# OLN "Prime Time" SUCKS!



## Greggb (Apr 15, 2002)

Why does OLN have to ruin their "prime time" coverage with Al and Bob doing the commentary?? They are horrible compared to Phil and Paul. I dont understand why they have Phil and Paul do the live coverage and bring in Al and Bob for the prime time coverage. I cant even stand listening to them call a race. There are times when 2 minutes go by and neither say a damn thing. At least with Phil and Paul the commentary is constant and they have intersting things to say. Not to mention they know whats going on during the race. Al and Bob just babble about useless crap. 

Had to vent. Just watched the most epic stage in recent Tour history and I had to suffer through it with those two bozos.


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## footballcat (Jul 8, 2004)

its really bad, they show a commercial every 5 min, then half the time they show no footage and go back to commercial


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## carb850 (Oct 7, 2005)

I'm a huge Bob fan. I enjoy his commentary more than any other, but Al has to go. I think my wife knows more about cycling than him.

What killed me the most was his comment about Rasmussen several stages ago. Al said something along the lines of 'he does not look like a king of the mountain, he is too skinny'. I figure Bob had to do everything he possibly could not to punch Al for being so stupid.


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## rash (Mar 3, 2005)

*tape the live coverage....*



Greggb said:


> Had to vent. Just watched the most epic stage in recent Tour history and I had to suffer through it with those two bozos.


or don't watch at all....read cyclingnews live coverage instead! There's something about commenting on a race when you already know the outcome...you can't help but slip in little "insights" to make yourself sound like you know what your talking about


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## rash (Mar 3, 2005)

*I like the bobke...*



carb850 said:


> I'm a huge Bob fan. I enjoy his commentary more than any other, but Al has to go. I think my wife knows more about cycling than him.


...I do like Bobke's take on things...not your normal perspective. uniquely his own. I don't even mind his "evil hands". He's the John Madden of cycling, without being as bad as John Madden!

I still prefer to hear the race called live in the am though.......plus they still serve bob up in the pre-stage. heck, even al isn't THAT BAD in the pre-stage.


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## Alpedhuez55 (Jun 29, 2005)

I thought that part with a few KM to go was funny. Al doing his Paul Sherwin Accent was a hoot just because he sounded stupid. I loved when Bob said "God Damn" when Dessel crashed. That was classic. 

Don't blame Al & Bob for that. They did not think they were comenting for those couple of minutes. Blame the Audio editor who forgot to switch over to Paul & Phil.

Sure the commercials suck. Not much you can do unless you have Tivo. But the commercials are worse in the live coverage. There are times when the will do three minutes of commercials, one or two minutes of coverage, then three more minutes of commercials in order to get them in before the uninterupted final climb.


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## stevecaz (Feb 25, 2005)

*Commercials pay for all of this*

Those commercial pays for out live coverage and all day repeats. During the live race today, they had a bunch of commercial breaks bunched together so they could go uninteruppted for the last section. Good thinking by the production manager.


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## radioflyer (Jan 2, 2006)

Alpe --

They weren't supposed to go go Phil/Paul, they were supposed to go to commercial break. In fact, you can hear Trout say so just before the awkward silence. We in the broadcast business refer to those as "oh SH%T" moments, because with a live open mic, you never quite know what may be said. I laughed my [email protected]# off at Bobke's "GAWD DAY-UM" when Dessel crashed, and his giddy laughter when Trout was screwing around. It was some of the most candid genuine excitement of the whole Tour for the commentators. They knew they were witnessing something special. Awesome.
:thumbsup: 

Alpedhuez55: I thought that part with a few KM to go was funny. Al doing his Paul Sherwin Accent was a hoot just because he sounded stupid. I loved when Bob said "God Damn" when Dessel crashed. That was classic. 

Don't blame Al & Bob for that. They did not think they were comenting for those couple of minutes. Blame the Audio editor who forgot to switch over to Paul & Phil.

