WTOV drops NBC Weatherplus and replaces it with RetroTV

[Paradigm]

http://www.wtov9.com/news/18292325/deta ... u&psp=news

[cgarison]

NBC Weather Plus. I have that on NBC10 (WCAU) Comcast HD in Philly and it is such a waste of bandwidth. Not as bad as the local interest stuff they do on WPVI HD (6ABC in Philly).

It is funny. I grew up with WSAZ, WOWK, and WCHS. In Philly I watch FOX29, 6ABC, NBC10, CBS3..... Maybe this is due to the close proximity to NYC. I know ABC and CBS do share lots of resources in Philly and NYC to give statewide coverage of NJ in both markets.

[djMatty]

NBC weather + is being shut down anyways, now that NBC owns The Weather Channel.

[Dave Loudin]

Any NBC affiliates add Universal Sports, yet? O&O WRC added it as a second SD subchannel (rather clumsily, too) after the announced denouement of WeatherPlus but before all the local content was yanked from that channel. I'm guessing that the useless national version will run until all the ad contracts expire.

[cgarison]

Any NBC affiliates add Universal Sports, yet? O&O WRC added it as a second SD subchannel (rather clumsily, too) after the announced denouement of WeatherPlus but before all the local content was yanked from that channel. I'm guessing that the useless national version will run until all the ad contracts expire.

Yes, it is in Philly as of mid December. (I should have checked the channels prior to my last post, but I rarely watch TV other than news or the Discovery family of channels) Universal Sports will throw the Philly Metro Market into a bit of a twist if they offer end to end coverage of the 2009 Tour de France (Lot's of cycling enthusiasts in SE PA), both types of speed skating for the year round audience, plus all the other events like track & field, martial arts, etc.

It is going to be nice to have the equivalent of Wide World of Sports at your fingertips 24/7. And even better that it comes to us in the form of an over the air HD channel. Plus, with next years multiple NASCAR series in question due to sponsorship dollars, this could work out well for NBC which is committed to broadcasting the second half of the 2009 Sprint Cup season.

And as an aside, I have found no compelling reason for HD broadcasts other than the superior quailty of the sports coverage. Football and baseball in 720p/1080i has renewed much of my interest in sports despite the lousy officiating in the NFL and MLB. (I do not think I have seen any 1080p on Comcast, yet.)

[Arp2]

Universal Sports will throw the Philly Metro Market into a bit of a twist if they offer end to end coverage of the 2009 Tour de France (Lot's of cycling enthusiasts in SE PA)....

I believe all road cycling belongs to CBS, run almost entirely on its "Versus" channel. Has something changed?


By the way, there needs to be a lot more curling on TV.
I'm being serious. Curling rocks.
(....as the hackneyed joke goes....)

[cgarison]

No, Versus is the old Outdoor Life Network which turned into OLN and then into Versus and is owned by Comcast.

2009 Tour de France is sewn up by Comcast/Versus, but NBC is trying to pick up coverage of the 2009 Tour de Italy which will be Lance Armstrong's opening race of the 2009 season.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1155-Cycling- ... reg-LeMond

[Arp2]

No, Versus is the old Outdoor Life Network which turned into OLN and then into Versus and is owned by Comcast.

Shoot....you're right. All I could think about as I typed that was the CBS hour-long summary versions of a week's worth of Le Tour stages and the second-run rights to Survivor years ago, so I blew it.

2009 Tour de France is sewn up by Comcast/Versus, but NBC is trying to pick up coverage of the 2009 Tour de Italy which will be Lance Armstrong's opening race of the 2009 season.

Lance is expected to race in Australia next month....

Astana (the team Lance will be on) should race in the American tours in California and Georgia, but it's a relatively large team that can field somewhat different groups of riders for different races. Lance, though being "a" leader of the team (along with Alberto Contador), is supposedly riding for "awareness" of cancer, but he's said he wants to win Le Tour. I don't know....how do you tell a Contador or Levi Leipheimer (both plenty capable of winning races) or even an Andreas Kloden to ride for Lance at this point??

http://www.examiner.com/x-1155-Cycling- ... reg-LeMond

Oh, good grief.

From the article...

With Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen handling most of the responsibilities, it’s been hard to criticize the broadcasts. I consider Liggett and Sherwen as friends and they know the sport and its athletes intimately. The lead duo has been working together for two decades and they’re still “fresh.”

No sport has a better or more appropriate broadcast team. They're awesome and can keep talking for literally six or seven hours.

Bob Roll, Frankie Andreu and more recently Robbie Ventura have added keen insights into the mix.

Conversely, OLN/Versus has had less-than-stellar moments: Al Trautwig comes immediately to mind....

Okay, here's where it gets interesting and debatable. Bob Roll is very good in an unusual (somewhat acquired) sort of way, and, as the article said, Frankie Andreu and Robbie Ventura added keen insights into the mix. The writer mysteriously leaves out new primetime host Craig Hummer, and it's the Al Trautwig / Craig Hummer argument that I'm willing to get into....

Yes, Al got a lot of things wrong, but he sounded great doing it. He made the broadcast sound big and gave it weight. The most serious cyclists and fans -- the P1s of cycling viewers, if you will -- could tell, however, that Al's knowledge of the sport was just enough above the casual viewer to get away with it and get the job done. Away goes Al, and in comes Craig. Craig's pretty young and has one of those higher "voice doesn't matter anymore" voices, but he clearly has a better idea of what's going on, obviously preps his butt off, and has more enthusiasm. He really does put out the "better" product, but the broadcast just doesn't sound as good or have that "big" feel to it that lends itself to making P2s, etc, understand that what they're seeing is a pretty big deal.

