# HELP! Does OLN's coverage stink this year???



## TryingNotToGetDropped (Jan 2, 2003)

Is it just me, or does OLN's coverage just stink this year?

1) Why is Al Trouig (sp?) involved? Do they need is American accent for dumb American cycling "fans" who are affraid of the English accents? When was the last time he was involved with a major cycling event? Greg Lemond days?
2) Why is Chris Charmicheal giving little interview segments which are really commercials for his company CTS?
3) Why is there an Expedia.com segment trying to sell people on places they should take vacations to?
4) Why do the video clips on OLNTV.com feature interviews with Cherryl Crowe and the Expedia.com travel segments and NOT cycling?
5) Why are they interviewing Cherryl Crowe at all?
6) Why do we have to hear what the AOL key word of the day is?

This coverage is one huge commercial that has been completely Americanized to sell everything possible, and then there is a little cycling spiced in.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!


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## _jim_ (Apr 30, 2003)

I have wondered this myself. Sadly, the OLN coverage has become a farce. My kingdom to receive Eurosport.


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## torquecal (Nov 9, 2002)

*No!*

This is the best coverage by far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I can tune in on a saturday and watch the stage with a max 30 min wait for an outdoor mag program any time in the day!!!!!


I get to see it live, via the "Cutters Side Show" or prime time.

I don't have to wait for weekends to see it on CBS.

I don't have to listen to it on shortwave radio.


OLN rocks! Keep it up


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## 633 (Feb 10, 2004)

Oh, yeah, Eurosport. If it's European, it's got to be better, right? Get real. Have you spent much time actually watching European TV? Well, despite spending a whole lot of time in Europe, neither have I - I keep falling asleep. The reason you don't get Eurosport in the U.S. is that the sixteen guys who'd watch it don't constitute a big enough demographic group to support a channel. The reason we get the Cyclism guy and the AOL word of the day and the Expedia travel bulletins is because OLN's gotta pay for this coverage, and advertising is what does it.

OLN's coverage has been great. Sure, it's somewhat Americanized. They're an American network. Most of us watching really are more interested in Lance and Tyler than the rest of the field. Yes, the coverage is a little over-Lanced, but the whole theme of this tour is "Will Lance get 6?" That's not that far a stretch. Yeah, I'd like to hear a little more about the up-and-coming guys like Levi L, but overall, I'm real happy with their coverage. 

I also think a lot of the complaints I'm hearing are about the evening coverage. If you want more Eurosport-style coverage, tape or Tivo the live morning coverage. It's long on live coverage of the race, including plenty of coverage of non-American riders, and short on Sheryl Crow interviews.

We dumped cable two years ago, but have ordered it for the next two months for the Tour and the Olympics, but mainly the Tour. Keep it up, OLN. Thanks for the coverage.


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## _jim_ (Apr 30, 2003)

The evening coverage is pro-American, so it must be great. I keep forgetting that anything American is so superior to everything else. I'll put my blinders on and walk around believing that.

www.blahblahblah.com


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## ExtraSlow (Jul 7, 2004)

*OLN's Coverage Stinks With a Capital S*

I couldn't agree more. Besides your comments let's add:

1. Why do they need 7 (or more) commentators! Stick to basics -- Phil and Paul talking about the race. I can even tolerate Bob Roll in small doses (as long as I close my eyes when he's on the screen). Everyone else (including Frankie Andreu) is a colossal waste of my time and OLN's money.

2. In addition to filling the screen with Lance's coach, girlfriend and director sportif, we also get repeated plugs for the LiveStrong bracelet, Trek bikes, Pete's coffee, etc, etc. I remember someone predicting last week that we'd all get sick and tired of the Nike ad. Right now I look forward to it -- it's the most understated pitch of them all.


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## freezin_is_the_reason (Feb 5, 2004)

*How quickly we forget*

Anyone remember the bad old days? Not that long ago, Le Tour was limited to 30 min. a day on ESPN2. And quite often, you would tune in only to find that they had bumped it for some PBR event. Is OLN perfect? NO! Is it better than what we used to have? YES? Do the Cutters suck? YES. At least they toned down the shouting, and the segment with Kirsten and the thong panties was nice.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

*stop it*

look newbs. or whoever you are. stop complaining about crap that doesn't make any difference whatsoever. Provided you get OLN, you are receiving coverage <b>all day in several contrasting varieties!</b>. pick one and shut the hell up. Honestly, I'm normally very anti OLN, I think their bull roping and fishing programming is useless. completely without value. in short-retarded, and for idiots that are retarded and like retarded programming. not to mention the silly RV programming. do RV's need a show? no. that said, they've done a service to anyone that's actually a fan of cycling by offering the AM with phil and paul and several other incarnations of the feed to appeal to differing levels of fans. just pick one, watch it and shut up. or watch several and have fun laughing at trautwig and appreciate bobke for the god that he is. morons.


