After Broadcast Blunder, All Eyes Turn to T100 Dubai

Reader: It has not improved much in 2 seasons after getting strong criticism last year. Sports are entertainment. They need to do better.

Reader: Acknowledging that a 4 or 8 hour race is hard to know “when it will get good,” IM broadcasting feels like it’s lagging behind the rest of the competition. All it would take is a studio director who understands the race and the players and know when to hold a commercial cut, which battle to focus on, where to put cameras at what time, and when to not cut to scenic views… considering there’s a huge effort to grow the sport right now (and we have the perfect athletes to help with incredible racing the last few years), the status quo of triathlon broadcasting won’t cut it any more.

Reader: It was generally pretty good, apart from switching to the view in the last KM of the men's race! I find the way the T100 coverage keeps the current positions of all the top riders listed is good, rather than waiting for the banner at the bottom of the screen to update with only a few riders.

Reader: Get rid of Michael Lovato. Bad on many levels. Have someone who knows the sport directing the broadcast.

Reader: If they want to draw (and keep) eyes from non-endemic sponsors and new-to-tri athletes, the answer is yes. If they want to meaningfully compete with T100 for media dollars, absolutely.

If they are satisfied with knowing that the core fans and athletes will watch regardless of how bad their product is, simply because we love the sport and its pros, then it's probably fine as is.

I am not surprised at the lack of course correction over the course of this season, since contracts are signed and plans are in place well ahead. But they have an early starting Pro Series season next year, and a summer of broadcasts to tweak the imperfections, giving them plenty of runway before everyone comes together in Kona 2026.

Scott Derue is a smart guy, and he's the one that gave the ultimate thumbs-up on a return to the island, so I'm sure he's keenly aware that they have to get that right. Or they will actively start losing fans.

Reader: First, get rid of OUTSIDE. The commercials are relentless and continue to repeat the same commercials over and over. You cannot watch the race if it’s on at 1:00 AM unless you want to miss sleep.

Reader: Just because you were a pro triathlete does not mean you can be a good broadcaster. None of the people they continue to insist on using have been any good. Bring in some actual talent!

Reader: 1. It’s time to cut ties with Outside TV for North America rebroadcast. - adverts are placed regardless of the action - must leave app to answer a text or check the tracker, and when we return, we just watch another 4 minutes of advertisement - cannot re-watch the race (parts you missed because of time zone, or while on training) without paying for the premium version.

2) They need a tv director with experience. There are battles happening behind the leaders, and they don’t show it… We get that Taylor and Lucy are in the lead, but it’s not changing much…. Your racers in 3rd to 10th are changing the race dynamics, but we rarely see it.

3) Picture in Picture!!!! It’s not that hard to divide the screen with more than one image.

Reader: The biggest overhaul needs to be with the broadcast team.

Reader: They only show 1 or 2 people upfront...never what else is happening.

Reader: Ten years ago, we had nothing, just the NBC show (which I loved). Now we have coverage, so that’s great, but it’s just not good enough. The commentary is getting better, but Lovato needs to go! Commentators should spend time researching the athletes so that they can be knowledgeable and provide insight - look at what they do in T100, Challenge Roth, SuperTri.

Reader: Amateur hour. Production decision maker(s) need to be let go. Spend way too much time zoomed in on a single athlete at a time, and fail to cover interesting things that are going on on the course. Also, the leader/placement banner at the bottom is often several minutes behind what is actually being shown on the television, sometimes longer. It seems like this is something that can be easily automated or even have someone manually do that at least for the front five or 10 athletes. It’s really a joke when you consider they have a basic amount of resources to do this.

Reader: Often feels like amateur hour in terms of the visuals. Advertising revenue is clearly a critical income stream, but not at the expense of the broadcast credibility, please. Timing tracking is more often than not woeful. And clearly, anchors and pro commentary guests are given almost no help beyond the IM app tracker in figuring out what’s going on. Poor experience for the customer. And don’t get me started on the quality of some of the anchors. I frequently turn the sound off.

Reader: Covering a pro girl with a 15-minute lead when there is a pack of 6 guys running together is a major failing. You don't need 50/50 coverage for the entire race...you need to capture what matters - run battles. Also, commentators need to to share what is happening beyond 1st place. Just covering the person in first place is dumb.

Reader: Oh my gosh the commentators are also not great. They need to either take a class or hire someone with commentating experience. Take notes from Mexican soccer please! Also, I know the top 3 pros are great and all but can we focus on the rest of the field? What about age group coverage?

Reader: The Drafting enforcement is a catastrophe. Even with RaceRanger, the referees aren't issuing any penalties even though tens of red lights are on. Ask Seth Rider the top American.

Reader: They need a professional commentator with the former pros. They need to not break from the action to show hotels, and they need to pronounce names correctly and know a bit about those athletes and their backgrounds. And please, can they learn to pronounce names correctly

Reader: WE so desperately want our pros and our sport to get more attention, if the broadcasts are shoddy even triathletes won't watch, that's bad for events, for sponsors and bad for Ironman!!

Reader: The coverage is rubbish. Poor commentators and too much repetition of adverts. Missing key moments and a lack of visibility of where other athletes are in the field.

Reader: The broadcast regularly cuts away from the athletes when there is something exiting happening! Whether it's to an add break or the scenery. Show us the athletes!!