Sure the commercials suck. Not much you can do unless you have Tivo. But the commercials are worse in the live coverage. There are times when the will do three minutes of commercials, one or two minutes of coverage, then three more minutes of commercials in order to get them in before the uninterupted final climb.


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## fletchnj05 (Apr 27, 2005)

The prime coverage does suck for sure. But I remember last year after the tour we were all crying that OLN will drop cycling since Lance was going. With that said I'm happy to see whatever they air.


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## VEN (Jul 2, 2003)

*huge goof-up*

I have worked in television for 20 years. Major goof-up by a tech guy letting Bob's and Al's mic open rather than showing the commerials. Most times it's picked up within second but OLN has such low standards that it lasted for almost 3 minutes. Thankfully know one uttered the f word. Cutting to commercial at the end of Floyd's ride is disgraceful. Just so you know, Al and Bob had NO idea that their commentary was actually going out over the air waves.


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## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

radioflyer said:


> Alpe --
> 
> They weren't supposed to go go Phil/Paul, they were supposed to go to commercial break. In fact, you can hear Trout say so just before the awkward silence. We in the broadcast business refer to those as "oh SH%T" moments, because with a live open mic, you never quite know what may be said. I laughed my [email protected]# off at Bobke's "GAWD DAY-UM" when Dessel crashed, and his giddy laughter when Trout was screwing around. It was some of the most candid genuine excitement of the whole Tour for the commentators. They knew they were witnessing something special. Awesome.
> :thumbsup:


Agreed. Al Troutwig was downright giddy during that open mic session yelling "I cant wait to see them!!!" talking about Phil and Paul. Say what you will about him, he is genuinely INTO cycling and the TdF and this isnt just "another gig" for him. His true passion has come across to the viewer over the last year. Gotta respect that.


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## badder2 (Jun 26, 2006)

Why does OLN even do a prime-time version with different commentary?? I don't have a problem with a different version at night. Editing the chaff from a live show is always a good idea, but why have different commentary. Do they think Joe Sixpack can't understand a couple of limey's??


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## philq76 (Jul 11, 2005)

*This is why God invented Tivo!*

Thank God for Tivo! If I had to listen to entire stage, especially one of such epic proportions like todays, with Bob and Al, I would rather climb the Jeux Plane on fixed gear bike. Even if I can't watch it live, I can just watch the Phil and Paul version. Ain't technology grand? Though it was funny when I flipped on the primetime tonight, just in time for the commercial blunder. Bob is cool, Al can go back to calling Olympic Equestrian events, or wherever he came from.


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## elijahm (Jul 17, 2005)

i think it helps to listen to live coverage on eurosport.com while watching the TV coverage. shouldn't have to do that, i guess, but it makes it better.


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## stihl (Oct 27, 2005)

What a bunch of whiners.

Just be thankful that we are getting this type of cycling covergae right now..


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## sgt_hedgehog (Jun 28, 2004)

Alpedhuez55 said:


> I thought that part with a few KM to go was funny. Al doing his Paul Sherwin Accent was a hoot just because he sounded stupid. I loved when Bob said "God Damn" when Dessel crashed. That was classic.
> 
> Don't blame Al & Bob for that. They did not think they were comenting for those couple of minutes. Blame the Audio editor who forgot to switch over to Paul & Phil.



it was hilarious when they were off the air and Al was like "omygawd i can't wait to see what happens!!" in the kind of voice that he was about to explode with anticipation. yeah, the god damn was frickin awesome too. Bob is a pretty funny guy, and also probably knows as much as Phil and Paul, but has to dumb down a crapload to get to Al's level. granted, Al has gotten better since he started in 04. he can rattle of the names of the riders in the break or the names of the climbs/towns a lot smoother......he still sucks though.


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## Bryan (Sep 19, 2004)

*Not to worry!*

Well you won't have to suffer through this torture much longer. OLN's TDF viewer ratings are down by half compared to last year. I wouldn't be a bit suprised to see very limited coverage within the next 2 years. Let the Americans drop from the GC and we may lose all U.S. television coverage of the TDF.