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## TryingNotToGetDropped (Jan 2, 2003)

*The commercialism is new this year*

Anyone who thinks that all of the commercialization this year is necessary for OLN to "pay their bills" must not have watched last year; last year, the live coverage was more extensive than this year, there were fewer commercial breaks, especiallly during the mountain stages, there was no AOL keyword, no Trouig, no Expedia --- yet the coverage ws still there on OLN.

Put simply, OLN is simply trying to capitalize on the "Lance is going for 6" craziness and make a few extra bucks. In the process, they are essentially T-ing off their base -- you know, the people who watched the Giro and who will watch the Vuelta (like we did last year) as well as the spring classics, etc., and know what it means when Cunego beats Simoni.

The great thing about cycling is that is not the Lakers, or the Yankees, or the red Rings. But, you would never know it by watching OLN this year.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

*can I get a hallelujah*



freezin_is_the_reason said:


> Anyone remember the bad old days? Not that long ago, Le Tour was limited to 30 min. a day on ESPN2. And quite often, you would tune in only to find that they had bumped it for some PBR event. Is OLN perfect? NO! Is it better than what we used to have? YES? Do the Cutters suck? YES. At least they toned down the shouting, and the segment with Kirsten and the thong panties was nice.


so right on. 2 years ago I was sitting next to my crappy laptop <b>listening</b> to coverage streamed via a crappy 56K pipe. and these jabronis complain about the coverage on OLN. damn kids these days...


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## TryingNotToGetDropped (Jan 2, 2003)

Don't get me wrong, I agree that the other bull riding type shows are useless; BUT, Paul and Phil are now OLN employees; they wear the shirst and plug all the other OLN shows (like today, for instances, Phil gave a quick plug for "The 10 Best Places to Swim with Sharks" with Jaws music playing in the background); all we need is cycling with Phil and Paul, like last year and the year before; all of this other stuff is like going to a Laker game where everything is an add


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

*dude why do you care?*



TryingNotToGetDropped said:


> Don't get me wrong, I agree that the other bull riding type shows are useless; BUT, Paul and Phil are now OLN employees; they wear the shirst and plug all the other OLN shows (like today, for instances, Phil gave a quick plug for "The 10 Best Places to Swim with Sharks" with Jaws music playing in the background); all we need is cycling with Phil and Paul, like last year and the year before; all of this other stuff is like going to a Laker game where everything is an add


you're like the guy at the Neiman's that complains because his pricetag is creased. It's totally benign. at least in my less than humble opinion. I liked bob costas calling nba games even though he pimped NBC's stuff, I like joe morgan and jack bucks MLB game coverage even though they interrupt it with stupid crap ala' shots of sitcom stars watching the game. I like al michaels doing nearly anything.... enjoy what you have, for we shall rarely, if ever, see coverage of this variety again in the US. surely you see that.


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## cyclejim (Mar 31, 2004)

freezin_is_the_reason said:


> Anyone remember the bad old days? Not that long ago, Le Tour was limited to 30 min. a day on ESPN2. And quite often, you would tune in only to find that they had bumped it for some PBR event. Is OLN perfect? NO! Is it better than what we used to have? YES? Do the Cutters suck? YES. At least they toned down the shouting, and the segment with Kirsten and the thong panties was nice.


Kirsten and the thong panties? Damn it figures I miss the best parts of the coverage


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## Ricky2 (Apr 7, 2004)

*OLN is so amateurish *

Oh what it would be like to receive the BBC or Eurosport TV where cycling is an actual sport and not a 2 wheeled circus show!


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## toronto-rider (Aug 16, 2002)

*I don't think so*



Ricky2 said:


> Oh what it would be like to receive the BBC or Eurosport TV where cycling is an actual sport and not a 2 wheeled circus show!


