Goodbye and good riddance North One

[Daniel]

I don't post on the forums anymore for various reasons, but I thought I'd post this.

Eurosport set to become World Rally Championship promoter as North One's Qatar deal falls through - WRC news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96911)

North One is dead. For god knows how many years they've screwed the WRC over with dismal coverage and now they're finally dead and buried.


Some person North One source said: "It's unbelievable. We have come so close to landing this. The deal was on the table and, believe me, it would have been by far and away the best thing for for us and would have allowed us to further devalue the World Rally Championship for many years to come

When will people realise that these sort of companies go out of business because they do a poor job. This isn't the credit crunch, it's not Islamic militants or even the coriolis effect, this is some people who were rather disconnected from the audience and were making a product that many didn't want and kept on doing it for many years not realising the mistakes they were making.

Together with the ineptitude of the FIA, North One are responsible for the downfall of the WRC and I think with Mini and VW throwing their hats into the ring, we could be in for some good seasons.

Goodbye and good riddance, you won't be missed, don't let the door hit you on the way out etc etc etc.

:wave:

[Mark]

North One also did the ITV F1 coverage.

[Daniel]

North One also did the ITV F1 coverage.

Which woz crap. North One fully deserve to be out of business, the F1 coverage was only watchable when ITV were doing it in the UK because FOM supply the feed. If it were North One doing it there'd be one camera covering the whole circuit.

[MJW]

Only good thing from North One was the timing, splits and stage times. Also the tracking was good, ok that was only for teams but I heared they intended to extend that to the public in 2012

[N.O.T]

North ones coverage was sub par for sure...it is a pity all these people are without a job but you get what you deserve.

I really hope Eurosport lands the deal, the guys there are true professionals and they know how to cover sports.

[jonlint]

Only good thing from North One was the timing, splits and stage times. Also the tracking was good, ok that was only for teams but I heared they intended to extend that to the public in 2012

... which the IRC and many club rallies in Europe do routinely. You can get live times now for even small rallies - IRC and even some smaller rallies have trackers. This is a function of the equipment suppliers not North One in my opinion.

[Donalduck]

I really liked last years IRC coverage on Eurosport, if i can get WRC and IRC on Eurosport this year i would be really happy! i really don't care who is in charge, as long as its good coverage! thats is really what we all want.

[Barreis]

Now we can enjoy WRC in peace.

[Prisoner Monkeys]

When will people realise that these sort of companies go out of business because they do a poor job.
No, they went out of business because Vladimir Antonov got himself arrested and they couldn't find a new investor in time. Antonov bought the company that controlled NOS, and it went into receivership when the London police caught up with him.

[tmx]

Well this Vladimir Antonov thing is the final blow for NorthOne in any case.

I have to agree with Daniels. The shows they put on were really boring, but there were some improvements recently. There were lots of free contents on YouTube which gathered many views, the Power Stage which I liked, and big improvement of onboard footages. But promotion of the actual events are costly. Even most of those YouTube viewers are never going to see the rally and with the lack of free to air, unlike BBC for F1 (not counting OneHD which is Australia). But atleast not as bad compared to "FOM", with races like Istanbul losing millions due to zero promotion by Bernie, and not even allowing F1 footages on YouTube.

I personally feel its more due to the FIA for not giving WRC more attention and the manufacturers to keeping the cost of sport so expensive, simply lack of manufacturers and variety of national drivers.

I'm not excited that EuroSport does it now, especially their previous WRC coverages were boring. But they did do a decent job with their own created IRC series and its live coverages are great. So maybe they'll bring something new for the fans.

I only feel bad for the employees who will lose their job, I hope they can find a new job with the new promoter. I certainly wants to see Becs and Colin around. Also what will happen to wrc.com and youtube.com/wrc and WRC Radio? I hope the new promoter retains those features especially the live splits.

This is funny, a Norwegian tv station asked me to provide a preupload version of Marcus Gronholm funny moments video to them because NorthOne couldn't provide the materials in time. I refused a signed photo of Marcus because stating I did not create the materials which is copyright by NorthOne. I regretted deleting my Youtube account so the video isn't there anymore.

[ShiftingGears]

Looking forward to see what Eurosport can do. Not sad about North One, at all.

[WRCfan]

Good news! Good riddance North One! North One's coverage was the most appalling I have EVER seen of rallying.