I like OLN. I Tivo the live show and watch it at night. They have shown the final climbs *COMMERCIAL FREE *for the past few days. Show me one other U.S. channel that does that. You damn sure wont see it on ESPN!


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

their commentary doesn't suck half as much as the lame french feed-even Al feels the need to apologize for it-who the hell is in the French control room deciding which cameras to follow? At the precise moment of any pivotal action, they 1) cut to the current french darling rider who is always out of the action, 2) riders getting shelled off the back, 3) someone between groups that doesn't make any difference. Just show the moves among gc riders..


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## pigpen (Sep 28, 2005)

stihl said:


> What a bunch of whiners.
> 
> Just be thankful that we are getting this type of cycling covergae right now..



exactly what I was thinking.
I got intrested in cycling during the 80's when we got a total of 2 hour (might of been 1 1/2 hours) of coverage a week. Sat and Sun were the only days.

I have not had OLN for the past 7 years and missed all the Lance thing (I sort of consider myself lucky) but I feel dam lucky that I am able to watch this race. Bad comentators or not.

If you don't like it, turn it off.


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## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

stevesbike said:


> their commentary doesn't suck half as much as the lame french feed-even Al feels the need to apologize for it-who the hell is in the French control room deciding which cameras to follow? At the precise moment of any pivotal action, they 1) cut to the current french darling rider who is always out of the action, 2) riders getting shelled off the back, 3) someone between groups that doesn't make any difference. Just show the moves among gc riders..


Hey, at least they stay with riders some of the time. It's the cut to french countryside or bird soaring that gets me.


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## cyclodawg (Jul 1, 2003)

I thought that OLN usually switched to Liggett and Sherwin's commentary during the last kilometers of every stage, even in primetime. I could not believe that, on a stage as monumental as that, in a moment as monumental as that, they'd not cut to two guys who can actually animate race coverage (rather than the usual "Golly, Landis sure looks good in that green and yeller lycra" stuff you get from Troutwig and Bobke). 

Is there any chance OLN might re-run that stage with Ligett and Sherwin's commentary? I was at work and, with Landis apparently out of the race, I didn't TiVo the live morning coverage.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*yes*



stihl said:


> What a bunch of whiners.
> 
> Just be thankful that we are getting this type of cycling covergae right now..


Have to agree. Its time for the hot cup of STFU and watch the crying when they drop the coverage. There are options. Turn it off, go out, etc etc etc


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*well, guess what*



Greggb said:


> Why does OLN have to ruin their "prime time" coverage with Al and Bob doing the commentary?? They are horrible compared to Phil and Paul. I dont understand why they have Phil and Paul do the live coverage and bring in Al and Bob for the prime time coverage. I cant even stand listening to them call a race. There are times when 2 minutes go by and neither say a damn thing. At least with Phil and Paul the commentary is constant and they have intersting things to say. Not to mention they know whats going on during the race. Al and Bob just babble about useless crap.
> 
> Had to vent. Just watched the most epic stage in recent Tour history and I had to suffer through it with those two bozos.


Well, you suck too. In fact, you gargle. Ever try to watchABC's wide world of Sports and have the commentators laugh at men on bikes and spandex. STFU and enjoy what has to be the most complete coverage of a GT ever on TV. Let me guess, you leave Dennys and complain that the meal was not gourmet.....


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## Mocat4 (Jul 7, 2006)

rash said:


> There's something about commenting on a race when you already know the outcome...you can't help but slip in little "insights" to make yourself sound like you know what your talking about


 
Al and Bob are commenting on the race action in real time (live) just like Phil and Paul. I think that was made evident by their comments during the 'open mic' incident, they were reacting to Floyd's perfomance and Dessel's crash as if was the first time they'd seen it because it WAS the first time they'd seen it. All of the interview segments and desk commentary bits are recorded and inserted afterwards but the actual race commentary is recorded live.