I was lucky enough to go to the Tour last year, before I joined up with the group in France, I was in London for 2 days. On the Eurosport program you would think that David Miller was the only bike rider and they kept plugging UK cycling holidays, bars etc. 
If you think that OLN coverage is to Americanized, you should watch the CDN coverage of the Olympics and compare it to NBC. It's live and CDN actually show other countries competing.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*There are solutions to everything*



toronto-rider said:


> I was lucky enough to go to the Tour last year, before I joined up with the group in France, I was in London for 2 days. On the Eurosport program you would think that David Miller was the only bike rider and they kept plugging UK cycling holidays, bars etc.
> If you think that OLN coverage is to Americanized, you should watch the CDN coverage of the Olympics and compare it to NBC. It's live and CDN actually show other countries competing.


I have read this entire thread and there are a few solutions:

1)Most TV sets are accompanied by a TV remote control device of some sort. On this device is a button marked "MUTE". If you do not like what you are hearing, press the MUTE button

2)Most TV sets have some sort of power switch that allows the user to tuurn the TV ON or OFF. If you do not like what you are watching, you could depress the power button and turn the TV off assuming it was on to begin with.

3)On this same TV, there are usually other stations that can be tuned in other than OLN. So, it is possible to WATCH SOMETHING ELSE and not watch OLN  

4)Call a waaaaambulance. Please, its far better coverage than the 70's in the states I assure you. Yes, Al Trautwig is a freak, but so what? See option 1 above


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Yes, and No.

I caught some of the prime time stuff and they have Al and Bob blabbering through the race instead of Phil and Paul. WTF? That has to rank among the dumbest ideas in the history of TV sports coverage. That's like getting Al Michaels and John Madden to commentate on Olympic gymnastics.

Thankfully, I watch the LIVE coverage in the morning with Phil and Paul and avoid almost all of the nonsense. I recommend you do the same. OLN rocks in the morning. It's all about the race. Watch or tape the live broadcast in the morning. Be happy.

In fairness to OLN, they do no more hype and self-promotion than any network showing the Super Bowl.


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## lnin0 (Apr 8, 2002)

Some of the Best Things about OLN's Coverage

- Frankie Andreu's hard hitting interviews (hey, you remember that one time)
- Cherryl Crow insightfull 4 months of cycling knowledge
- Al Trouig overall ineptness
- Sam Posie's eyebrows
- The Cutters and Hans "no-job" Ray
- Bob Roll's every annoying hand gestures and idiotic comments


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## TryingNotToGetDropped (Jan 2, 2003)

*Amen!!!!!!*



lnin0 said:


> Some of the Best Things about OLN's Coverage
> 
> - Frankie Andreu's hard hitting interviews (hey, you remember that one time)
> - Cherryl Crow insightfull 4 months of cycling knowledge
> ...



AMEN, BROTHER, AMEN!

Cherryl's qualifications? She's making sure LA is "prepped" for his day, if you know what I mean.

The cycling itself is so awesome, they don't need all the trapings they put around it. Give Phil and Paul the call, and would be perfect.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*sure, thats a good idea*



lnin0 said:


> Some of the Best Things about OLN's Coverage
> 
> - Frankie Andreu's hard hitting interviews (hey, you remember that one time)
> - Cherryl Crow insightfull 4 months of cycling knowledge
> ...


1)Bob Roll is spoofing Trautwig. The gestures did not start until this year. Look at the both of them when they are together. I have never laughed so hard on my trainer. Bob Roll is a great rider and was on the team that had the only american Giro winner. The Hampster yeh! His comments on race tactics at the elite level are real and if you listen, you might learn something.

2)Otherwise, if its annoying, watch something else.


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## Mel Erickson (Feb 3, 2004)

*Sorry ladies and gents*

OLN is not aiming at our demographic. They've got a much larger audience to play to, and they know it. We are a very small microcosm of their viewers and don't mean much to them. Their core? Hardly. They're in the business to make money and definitely know how to do that better than any of the "commentators" on this board. I don't see much difference in coverage from past years, just a different flavor. I think the coverage is great, Bobke has some insightful comments and the Sheryl Crowe interviews catch my wife's attention. You might know my wife, the person who could care less about watching cycling but will watch some of the "Lance show" because of all the hype and the comments by people she can really relate too. Now that's who OLN is really after, the casual viewer, because they add new eyes, can be used to attract additional advertisers and bolster ad revenues, which we all know is the real bottom line and reason for even having coverage in the first place. I, for one, am not complaining.


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## 633 (Feb 10, 2004)

Mel has a good point - OLN is playing to newer viewers who come in for the Lance phenomenon, and think Mayo is something you put on a sandwich. 