I hope Eurosport lands the contract...

[noel157]

Well this Vladimir Antonov thing is the final blow for NorthOne in any case.

I have to agree with Daniels. The shows they put on were really boring, but there were some improvements recently. There were lots of free contents on YouTube which gathered many views, the Power Stage which I liked, and big improvement of onboard footages. But promotion of the actual events are costly. Even most of those YouTube viewers are never going to see the rally and with the lack of free to air, unlike BBC for F1 (not counting OneHD which is Australia). But atleast not as bad compared to "FOM", with races like Istanbul losing millions due to zero promotion by Bernie, and not even allowing F1 footages on YouTube.

I personally feel its more due to the FIA for not giving WRC more attention and the manufacturers to keeping the cost of sport so expensive, simply lack of manufacturers and variety of national drivers.

I'm not excited that EuroSport does it now, especially their previous WRC coverages were boring. But they did do a decent job with their own created IRC series and its live coverages are great. So maybe they'll bring something new for the fans.

I only feel bad for the employees who will lose their job, I hope they can find a new job with the new promoter. I certainly wants to see Becs and Colin around. Also what will happen to wrc.com and youtube.com/wrc and WRC Radio? I hope the new promoter retains those features especially the live splits.

This is funny, a Norwegian tv station asked me to provide a preupload version of Marcus Gronholm funny moments video to them because NorthOne couldn't provide the materials in time. I refused a signed photo of Marcus because stating I did not create the materials which is copyright by NorthOne. I regretted deleting my Youtube account so the video isn't there anymore.

RR was and is run by Crown House Media, owned by Greg Strange, not NOS. Old gravel voice and Bex will be at RMC.

[Allyc85]

I don't post on the forums anymore for various reasons, but I thought I'd post this.

Eurosport set to become World Rally Championship promoter as North One's Qatar deal falls through - WRC news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96911)

North One is dead. For god knows how many years they've screwed the WRC over with dismal coverage and now they're finally dead and buried.



When will people realise that these sort of companies go out of business because they do a poor job. This isn't the credit crunch, it's not Islamic militants or even the coriolis effect, this is some people who were rather disconnected from the audience and were making a product that many didn't want and kept on doing it for many years not realising the mistakes they were making.

Together with the ineptitude of the FIA, North One are responsible for the downfall of the WRC and I think with Mini and VW throwing their hats into the ring, we could be in for some good seasons.

Goodbye and good riddance, you won't be missed, don't let the door hit you on the way out etc etc etc.

:wave:

Amen to that, cant add any more really!

[rv65]

I wonder what the US coverage will be like. Probably a tape delayed highlights show.

[satnav]

I just wonder when we are watching some tennis match between two uknown's and the bit flashing across the top of the screen saying the rally has been delayed (and then postponed) because the tennis has overran will everyone still think that Eurosport is the best , i think we'll wait and see how this plans out and maybe the FIA will come up with a statement before the season is over never mind started .

[Barreis]

Thanks NOS that you died.

[Jake Stephens]

I think this can only be good for WRC, nothing was going to change very much with NOS at the helm anyway.

[MJW]

I have noticed that on the main two social media outlets there is a campaign to keep Julian Porter in WRC. Now for one I like him and I think Jules 'the guru" as he is called and he does a good job. I just wonder if morally the media types who post on the social networks are abusing their power to keep their friends who have flown around the world, stayed in rally HQ, for 11 years in a job? Not that I think it will influence Jean Todt and FIA one bit! - I just wondered why there wasn't such a campaign to keep all those Ralliart, Subaru World Rally team, Suzuki Rally Team and latterly Petter Solberg World Rally Team personnel that lost their jobs in WRC. Don't get me wrong, I honestly feel really sorry for those who have lost their jobs in NOS, but they are not the first to have lost them. Also I think that NOS have had it good for a while, its been more than once during the last 11 years that 'financial rescue' was needed, it wasnt called North One last time it needed rescuing, and also where was the due diligence when Antonov invested? After all it was only months ago he invested, and IF the allegations of dirty money etc are true, well questions should be asked of NOS senior management. FIA may well have taken the 'once bitten' view and viewed this as an opportunity to re-start.

[Prisoner Monkeys]

Well this Vladimir Antonov thing is the final blow for NorthOne in any case.
It was in Antonov's interests to keep NOS afloat.