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## sgt_hedgehog (Jun 28, 2004)

Those moments with the open mike were great because there was so _little_ commentary. Yeah, Trout's giggles were cool, but it was better to be able to watch the race without all the chatter, for just a few moments. 

What really became obvious was how scripted the rest of the prime time show is- I always thought the desk comments by Trout and the others were just too prescient to be real- they must have known the outcome when those bits were taped, and that can spoil it for those who didnt see it live.


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

*Gmafb*

This thread is the perfect example of how some people will B!tch no matter what! Most of the complainers most likely thing they would do a better job than Al if only the dumbA$$es at OLN were smart enough to hire them.


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## ajoc_prez (Jul 14, 2004)

I think they need to bring back that hot chick from a few years ago...forget what her name was. Atleast she was somewhat nice to look at. :blush2:


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

If you don't like it, you can always wait until CBS shows its 1-hour coverage on Sunday. Personally, I would be happy to see anything at all. Don't get OLN. I have seen their coverage over the past few years, however, and I've got few complaints. I even liked Kirstin Gumm.


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## Dropped (Jan 22, 2003)

I'm glad I live on the west coast -- I can wake up early and watch the entire stage live before going to work. Perfect! No need to watch the watered down "expanded" prime time coverage.


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## Greggb (Apr 15, 2002)

ttug said:


> Well, you suck too. In fact, you gargle. Ever try to watchABC's wide world of Sports and have the commentators laugh at men on bikes and spandex. STFU and enjoy what has to be the most complete coverage of a GT ever on TV. Let me guess, you leave Dennys and complain that the meal was not gourmet.....


Nice comeback dickey. "You suck too?? What are like 12 or something.

I guess you dont inspire to do better or have better. I never understand people who are always satisfied with the status quo. With people like you, we'd still be using horse and buggy for transportation. 

Why would anyone want to have the best coverage possible? I am paying for cable service to see the tour. Anytime I pay for something I expect a certain standard. If that standard isnt there I am not afraid to point it out. Why would you settle for something subpar? Their "Enhanced, primetime" coverage blows, and obviously I am not the only one that thinks that. I think their "live" coverage it great. 

How is anything suppose to improve if people dont point out the obvious.


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## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

OLN screwed up the break away to commercial. I was scratching my head for a while, and did think that overall the evening coverage last night was a bit below what we have seen other nights. I think Trout has been great this year, he has a not so serious approach to it all and appears generally excited. I think he is hooked on the sport, and that is something most of us here can relate to. Hey, this network for one month is pretty much showing nothing but cycling with reruns etc. We should be thankful for that. I do think that as OLN or VS. starts geting more sports cycling will be cut back, I just hope they still cover the TDF live and the spring classics.


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

Greggb said:


> Nice comeback dickey. "You suck too?? What are like 12 or something.
> 
> I guess you dont inspire to do better or have better. I never understand people who are always satisfied with the status quo. With people like you, we'd still be using horse and buggy for transportation.
> 
> ...



Gosh, you got me. Is it possible that as you choose to pay for it, you could choose to cancel the service and find something better. Whoooo brain overload


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## Hollywood (Jan 16, 2003)

*diff'rent spokes...*



coreyb said:


> Hey, at least they stay with riders some of the time. It's the cut to french countryside or bird soaring that gets me.


That "gets you"? So, 3 hours of cranks turning instead?

I'll take scenic shots from a heli-cam any day, any time. The photography has been pretty damn good. I had to upgrade my sat. tv lineup to include OLN and I have no complaints.


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## mikeman (Sep 17, 2005)

Hollywood said:


> That "gets you"? So, 3 hours of cranks turning instead?
> 
> I'll take scenic shots from a heli-cam any day, any time. The photography has been pretty damn good. I had to upgrade my sat. tv lineup to include OLN and I have no complaints.


Maybe he would prefer the TDF be run in a French office park, like an American crit, just so we do not have to see the beautiful shots of the French countryside.


