previous weekend. For comparison, here's a copy of a post I made on a soccer mailing list I run detailing Setanta's coverage of the final Saturday of the Coca-Cola Championship...


I know a few of you guys have been hedging your bets on the value of
Setanta at $11.99 a month right now. So, here's what your missing...

This morning, Setanta had coverage of the final day of games in the CC
Championship. Coverage started at 7am with a full hour of the Sky
Sports pre-game show breaking down all the promotion / relegation
implications in games across the league. Then at 8am, they showed the
Wigan v. Reading game live. But they had cameras at six grounds
around the league. At one point, just before kickoff, they had six
live feeds going on the screen in a multi-window format.

Everytime a goal was scored at one of those grounds, they went to
split screen that showed the goal, the current "in progress" table,
and the live game all simultaneously. We never missed a minute of the
feature game and were able to follow all of the drama around the
league, particularly the late dramatics that lead to Crewe staying up
while Gillingham went down on goal differential!

Immediatley following Wigan's win which saw them automatically
promoted, Setanta showed a replay of the Ipswich v. Brighton match.
Of course, with all the simultaneous coverage from Sky during the
first match, we knew the second match was inconsequential, but it was
still nice to see.

Next up on Setanta this month is the CC Championship playoffs which
will feature Ipswich v. West Ham and Preston North End v. Derby
County. They'll have all four games of the semifinals and the final
on Setanta. Surely Ipswich is the favorite but I'd love to see Eddie
Lewis and Preston promoted!

No word yet on 1st and 2nd division playoffs. I know Richard and
Jonathan sure would like to see that Tranmere v. Hartlepool matchup.

[monster]

I guess I should call the BBC and complain that during the radio coverage of Soton-ManU, they kept updating the other games. What inconsiderate people to report on live action.

Bastards.

This takes the cake. Really. You give new meaning to the term "spoiler."

[GeordieInExile]

It's one thing to report them when you're listening to the games live, but these were on delay, back to back. If they're going to have them on delay, what's the point in showing the second game when the score (and final league table) is shown before hand (aswell as Robbo and WBA on the pitch after winning)? Spoils it completely.

I guess FSC didn't hold out any hope for WBA staying up...

[JTorres]

I guess I should call the BBC and complain that during the radio coverage of Soton-ManU, they kept updating the other games. What inconsiderate people to report on live action.

I listened to the TWI Production on Sirius and it was great to hear all the updates as the goals were scored at each of the relegation matches and the ManCity v Boro match.

The EPL Review show (also TWI I believe) was terrific as they kept true to the timeline to show the relegation final day highlights. Had I not listened to Sirius earlier, this would have been perfect. I'll probably watch the three matches (which I taped) later in the summer when I need an EPL fix.

All and all, I'm satisfied with FSC's coverage of the day.

[texgator]

Did FSC show the table at the end of the Fulham-Norwich match or was that from the TWI feed? If the later then there is good reason to suspect that they didn't know it was going to be shown.

[texgator]

The EPL Review show (also TWI I believe) was terrific as they kept true to the timeline to show the relegation final day highlights.
This was pretty cool....one of the more entertaining review shows I've ever seen. Very well executed....really captured the excitement and nail-biting nature of such a relegation battle.

[rangers00]

It's one thing to report them when you're listening to the games live, but these were on delay, back to back. If they're going to have them on delay, what's the point in showing the second game when the score (and final league table) is shown before hand (aswell as Robbo and WBA on the pitch after winning)? Spoils it completely.

I guess FSC didn't hold out any hope for WBA staying up...

The British commentators in the stadium should really worry about the other game (Charlton x Crystal Palace) would be delayed for 2 hours on the other side of the pond. Get real. This is a wordwide feed.

This relegation situation was one of a kind, with 4 simultaneous games being played, all of them have impacts on the relegation. There is really no point watching the games one by one. The only good solution is to watch the 4 games at the same time. Since WBA x Portsmouth wasn't available, at least tape the other three and watch them simultaneously. That's how you can experience the score of other games render the score of the current game meaningless...

[Cannon]

My only complaint was why not switch around the Norwich and C.Palace games? They knew that Norwich game was a blowout and that it would ruin the C.Palace game. Why not put the more entertaining game on in this situation?

[texgator]

My only complaint was why not switch around the Norwich and C.Palace games? They knew that Norwich game was a blowout and that it would ruin the C.Palace game. Why not put the more entertaining game on in this situation?
The schedule is done in advance.....they don't make these decisions on the fly. If they did, they couldn't promote the games in the week leading up.

[Cannon]

The schedule is done in advance.....they don't make these decisions on the fly. If they did, they couldn't promote the games in the week leading up.

Yes I know that. However this sunday was a special day and that fact was known in advance. They could have left themsleves the flexibility by just scheduling one relegation battle for each time slot. I'm not sure if there are technical restrictions that would have complicated switching right before noon but scheduling shouldn't have restricted them. Goltv often leaves the exact match shown until fairly late (although not minutes) and other channels have moved matches very late (espn bumping MLS, "instant classic" USA WC matches, etc) so I'm betting it was possible. I'm not a college bball fan but I've watched some March Madness. It just has a block of time and the exact matches shown don't appear to be set in stone.

[texgator]

GolTV's weekend schedule is always determined by Thursday, thats a world of difference. You would have them watch 4 different matches and then, just as they were ending choose one to show. At the same time have the FSC announcer prepare an intro. I just don't see it happening....sorry.

