Radio Le Mans coverage discussion.

[arakis]

It was a fenomenal race, but when ever Audi's and Peugeos are at it, RadioLM team, seem to lose their heads, they totaly neglected the gt battle, and had apsolutly no idea what was going on in it, they continiusly made errors to the point it was useless to listen to them, Ok I expect that from Eurosport or Speed tv comentators, they don't know better, but hindy and the RLM team spend hours on air telling us how awesome GTE racing is and how its probably the best/ most hotly contested class in the whole ACO racing, and when it comes to the race they drop the ball, and this ain't the first time, for the last few races its a rare event when they get it right.

At the last stint they had no clue what was obvius, that both luxary and the AF were gonna make it to the end, luxary because it pitted 59min before the end of the race, and AF because it pitted 1:06min before the end, and average stint time for both was 1:10. At one point they were talking about a how fast the BMW was, when it was posting average laptimes and even got overtaken by Luxary witch was on TV and they totaly missed it

P.S. I know a lot of people love RLM, but if someone doesen't call them out, they won't improve. Before you sugest it, I already send them a mail after Le Mans witch wasn't responded to. And I am not in the habit of anoying people, if they are not Porsche suporters

P.S.S. I mean seriosly, the LMP1 battle was decided when the Audi went into the shop, and even while it was going on there were only 2 cars.
It doesnt take a team of 3 comentaters and 2 pitstop reporters to fully invest thier time into only 2 cars. If they had one dedecated reporter for the GTE Pro/AM, at least they would know whats going on, the whay they are set up right now everyone is watching everything just aint working

[Adam43]

arakis made some points about RLM in the Silverstone thread. We normally have a thread to discuss the coverage after LM24. That thread is here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...&highlight=Rlm

I thought I'd split this off as it is an important topic and we can stick to the racing in the main Silverstone thread.

[BRG]

Originally Posted by arakis

It was a fenomenal race, but when ever Audi's and Peugeos are at it, RadioLM team, seem to lose their heads, they totaly neglected the gt battle, and had apsolutly no idea what was going on in it, they continiusly made errors to the point it was useless to listen to them, Ok I expect that from Eurosport or Speed tv comentators, they don't know better, but hindy and the RLM team spend hours on air telling us how awesome GTE racing is and how its probably the best/ most hotly contested class in the whole ACO racing, and when it comes to the race they drop the ball, and this ain't the first time, for the last few races its a rare event when they get it right.

At the last stint they had no clue what was obvius, that both luxary and the AF were gonna make it to the end, luxary because it pitted 59min before the end of the race, and AF because it pitted 1:06min before the end, and average stint time for both was 1:10. At one point they were talking about a how fast the BMW was, when it was posting average laptimes and even got overtaken by Luxary witch was on TV and they totaly missed it

P.S. I know a lot of people love RLM, but if someone doesen't call them out, they won't improve. Before you sugest it, I already send them a mail after Le Mans witch wasn't responded to. And I am not in the habit of anoying people, if they are not Porsche suporters

P.S.S. I mean seriosly, the LMP1 battle was decided when the Audi went into the shop, and even while it was going on there were only 2 cars.
It doesnt take a team of 3 comentaters and 2 pitstop reporters to fully invest thier time into only 2 cars. If they had one dedecated reporter for the GTE Pro/AM, at least they would know whats going on, the whay they are set up right now everyone is watching everything just aint working

I agree
It was difficult from the track to keep in touch. The position lights on the side of the cars did not always work, RLM hardly mentioned which driver was in which car no idea who was driving in lmp1 petrol for instance other than pla. I assumed they were in tv com mode.
It is so much easier when you have timming ect. What was needed was a full hourly run down just like at lemans.
RML seen to have forgotten that Radio usally dose not have pictures.

[Aysedasi]

The big difficulty is that the screens being used by the commentators were 6-7 seconds behind the action. James and I looked at each other many times when we heard Hindy say something, when he appeared to be miles behind the action.....

But I don't agree at all about RLM concentrating on the LMPs. You were listening to something different to me, and I had my headphone radio on throughout the race.....

But the run-downs weren't good - it was something I missed too. It needed a half-hourly run down of the top three in each class.

[fieldodreams79]

I've always found that while I really enjoy RLM's coverage for the most part, Hindy makes his fair share of mistakes, as do most media outlets covering live events. I couldn't view or listen to the Silverstone race, so I cannot validate any of the claims, but their job is to cover the race at hand, and if there is a close battle upfront between diesels, it would be hard to step away from that. Unfortunately, in mulit-class endurance racing, there will always be some neglect from whomever is covering the event, but there should at least be some balance.