It appears his m.o. was to acquire high-profile investments, like Convers Sports Initiatives. He also bankrolled Genii Capital's purcahse of Renault F1, and bought into Spyker Cars and Portsmouth FC. He used these investments to give his bank, SNORAS, credibility in Lithuania. He then used his position to strip assets from local businesses that he loaned money to - deliberately under-valuing them, then giving them loans that they could not pay back, collecting the colalteral on them and then selling it off at a much higer price than he had originally valued them at. Antonov needed all of his investments, including NOS, to garner credibility in the Baltic states.

[grugsticles]

A bit off topic guess but, I do remember enjoying the commentary of the presenter who did the coverage around 1999 and 2000. I dont know who he was, but he had a strange british? accent and seemed to looooove saying Carlos Sainz's name.

Anyone remember who Im thinking of?

[bennizw]

Tiff Needell?

[gloomyDAY]

Does this mean that Paul King will no longer commentate on the WRC? :hot:

Maybe I can actually watch a rally again with some enjoyment. I hate listening to that patronizing moron. Ban me, don't care, but that guy's commentary was probably one of the biggest turn offs of North One's WRC coverage.

[I am evil Homer]

It's sad that 40 odd people will probably lose their jobs because their new CEO is a crook and fraudster.

But maybe, just maybe this is the start of decent WRC coverage...i'd prefer a live internet stream plus some sort of televised highlights package

[dcr22B]

Anyone remember who Im thinking of?

Mark James?

[I am evil Homer]

Tony Mason?

[Sardalense]

Martin Heaven?

[rallyfiend]

Phil Tabor?

[Jake Stephens]

It has to be Mark James. I think he still does the Wales Rally GB coverage on BBC.

[grugsticles]

Defiantly not Tiff, could pick his voice out of a pack of screaming mad men. Almost as distinguished as the voice of Jeremy Clarkson.

Im assuming this is the voice of Mark James?
Rally Finland 1996 (Part 1 of 2) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ai4wRywdd8)
Nope, not him.

Tony Mason? Short stubby bloke?
Pretty sure I know his voice too. He used to do some cometary more around the early 90's, right?


AHHH, Its this bloke!
WRC Highlights: Cyprus 2001: 52 Minutes - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROXTiEC83MU)

[grugsticles]

Defiantly not Tiff, could pick his voice out of a pack of screaming mad men. Almost as distinguished as the voice of Jeremy Clarkson.

Im assuming this is the voice of Mark James?
Rally Finland 1996 (Part 1 of 2) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ai4wRywdd8)
Nope, not him.

Tony Mason? Short stubby bloke?
Pretty sure I know his voice too. He used to do some cometary more around the early 90's, right?


AHHH, Its this bloke!
WRC Highlights: Cyprus 2001: 52 Minutes - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROXTiEC83MU)

[milly]

Defiantly not Tiff, could pick his voice out of a pack of screaming mad men. Almost as distinguished as the voice of Jeremy Clarkson.

Im assuming this is the voice of Mark James?
Rally Finland 1996 (Part 1 of 2) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ai4wRywdd8)
Nope, not him.

Tony Mason? Short stubby bloke?
Pretty sure I know his voice too. He used to do some cometary more around the early 90's, right?


AHHH, Its this bloke!
WRC Highlights: Cyprus 2001: 52 Minutes - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROXTiEC83MU)

It's Jeremy Hart.

[MrJan]

It's Jeremy Hart.

Was going to say that it was probably one of the lot that were involved when Channel 4 were doing coverage. I taped the whole season back then, when they were doing a show each night and a round up for every event. It was exciting that rallying was getting decent coverage on a FTV channel...but then they pushed it to middle of the night stuff and then it slipped to ITV before ending up on Dave. Basically it was a slow slump since it left the Beeb.

[Mark]

Who even owns wrc.com? The whois results don't give anything away.

[AndyRAC]

Who even owns wrc.com? The whois results don't give anything away.

Not sure, but I would think it is NOS, and they probably own quite a lot of the WRC infrastructure.

[Mark]

If that's the case wrc.com might remain dormant for some time.

[MJW]

If that's the case wrc.com might remain dormant for some time.
I have already deleted wrc.com app from my phone and removed it from my bookmarked sites on the computer.