On another thread, someone was bemoaning Al asking, "Why do these guys break away, anyway? They always seem to get caught." Is that really a stupid question? We spend the first few days of the Tour at my parents' place, and they'd sit down to watch it with us. That's exactly the kind of question they'd ask. Now they're kind of interested, and may turn it on even without us there. Bringing new viewers in is a good thing.


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## VEN (Jul 2, 2003)

*Give OLN a break!*

Yes, the coverage is more commercialized and watered down, but OLN is trying to appeal to a larger market. Be thankful...I still remember the old day...couple hours on the weekend of stuff that happened days ago. If any of the younger folk want's to see what the coverage used to be like buy one of those Greg Lemond highlight tapes, thier you go, 3 weeks of racing in 2hrs. I think I'll take the OLN version. If you don't like the coverage, change the channel.


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## lancefan (Jul 8, 2004)

VEN said:


> Yes, the coverage is more commercialized and watered down, but OLN is trying to appeal to a larger market. Be thankful...I still remember the old day...couple hours on the weekend of stuff that happened days ago. If any of the younger folk want's to see what the coverage used to be like buy one of those Greg Lemond highlight tapes, thier you go, 3 weeks of racing in 2hrs. I think I'll take the OLN version. If you don't like the coverage, change the channel.



I completely agree...they are reaching the larget market. Alot of people in my office just started watching it..and love to only watch the Roadside Show and the Cutters... its funny, it gets to the point... and adds an entertainment value cycling never had before. I praise OLN for their great coverage this year and additions of the Roadside Show w/ the fans' perspective..and those crazy CUTTERS...gives us something to talk about the next day at work..


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## Shockee (Feb 12, 2004)

*TiVo*

Ge TiVo or get out. Commercials? Human interest slob stories? I didn't catch any 

2.5 Hours daily live coverage = heaven. I'll miss it next week when I'm at the roadside watching them whiz by in person, but it' ll be neatly stored on the TiVo harddrive waiting for me to watch in August. Bravo, thank you OLN. (but why no Giro/classics/Vuelta coverage in Canada - argh).


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

*Frankie Andreu is brilliant!!*

I learned something yesterday. I knew that time trial bikes were different. Very light, agile, lots of carbon, funny handle bars, etc. but it wasn't until Andreu's segment yesterday that I learned they must also be peddled, by a cyclist nonetheless. A show of hands from everyone who knew that prior to yesterday's coverage...

Trautwig and Posey lost it with me when they covered Lemond's 89 tour. During the epic final TT, the camera showed a shot of Lemond's wife with sleeping baby and Trautwig says, "baby wont remember a thing, and daddy's coming home as quickly as he can." Then Posey chimes in with, "as he makes this last corner he will be sensing the crowd, he will be sensing the history of the place..." (ya... right!!) followed by "his thoughts will be all his own." Who else would have Lemond's thoughts? Posey was a car racer. It was like watching Brent Mussberger (sp?) cover the World Cup. pain

As for Roll, he knows the sport and his predictions are almost always right, far more often than Phil and Paul. Last year, Roll predicted that Ullrich would finish the stage 19 time trial 11 seconds behind Armstrong, not off the race winner, off of Armstrong. Armstrong was 3rd, just :14 off of David Millar and Ullrich was 4th at :25. Anyway, those who remeber the old days are elated to have the coverage, plugs and all.


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## CraigH (Dec 22, 2003)

Shockee said:


> I'll miss it next week when I'm at the roadside watching them whiz by in person,


Have a great trip!

Make sure you post some pics when you get back.


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## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

*A different knob...*



ttug said:


> 2)Most TV sets have some sort of power switch that allows the user to tuurn the TV ON or OFF. If you do not like what you are watching, you could depress the power button and turn the TV off assuming it was on to begin with.


 I want to turn up the intelligence on my set but the knob marked "brightness" does something completely different.


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## Icefrk13 (Jul 2, 2004)

TryingNotToGetDropped said:


> Is it just me, or does OLN's coverage just stink this year?
> 
> 1) Why is Al Trouig (sp?) involved? Do they need is American accent for dumb American cycling "fans" who are affraid of the English accents? When was the last time he was involved with a major cycling event? Greg Lemond days?
> 2) Why is Chris Charmicheal giving little interview segments which are really commercials for his company CTS?
> ...


This is an easy one. To answer most of the questions it is money. It takes money to bring this much coverage. They need money to cover salaries travel and living ECT. I personally prefer the live coverage so I record it and than just watch it at home. 

Matt


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