[BRG]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

The big difficulty is that the screens being used by the commentators were 6-7 seconds behind the action. James and I looked at each other many times when we heard Hindy say something, when he appeared to be miles behind the action.....

But I don't agree at all about RLM concentrating on the LMPs. You were listening to something different to me, and I had my headphone radio on throughout the race.....

But the run-downs weren't good - it was something I missed too. It needed a half-hourly run down of the top three in each class.

I also had my headphones on the whole event. I tend to move all aroud the track so don't watch the big screens you say "the run-downs weren't good " I say what run downs.
Still enjoyed the race.

[Aysedasi]

True, we had maybe a couple in the whole race?

A big screen facing out to Club would have made that position perfect. I normally walk the whole circuit during the race (I guess we did about half of it) but the view from the stand was so good it was a wrench to leave it!

[Tim the Grey]

I've commented on the lack of a Big Screen facing out, at Club. BRDC, please note...
I have no idea if one could be incorporated into, say, the end of The Wing, or whether it would have to be a stand alone, but I would say it's needed.

I too noticed a dis-connect, trackside, from what I'm hearing on RLM re GT-E, and what is passing before my eyes, on-track. It didn't hurt that it was a fabulous battle with Ferrari, Porsche, and Beemer all having a different Sweet Spot on the track.

I'm sure there are several folks willing to help out, if they ever asked!

[arakis]

they did cover some of the other classes but the info they gave was for the part of GTE(only part I payed attention to) was either incorect or misleading, I watched the whole race on the lemans-series.com, with hindys comentary. so I know what I am talking about, I also folowed all six hours over the timing screen.

I know it isn't realistic to expect the same coverage as LMP1 or even in the same ball park, but it is realistic to expect that when they finaly do the coverage they do it right. the way they are setup now, they get into the LMP1 battle and totaly lose track of whats happening in other classes, when they get to them, they are trying to read current results and guess whats going on, and that is poorly done. They need a dedicated person for GTE only, someone who will know when each car needs to pit, who is in the car, and who is on pace and who isnt, just like they do for LMP1, I am more then capable of getting all this info by myself so it shouldnt be to hard for 1 person on their team to do it as well. and if they cant manage it I would be more then happy to help them out, trough my RED glasses of course

[andrewn]

I agree with all that's been said about the lack of hourly run-downs and, at times, there did seem to be a complete miss or mis-interpretation of key events, for example the incident involving Audi #1 and missing rear bodywork was not spotted by RLM for nearly an hour!

I should add that I am a big supporter of Hindy and the team and appreciate their efforts but, IMO, the RLM team spent far too much time speaking with "special guests" and too little time reading and reporting on what was a very busy race.

[TheNewBob]

Need some way of informing them if an incident has occurred. I'm sure this has been available at Le Mans, or something similar.

I found that some interviews during the race, about the Nissan GT academy and with Desire Wilson, completely ignored the track action. If there wasn't much going on at the front at that point, it would have been an ideal moment to focus on the rest of the field. Such interviews are certainly welcome, some were aired before qualifying on the Saturday and that was great, but breaking off for ten minutes in the middle of an exciting race was not the best decision.

I should also point out that this is just nit-picking, call it constructive criticism if you will. Because we all know that we couldn't do without RLM!

[Aysedasi]

I think we inevitably have different views on this - as I think we had on the Le Mans commentary (where I believe Jonny Palmer did a great job on the GTE aspect of the race). I didn't notice any great shortcomings in the GTE commentary at Silverstone but I accept that the majority of my focus was on LMP. As to making mistakes when they do actually do it, well yes, you'd like to think that wouldn't happen!

Originally Posted by andrewn

I should add that I am a big supporter of Hindy and the team and appreciate their efforts but, IMO, the RLM team spent far too much time speaking with "special guests" and too little time reading and reporting on what was a very busy race.

I agree with this too. The interviews need to be short and snappy and should be put on immediate hold if anything of significance happens. At Le Mans there is obviously more time for a 5 minute interview - perhaps not so in a 6 hour race. Although I did enjoy Desiree's interview.......

[Paradise City]

Hindhaugh takes particular and foresnsic care to keep up to date with all the classes during his review programs and many of his broadcasts.