[Jake Stephens]

Was going to say that it was probably one of the lot that were involved when Channel 4 were doing coverage. I taped the whole season back then, when they were doing a show each night and a round up for every event. It was exciting that rallying was getting decent coverage on a FTV channel...but then they pushed it to middle of the night stuff and then it slipped to ITV before ending up on Dave. Basically it was a slow slump since it left the Beeb.

Don't suppose you fancy uploading some of that on YouTube? :) Used to love the opening theme music on Channel 4.

[MrJan]

Don't suppose you fancy uploading some of that on YouTube? :) Used to love the opening theme music on Channel 4.

Sorry, don't have the equipment or know-how (or inclination). I keep meaning to watch some of it back but never really get round to it, also the regular appearances of Colin, Richard and Beef mean that it will always be tinged with a degree of sadness for me.

[tfp]

I have already deleted wrc.com app from my phone and removed it from my bookmarked sites on the computer.

Irally is your friend :)

[Jake Stephens]

Sorry, don't have the equipment or know-how (or inclination). I keep meaning to watch some of it back but never really get round to it, also the regular appearances of Colin, Richard and Beef mean that it will always be tinged with a degree of sadness for me.

No worries man, it's nice footage to have.

[Prisoner Monkeys]

Who even owns wrc.com? The whois results don't give anything away.
Going by the 2012 Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_World_Rally_Championship_season), which references WRC.com as a source, the website is published by International Sportsworld Communicators, which - going by their Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Sportsworld_Communicators) - was renamed North One Sport in 2010

[MJW]

Irally is your friend :)

Very true - IRally is great and I would recommend it to anyone who can have it, biggest failure with it is that it is an App, suitable for smartphones and tablets but I cant det in on my computer.

[Mark]

Going by the 2012 Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_World_Rally_Championship_season), which references WRC.com as a source, the website is published by International Sportsworld Communicators, which - going by their Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Sportsworld_Communicators) - was renamed North One Sport in 2010

We know that North One runs the site, the question is who ows the domain name itself, if it's the FIA for example they can just reassign it to another company who can do a new wrc.com site, if it's North One, then it's owned by the administrators which generally means delay, delay, delay.

Now if the FIA (or other organsier) wants a rally site this year it might be easier for them to start another one on a new domain if wrc.com is to remain unavailable for an extended period.

[Mark]

Just did a proper whois on it:

Registrant:
North One Sport
Mayward House
46-52 Pentonville Road
London, London N1 9HF
GB

That's a problem then, the owner is North One Sport, hence now the administrators, nobody is getting their hands on it any time soon.

[Barreis]

Let we all hope this will be sorted as soon as possible.

[6789]

Just did a proper whois on it:

Registrant:
North One Sport
Mayward House
46-52 Pentonville Road
London, London N1 9HF
GB

That's a problem then, the owner is North One Sport, hence now the administrators, nobody is getting their hands on it any time soon.

That's the biggest stuff up by the FIA. I guess they assumed the company with the rights would never go into administration but would only be sold onwards. Even if the FIA has some clause where they have the rights to the domain, it's not going to be a fast process just like they said. If the FIA doesn't have the right somehow, the domain could end up at auction I guess.

[MJW]

Simple solution would be a new website FIAWRC.com

[Mirek]

Yes, that domain looks free. It would also have a good relation to already existing fiawtcc.com.

[vkangas]

Actually FIA has registered that domain (fiawrc.com) already in 2010 :)

[Allyc85]

I probably should be able to believe this.... but I cant!

Loeb unfazed by loss of promoter North One Sport - WRC news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97068)

How the hell did NOS not get good coverage in France?!

[AndyRAC]

I probably should be able to believe this.... but I cant!

Loeb unfazed by loss of promoter North One Sport - WRC news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97068)

How the hell did NOS not get good coverage in France?!

I imagine they probably charged too much for the coverage.....

[RAS007]

I thought the Eurosport coverage at the end of Day 1 was good; compared to the utter, utter drivel we have had to put up with from NOS and Paul King for the last decade or more, it was excellent.

Good riddance to North One indeed.

[makinen_fan]

WRC.com website is still running. I though that it was run by NOS. does anyone have any clue about who is updating? i cant beleive NOS bother to that, since it is in administration

[Francis44]

Much better now with Eurosport. Here in Portugal, in order to see the coverage last year, you had to pay for cable tv ( about 40 euros) and then shell out more 30 euros for the SportTV channel.