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## danielc (Oct 24, 2002)

*Spoilers*

I've been enjoying the broadcast so far. I usually watch the last half of the 'live' show in the morning with Paul and Phil and watch the 'prime time' coverage at 9pm PST. I do agree that Bob and Al just aren't as good commentators but the 'open' mic the other day was pretty entertaining. I also think that Paul knows more about the race terrain and mentioned the false flat on that epic stage the other day which neither Bob or Al mentioned. 
I still don't understand why OLN airs their ads for the next stage giving away the results of the current stage. Ex. last night they were already mentioning the time trial would be the deciding stage of the tour before Floyd fininshed and the time differences determined. 
Again as so many of you have mentioned, if not for the commercials we wouldn't be getting this much coverage.


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

whenever this thread comes up, half the replies make the John Tesh/CBS move. It's possible to appreciate the fact that OLN does live coverage and still have some critical things to say about the show. And, whatever is said on this forum isn't going to make a hoot of difference about whether OLN picks up or drops future years. The only thing they care about is viewer numbers and whether the show is profitable.

I even think it's kind of funny that Phil has problems with riders with last names starting with the same letter. Leipheimer and Landis, Schleck and Sastre cross him up every time-got so bad a few days ago it screwed up Paul. Plus, when they do the post-race commentary together they sort of look like muppets.


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## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

mikeman said:


> Maybe he would prefer the TDF be run in a French office park, like an American crit, just so we do not have to see the beautiful shots of the French countryside.


That's exactly it!

Or, perhaps, I would prefer to see the cycling I tuned in for. If I want to see the french countryside, I will go there. When I turn on OLN, I intend to watch cycling.


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## cyclodawg (Jul 1, 2003)

If anyone wants to see Paul and Phil's call of the final km of Landis's ride, oln has it online here: http://www.olntv.com/tdf/article/ca...1&cat=&Offset=17&mt=&CatUserDef=true&ss=video.

Notice the two "every second counts" comments, one I think from both guys. Sounds like a nice name for a book. Phil's comment at the end is pretty good: "He gets off his bike like he's been delivering the paper."


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## Mocat4 (Jul 7, 2006)

coreyb said:


> If I want to see the french countryside, I will go there.


And the French Tourism board is hoping you will...
Just as with any major sporting event, the country/city hosting it is doing so partly to exhibit itself as a possible tourist destination to its audience...think of it as a commercial for France.... That's why they're willing to foot the bill along with the event promotors. IMHO, a few shots of some medieval castle during 4 hours of coverage is a small price to pay to keep the race going. They essentially serve the same purpose, but I'd rather look at a castle than another OLN plug for Saab anyday. :thumbsup:


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## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

radioflyer said:


> Alpe --
> 
> They weren't supposed to go go Phil/Paul, they were supposed to go to commercial break. In fact, you can hear Trout say so just before the awkward silence. We in the broadcast business refer to those as "oh SH%T" moments, because with a live open mic, you never quite know what may be said. I laughed my [email protected]# off at Bobke's "GAWD DAY-UM" when Dessel crashed, and his giddy laughter when Trout was screwing around. It was some of the most candid genuine excitement of the whole Tour for the commentators. They knew they were witnessing something special. Awesome.
> :thumbsup:
> ...



I watched both the live and the primetime airings of stage 17. For this stage, I think Bob and Al did a better job of commentary. They seemed to realize the significance of what was going on, and seemed more excited. Bob did a fine job keeping up with the groups and time gaps as the race broke apart near the top of the last climb.


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## elijahm (Jul 17, 2005)

LET IT BE KNOWN.... i hate the BBQ championships.


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## elvisVerde (Jul 17, 2005)

*Yeh, but...*

You should just be happy that you can get BBQ coverage at all! Where else are you gonna get BBQ coverage? From CBS, can you imagine? They would probably cut to the countryside and birds soaring overhead. Jeez. Be glad you got BBQ!!




elijahm said:


> LET IT BE KNOWN.... i hate the BBQ championships.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

On the greatest days of the Tour, don't we have better things to do than whine?