...I’d offer Greg LeMond a contract.

The best thing about NBC’s golf coverage is the expertise provided by Johnny Miller. There’s no one better. Miller was among the best in the game and he’s never shy with his educated opinions. If Tiger Woods needs to be criticized, Miller’s the guy who’s not afraid to speak the truth.

Seems to me LeMond would be a perfect fit for a similar role in cycling. He’s among the best in the sport's history and he’s at least as controversial as Miller.

And what could be better than LeMond interviewing Armstrong?

Ohmigosh.

The problem with this idea is that LeMond has that "bitter old man" thing going on in spades. You know...'cause, like, he is. "In my day blah blah blah...These guys these days blah blah blah....they have so much that I didn't have blah blah blah...." Yeah, well, so what? That describes everything...every business, every sport, every life, every guy. So what. So what? Sheesh. Freakin' egotistical grumpy old bastard. You won....you're in the history books....you are still in great shape (for your age), can still ride, and could probably beat 99% of the people in the world (just not the pros and semi-pros, I would guess)...the doping you say you're so against has rapidly been brought under control....what is your freakin' problem??

Listening to him do color would definitely get tune-out old in under a half an hour.

"No" to LeMond....that's a bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD call.


[/cycling jack and rant]

[cgarison]

Astana (the team Lance will be on) should race in the American tours in California and Georgia, but it's a relatively large team that can field somewhat different groups of riders for different races. Lance, though being "a" leader of the team (along with Alberto Contador), is supposedly riding for "awareness" of cancer, but he's said he wants to win Le Tour. I don't know....how do you tell a Contador or Levi Leipheimer (both plenty capable of winning races) or even an Andreas Kloden to ride for Lance at this point??

Since IBM has adopted cycling strategy as their Echelon Project Management Methodology that they package and sell it to gullible, naive corporations, I have learned a bit about this subject. Perhaps Lance is riding the first few rounds as a true team member instead of being pushed out front to be the star of the team and event. He will be ready for the limelight by the time of the Tour de Italy.

I also have to agree with you on Greg LeMond. What a Joke! HA!

[Dr. Loomis]

Any NBC affiliates add Universal Sports, yet? O&O WRC added it as a second SD subchannel (rather clumsily, too) after the announced denouement of WeatherPlus but before all the local content was yanked from that channel. I'm guessing that the useless national version will run until all the ad contracts expire.

The local content on NBC Weather Plus in D.C. seems to come and go these days. I never really watched it much, anyway. I've found WJLA's weather subchannel more useful, with their simulcast of WTOP's audio.

Our cable provider recently picked up WRC's Universal Sports subchannel, and I find myself watching it more than I ever thought I might. Now that they seem to be mostly done replaying stuff from the Beijing Olympics, they've been airing lots of great winter sporting events. World Cup skiing, skeleton, bobsled, luge; international hockey, etc.

[Arp2]

Lance, though being "a" leader of the team (along with Alberto Contador), is supposedly riding for "awareness" of cancer, but he's said he wants to win Le Tour. I don't know....how do you tell a Contador or Levi Leipheimer (both plenty capable of winning races) or even an Andreas Kloden to ride for Lance at this point??

Perhaps Lance is riding the first few rounds as a true team member instead of being pushed out front to be the star of the team and event.

Knowing Lance's reputation as someone who says all the right things but is, in reality, more than just a little bit of a pr___, I have trouble believing that that is what would happen. On the other hand, from an interview,....

Can you talk about the team dynamics?

It’s an interesting dynamic. It’s a very international team. It’s by far the strongest team in the world. Also has the best stage racer in the world on it [Alberto Contador]. So my return, although it made a lot of sense to me and to Johan because of our loyalty to each other, was a little surprising to a great rider like Contador who didn’t expect to be in this position. It’s going to require some discussion and some balance, but I’m committed to riding and following the rules of cycling and supporting the strongest rider, whoever (Astana GM and coach) Johan (Bruyneel) thinks that is. I’ll follow team orders.

Is this the strongest team you’ve ever ridden with?

I think so.

There are like four guys who could win the Tour, right?

Right. That’s why I say that. We have five riders that have been top five in the tour (Armstrong, Contador, Andreas Kloden, Levi Leipheimer, Haimar Zubeldia).

So, theoretically, any five of those could win the Tour?

Theoretically any of them could be very close. And I think, more realistically than theoretically, you could perhaps put three guys on the podium if you did it right.

Be pretty exciting.

Be exciting for us. Not exciting for the race [laughing]. But exciting for us.

Now, that's fascinating. Could that be the goal? Figure out some way to get Contador, Armstrong, and, say, sentimental favorite Leipheimer on the platform 1-2-3?? And, in the process, flip the bird to Le Tour orgainzers for screwing them last year??* There's no doubt they're good, but that good???

The logistics of the sport -- and the (often deservedly) "healthy" egos of the best riders -- would suggest that's impossible and insane to even try, but it's a fun idea and possibly the only way to recognize (and hope to keep) the talent on that team....




*Team Astana was involved -- had riders and what appeared to be a knowing and supporting management/coaching structure -- in the blood doping scandals of 2006 and 2007. The team essentially self-punished and cleaned itself up, changing everything about itself by publicly firing and replacing virtually all of the management and operations personnel and riders. Nevertheless, the entirely-new team, which had reloaded itself with many of the best (and cleanest) riders, was banned from all races organized by the folks who organize Le Tour de France, which, in this case, meant even the race's reigning champion, who had just signed on with the team, would be disqualified from defending his title. The team responded by winning almost every other race in the world in 2008....