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Post by ugopher on Dec 13, 2004 15:57:20 GMT -5
ESPN doesn't televise any of the regionals let alone previous tournament matches. They don't televise the national semi-finals live and then put the championship match on ESPN2.
That is bad enough but then you look at their website and the only thing they have on the tournament are basically the scores. No highlights, no links to stats, nothing else.
If they don't want to give volleyball the respect and live coverage it deserves, let someone else have the rights to the matches.
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Post by norwis on Dec 13, 2004 16:02:48 GMT -5
A plus of ESPN2 broadcasting (albeit with tape delayed semi-finals), is that more people can watch it than if CSTV would be the braodcaster. If you have cable or a dish, you get ESPN2. But I agree, it stinks that the semis are tape delayed.
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Post by mookieblaylock on Dec 13, 2004 16:09:14 GMT -5
Perhaps we'll get a fairer shake when ESPNU starts up?
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Post by IdahoBoy on Dec 13, 2004 16:16:00 GMT -5
I can actually see your point, ugopher.
Most likely, in the past I would have said, no, we need national television coverage for our sport, but you make a great point that they do a very crappy job with it.
I have been VERY amazed with the CSTV matches I've seen so far, I love the net camera and they do a good job of filming the action. I haven't really noticed the announcers, which is probably a good thing.
I think what has happened is that NCAA Volleyball people were so starving for national broadcasting at any level that they jumped on what ESPN offered (which wasn't much). I think that even though it's a more limited audience, that CSTV (and even Fox Sports) are doing a very good job at broadcasting the sport, and if they were interested in showing the Final Four, they should be in the midst of the bidding. In fact, I would LOVE to see some kind of cooperation between CSTV and the Fox Sport networks to show vball live over anything ESPN would half-assedly put together!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2004 17:00:19 GMT -5
The WORST thing ESPN does, however, is that they only allot 1.5 hours for the tape delayed matches.
That is such a slap in the face. They have absolutely no good reason to do this.
(And, yes, I know someone has to pay for the extra 1/2 hour.)
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Post by ugopher on Dec 13, 2004 17:06:46 GMT -5
That's a great point. Generally, the most exciting matches go 2 plus hours. Part of the excitement is living each point. But, then again, since the matches are on tape delay everyone probably knows the outcome anyway.
The MN/GT 48-46 game would lose some of the excitement if you already know how it's going to turn out.
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Post by JT on Dec 13, 2004 17:09:16 GMT -5
The MN/GT 48-46 game would lose some of the excitement if you already know how it's going to turn out. Nah.. I keep hoping that it'll turn out different the second time I watch it.  |
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Post by Charlie on Dec 13, 2004 17:11:23 GMT -5
Sigh. I get so tired of reading these complaints about TV networks. Few people understand how it works, so the complaints are off base. (It's understandable that few people know the inner workings of TV, it's not something that is well known.)
When you see volleyball on TV, indoor or beach, someone is paying for the TV time. And, they are paying an independent production company to put together the show, which then airs during the purchased time slot(s). The production company gets the graphics from ESPN, or Fox, etc. and incorporates them into the show.
When the Volleyball Festival is seen on TV, it's not Fox people who produce the show, it's been Brad Fuss and his production company lately (they're quite good). Brad goes out and hires the on-air talent, according to the budget he is given by the Volleyball Festival. The only thing Fox does is give some quality guidelines and then air the show as promised.
Same thing when you see AVP beach volleyball. The AVP tries to do things on the cheap, so they don't hire a production company that is as good as Brad Fuss and his group (they talked, but AVP wouldn't pay his price). So, they get what they pay for.
If you don't like what you're seeing from the NCAA, they're the ones you have to complain about, not ESPN. And if it's on ESPN2, it's because that's what the NCAA is buying (in fact, it's likely that ESPN is not even available to the NCAA, it wasn't available for beach volleyball a few years ago - only ESPN2 and Fox national, and Fox is cheaper).
You folks complain a lot, but you're lucky that someone is stepping up and paying for air time. ESPN and Fox will not put volleyball on the air on their own. They won't take the risk of having to sell the commercials - their sales forces won't hear of it.
Now, here are some ballpark numbers. It costs anywhere from $20K to $30K per event for the production (truck, cameramen, equipment, on-air talent, editors, etc.) and an hour of national air time will run between $40 to $50K. Fox Regionals are quite a bit less - national means ESPN2 or Fox nationally (all Regionals carry the show, at a time determined by the Regional Network). So, a good quality, one-hour show on ESPN2 will likely cost about $80K (again, these are ballpark numbers).
The question you have to ask yourself is, are there enough companies that want to reach the (relatively small) audience of volleyball viewers to the extent that they will pony up $80K for a total of 8 minutes (16 30-second spots) of advertising? The answer is no, as you no doubt guessed. This is why you see a very limited number of volleyball telecasts.
All this applies to ESPN2 and Fox. I don't have any information about CSTV and their business model, but it's still going to cost the same to produce the show, that's pretty much a given. Hopefully CSTV will start getting cable deals done, because that's our best hope of seeing more collegiate volleyball. The best thing to do is write to your local cable company and demand that they provide CSTV as an option, too.
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Post by rayb_14 on Dec 13, 2004 17:19:43 GMT -5
anyone remember when the Championship match was on CBS?
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Post by IdahoBoy on Dec 13, 2004 17:20:34 GMT -5
 I didn't realize that's how it worked. I thought it worked the other way around. Thanks Charlie. So... what volleyball needs is a bigger (richer) fan-base, right? Or, some company that makes enough money to sponsor volleyball for everyone. By the way, I have asked for CSTV at my local cable channel and got the response that "they are looking into it."
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Post by Touch10 on Dec 13, 2004 18:08:54 GMT -5
Let’s not forget ratings. This is all about advertising revenue. The higher the ratings, more companies will be interested in advertising, and the higher ratings yield more advertising dollar per commercial spot. As sad as it is, volleyball has a very small audience and the ratings are infinitesimal.
It is very limited and specialized advertising which can be sold…I would guess they lose money on volleyball or barely break even.
Most the people who watch volleyball are players, ex-players, coaches, ex-coaches, a very limited student body fan base because there is nothing better to do on a Friday or Saturday night and the family members…no one else really cares!
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Post by GopherBob on Dec 13, 2004 18:18:11 GMT -5
ESPN2 is replaying their Dale Earnhardt movie for the 3,042,310th time during the semis. The white trash market obviously supercedes the women's college athletics market.
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Post by silversurfer on Dec 13, 2004 18:19:30 GMT -5
What about what Mookie was saying? Will ESPNU broadcast more matches?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2004 18:23:27 GMT -5
What about what Mookie was saying? Will ESPNU broadcast more matches? No. They will drive CSTV out of business and we'll get more football, more basketball, and more ESPN crap. 1.5 hours v. 2 hours at 1130pm is not that big of a deal. Besides that, they could do a better job of editing if they insist on 1.5 hours. |
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Post by silversurfer on Dec 13, 2004 18:31:59 GMT -5
Well...crap.
There's just no way around this unless volleyball gets much more popular.
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