:idea:

francois


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## Bryan (Sep 19, 2004)

coreyb said:


> That's exactly it!
> 
> Or, perhaps, I would prefer to see the cycling I tuned in for. If I want to see the french countryside, I will go there. When I turn on OLN, I intend to watch cycling.


Hey, it could be worse. We could be watching the grossly commercialised "Ford Trucks, Built Tough Tour de France".


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*hey, this is nuts*

Look folks, maybe this old cycling guy has got it wrong but let me try again.

Before OLN we had a few things at ESPN where lets be honest; most of the guys there thought if you wear lycra you are living a **** erotic fantasy. Before that ABC and other treated the TDF as a fringe thing at best. It had scarce if any coverage.

Now, I know I have been less than tactful in this regard but man, I just dont get the complaints. Sure, things could be better but the coverage is phenomenal and if you hate hearing certain parts, mute the fvcking TV. Look, when I train inside, I turn on ther tapes or DVD crank my tunes and train. Its the video and image that tell stories thatv alor of experienced folks here see. The look ion the face of the guy who hits 4 bergs and makes up 7 + minutes. Thats fabulous and its on TV. 

BUT NOOO.It could be better. Yes, it could. It would be better if you shut up and watched coverage that will go the way of the dinosaur once there are no more US winners of the TDF. Anybody else figure that out yet? Yes kids, this is a limited ride. Enjoy it you spoiled bastards.


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## Bryan (Sep 19, 2004)

ttug said:


> shut up and watched coverage that will go the way of the dinosaur once there are no more US winners of the TDF. Anybody else figure that out yet? Yes kids, this is a limited ride. Enjoy it you spoiled bastards.


For the record, I said that first. In this thread. Above. Except I didn't say "shut up" and "spoiled bastards". :aureola: But I agree. Shut up spoiled bastards!


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## surista (Mar 20, 2006)

Bob's commentary is indeed a bit quirky, but it's fresh, and unique; I personally kind of like him. 

Did anyone see Bob talk about how he used to smell this really bad smell after crashes, and he never knew what it was until he crashed once and realized it was the smell of burnt skin from road rash? That's followed by about 5 seconds of dead silence from Al, after which he comments along the lines of 'I don't think I wanted to know that'. Classic stuff.


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## lsthe3 (Jul 15, 2006)

I am extremely grateful to get that much live bike racing coverage. If you think about it golf majors don't even cover 100 percent of the first two rounds.

My only request is that they start calling Ladis....Landis and Liepinheimer..... Liepinheimer. all tour long they were disrespecting Landis by calling him Liepinheimer and then the last few stages when Levi was taking fliers they were calling him Landis! Even today when Levi went off into the crowd to cheer on the peleton they called him Landis


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## Mocat4 (Jul 7, 2006)

lsthe3 said:


> My only request is that they start calling Ladis....Landis and Liepinheimer..... Liepinheimer. all tour long they were disrespecting Landis by calling him Liepinheimer and then the last few stages when Levi was taking fliers they were calling him Landis! Even today when Levi went off into the crowd to cheer on the peleton they called him Landis


 
ahhhh yes, the Liepinheimer Fund, a solid addition to any investment portfolio in these troubling times...

I think the "those in glass houses" clause has to be invoked here....Levi's last name is Leipheimer, nor L*ie*p*in*heimer....if you're going to criticize our beloved Phil and Paul for misidentifying Levi you could at least get the man's name right.


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## lsthe3 (Jul 15, 2006)

Mr. Levi.......If you want to get gramtically correct.didnt you mean"not" instead of "nor"?


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## greensabbath (Jul 23, 2006)

I usually watched both the am and pm coverage of the mountain stages and although Phil and Paul's commentary was more comprehensive (besides them mixing the names up constantly) I also enjoyed Al and Bobke's take on things....well at least Bobke. He has an interesting perspective, having been on the 7/11 team and all that and his weirdness makes it more fun.


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