I think at Silverstone he was hampered by the logistics and the cameras prioritising the LMP1 battle for the first five hours.

I'm not an expert on how one sets up a broadcasting project but Hindhaugh seems to be taking on ALOT of new projects recently including alot of travelling across the Atlantic.

Best of luck to him with that but I hope the preparation doesn't suffer.

[brands]

Commentary at Silverstone is always iffy because they can't see much of the circuit. The guy at Becketts had a good view of the Arena section and from Copse to Stowe but it seems the other position in the Wing could only see the pitlane and Club.
No one at RLM noticed the huge shunt and fire on Saturday morning in another of their blind spots. They missed several lead changes in the first hour of the race but you can't watch the TV, the timing screens and out of the window at one time.

All in all I really enjoyed their 3 days of coverage as it was much better than the 'normal' fair.

[Aysedasi]

The 'guy at Becketts'......... Good one!

[isynge]

Some of the coverage hinted at a possible reason why the coverage didn't have as many run downs as there might have been in the past, namely that they'd noticed a lot of people around the track looking at live T&S on smartphones and tablets - which means they're starting to see their role as commentators evolving, and looking to provide background and context. After all, if you can look at the positions in a particular class on a lap by lap basis, does a periodic run through of who's where necessarily add that much?

I'm in two minds about this. At Le Mans this year I was fairly frequently looking at the run down on the web, and thus almost felt the run throughs were superfluous, yesterday at Silverstone the phone largely remained in the pocket, and thus was more appreciative of when they did do the traditional radio commentators job of saying who was where - I can see the trend though.

In that light, doing more colour pieces, like the fantastic Desire Wilson interview, adds a lot from my perspective, especially when the interview is conducted by guys who are generally very well informed.

I see RLM coverage as having the ideal mix of frenetic edge of seat horse racing like coverage when something really exciting is happening, and the more laid back bits of Test Match Special when it's quieter.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

The 'guy at Becketts'......... Good one!

I spent a fair amount down at Becketts during the race and was trying to spot where the commentary box was - is it in the stand itself?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by isynge

I spent a fair amount down at Becketts during the race and was trying to spot where the commentary box was - is it in the stand itself?

No Ian, alongside the loop, next to the service road. I took the shot below from the small high open grandstand which looked over both sections of the track. Think of the loop on the right and the run into Becketts on the left....

[Adam43]

TMS is the best at this kind of coverage. They have had a long time of practice. They cover every ball, yet still manage to have interesting discussions during play. They set the scene beautifully and give a sense of occasion. They express all points of view and ranting, even from Boycott, is kept to a minimum.
They can describe things succinctly and elaborate at the required moments. The consistent high standards bowl me over.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

No Ian, alongside the loop, next to the service road. I took the shot below from the small high open grandstand which looked over both sections of the track. Think of the loop on the right and the run into Becketts on the left....

Gotcha.

Decent position for something like that, especially with shortcomings of main booth.

Very much "on show" throughout though!

[Aysedasi]

Yep, I think Paul ended up waving to us about 4-5 times during the weekend as we all trooped past yet again.....

[Simmi]

I think it's a testament to how exciting the racing is when people are complaining about five-minute interviews during a six hour race.

I think they do a great job considering they are creating a commentary service that at every race they do is being broadcast across numerous different platforms.

What makes the racing so great is also the same thing that makes it so tough to commentate on. Without having a man dedicated to each class they have a lot on their hands and that probably wouldn't make for the most fluid broadcast.

[carsten66]

Originally Posted by Simmi

I think it's a testament to how exciting the racing is when people are complaining about five-minute interviews during a six hour race.

I think they do a great job considering they are creating a commentary service that at every race they do is being broadcast across numerous different platforms.

What makes the racing so great is also the same thing that makes it so tough to commentate on. Without having a man dedicated to each class they have a lot on their hands and that probably wouldn't make for the most fluid broadcast.

Good points an I absolutely agree... and as ever I really enjoyed their coverage... in my opinion some criticism is somewhat exaggerated.

[JAG]

These races are six hours long, the commentary team need to entertain their listeners not bore them to tears. Davidsons spell in the commentary box added a great deal to the show and the interview with Desire Wilson one of the highlights.

The first and last hour was solid race commentary, during the middle portion key battles were picked up but as I say, the program needs to entertian as well as inform.

[Aysedasi]

For a freebie radio station - without which you wouldn't have very much - methinks some protest too much........ Entertainment? No, not for me, just good commentary.