[Beau Dure]

My only complaint was why not switch around the Norwich and C.Palace games? They knew that Norwich game was a blowout and that it would ruin the C.Palace game. Why not put the more entertaining game on in this situation?

Wouldn't the schedule switch in itself be something of a spoiler?

I guess I should call the BBC and complain that during the radio coverage of Soton-ManU, they kept updating the other games. What inconsiderate people to report on live action.

Bingo!

Look -- what could FSC have possibly done? The Sky commentators were mentioning other results during the game. Should they have somehow bleeped the commentary?

And suppose the relegation-threatened team they were televising found out in stoppage time that they were staying up as a result of other games. Wouldn't you have been a little perplexed by the fact that they were celebrating?

And suppose Norwich had won, clinching promotion regardless of other outcomes? Wouldn't THAT have spoiled the second game for you?

I knewI wasn't going to be near a Webcast or a soccer bar while the relegation drama unfolded or for the next hour and change, so I recorded the Fulham-Norwich match. I was incredibly grateful for the chance to follow the drama in real time, even on a delayed basis. Ultimately, that's the reality.

What should FSC do? Maybe they should ask George Lucas to film all four games and show Episodes III-IV first, then go back to show Episode I before concluding with Episode II: Attack of the Crouches?

In the year 2125, virtual reality will allow us to simulate the experience of standing in the 10th row of four stadiums at the same time. And soccer fans will still complain that a fifth game determined the EPL's catch/punch leader on the season, and someone spoiled that result for them.

[Cannon]

Wouldn't the schedule switch in itself be something of a spoiler?

No because in the situation I described it never would have been listed as appearing there in the first place. The schedule could just say, "EPL Relegation Battle: Either C.Palace v. Charlton, Norwich v Fulham, etc." The only "spoiler" from then showing the C.Palace game would be that it was in some way interesting and relevant. Not a big spoiler and certainly better than airing the worst of the 4 games which then we knew would make the other one useless.

[monster]

No because in the situation I described it never would have been listed as appearing there in the first place. The schedule could just say, "EPL Relegation Battle: Either C.Palace v. Charlton, Norwich v Fulham, etc." The only "spoiler" from then showing the C.Palace game would be that it was in some way interesting and relevant. Not a big spoiler and certainly better than airing the worst of the 4 games which then we knew would make the other one useless.
Face it - any way besides experiencing the games live as they happen will get someone up in arms becuase their particular needs weren't met.

"Spoiled" is the most apt description on the plant.

[rangers00]

No because in the situation I described it never would have been listed as appearing there in the first place. The schedule could just say, "EPL Relegation Battle: Either C.Palace v. Charlton, Norwich v Fulham, etc." The only "spoiler" from then showing the C.Palace game would be that it was in some way interesting and relevant. Not a big spoiler and certainly better than airing the worst of the 4 games which then we knew would make the other one useless.

You didn't know the Fulham x Norwich match was the worst of the bunch until deep into the 2nd half, when C.P and WBA were leading. Even if Norwich was being thrashed, they could still avoid relegation had the other three teams also lost.

Besides, do you expect FSC to switch from the 60th minute of Fulham x Norwich to the start of Charlton/C.P, or JIP at the 60th minute of Charlton/C.P. So what happen to the remaining of the game (the first 60 minutes)? when are they going to show it? and are they going to show the last 30 minutes of Fulham/Norwich (the last 3 goals)?

With one channel space and the games being televised delayed, there is really no good way to show the games and let you experience the drama. This is the kind of situation that calls for a setup like NFL Sunday Ticket, each game on one channel. You, the viewer, use the remote control to flip back and forth, or better yet, watch all 4 games on 4 TVs.

It's also very difficult to experience the real drama, because WBA x Portsmouth, was missing from the telecast. Even if you can watch Soton x Man U, Charlton x C.P, Fulham x Norwich all live, on 3 different TVs, a big piece of the puzzle is still missing.

[Cannon]

You didn't know the Fulham x Norwich match was the worst of the bunch until deep into the 2nd half, when C.P and WBA were leading. Even if Norwich was being thrashed, they could still avoid relegation had the other three teams also lost.

Besides, do you expect FSC to switch from the 60th minute of Fulham x Norwich to the start of Charlton/C.P, or JIP at the 60th minute of Charlton/C.P. So what happen to the remaining of the game (the first 60 minutes)? when are they going to show it? and are they going to show the last 30 minutes of Fulham/Norwich (the last 3 goals)?

With one channel space and the games being televised delayed, there is really no good way to show the games and let you experience the drama. This is the kind of situation that calls for a setup like NFL Sunday Ticket, each game on one channel. You, the viewer, use the remote control to flip back and forth, or better yet, watch all 4 games on 4 TVs.

It's also very difficult to experience the real drama, because WBA x Portsmouth, was missing from the telecast. Even if you can watch Soton x Man U, Charlton x C.P, Fulham x Norwich all live, on 3 different TVs, a big piece of the puzzle is still missing.

You've missed the point even more spectacularly than usual. :rolleyes: I'd explain it to you but I've seen enough of your posts to know how pointless that would be. Here is a hint for you. I wasn't talking about switching during the game.

I guess even village idiots should be allowed to use computers but I'd make an exception in your case. Isn't there a thread about Champions league football and ESPN somewhere for you to write your useless ravings on? :p