Now I can see it in HD on Eurosport, which was fine until I read that David Richards was unhappy with them, Why? Because he said it dosen't benefit viewers from the UK, because now the coverage goes live in a closed channel. Well Richard there is a much bigger picture here, tehre are more regions involved you know.

[Alpha]

I thought the Eurosport coverage at the end of Day 1 was good; compared to the utter, utter drivel we have had to put up with from NOS and Paul King for the last decade or more, it was excellent.

Good riddance to North One indeed.

Are you on drugs?!
I like Julian Porter, I really do, but there were a LOT of missteps in the first day coverage. Not sure if he was nervous or had to little time to prepare. I hope it gets better, but day one was pretty bad, and way below Eurosport standard.

Bring back the champ: Paul King!

[GigiGalliNo1]

WRC.com is working... updates!

[rallyfiend]

Are you on drugs?!
I like Julian Porter, I really do, but there were a LOT of missteps in the first day coverage. Not sure if he was nervous or had to little time to prepare. I hope it gets better, but day one was pretty bad, and way below Eurosport standard.

Bring back the champ: Paul King!

I agree. I thought it was awful.

Very amateurish.

[RAS007]

Are you on drugs?!
I like Julian Porter, I really do, but there were a LOT of missteps in the first day coverage. Not sure if he was nervous or had to little time to prepare. I hope it gets better, but day one was pretty bad, and way below Eurosport standard.

Bring back the champ: Paul King!

Of course there were missteps, it was the first WRC coverage by Eurosport, and they didn't exactly have much time to prepare. I didn't say I thought the Eurosport coverage was amazing, but I thought it was much, much better than Paul King doing pretend "live commentary" over recorded footage of cars coming over the flying finish of a stage.

[makinen_fan]

eurosport coverage was ok given the time they had to prepare for it. i was impressed that they even had onboard and heli cams, with only a week or so notice... the comentary needs quite a lot of work and some sound problems need to be resolved (service footage and no sound and no comentary, what was that?)

hopefully they will improve day by day

[OldF]

Shouldn’t we be happy that we have at least some kind of coverage. What is good or what is not so good is much a personal opinion.

[Forest 20]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Motors TV. They are carrying exactly the same broadcast as Eurosport even down to the same commentator (at least last night) unlike last year. And it's FTV in the UK on Sky.

[bubbaontour]

After nearly 2 weeks working on monte I have got back to banbury to sit down and watch the car i spend my life building and looking after storm to 2nd overall.

Day 1 was very eventfull for us and i have been looking forward to watching it all week and guess what i have got to watch on my sky box............

SNOOKER

F**king briliant

Thanks Eurosport

[RS]

After nearly 2 weeks working on monte I have got back to banbury to sit down and watch the car i spend my life building and looking after storm to 2nd overall.

Day 1 was very eventfull for us and i have been looking forward to watching it all week and guess what i have got to watch on my sky box............

SNOOKER

F**king briliant

Thanks Eurosport

I thought only day one coverage was late?

Anyhow, to all people who make this criticism, how would you feel if there were live stages shown from Monte and they cut them off early to show recorded highlights of snooker...

[MrJan]

After nearly 2 weeks working on monte I have got back to banbury to sit down and watch the car i spend my life building and looking after storm to 2nd overall.

Day 1 was very eventfull for us and i have been looking forward to watching it all week and guess what i have got to watch on my sky box............

SNOOKER

F**king briliant

Thanks Eurosport

Get on Youtube and search "WRC day [whatever]" and sort by upload date. Shouldn't be too tough to find what you're after :up:

[tfp]

After nearly 2 weeks working on monte I have got back to banbury to sit down and watch the car i spend my life building and looking after storm to 2nd overall.

Day 1 was very eventfull for us and i have been looking forward to watching it all week and guess what i have got to watch on my sky box............

SNOOKER

F**king briliant

Thanks Eurosport

What a load of balls. ;)

[bubbaontour]

I thought only day one coverage was late?

Anyhow, to all people who make this criticism, how would you feel if there were live stages shown from Monte and they cut them off early to show recorded highlights of snooker...

i wouldn't care because anything based around a LIVE broadcast involves ALIVE viewer's who can pick up the remote and change the fecking channel to carry on watching there LIVE broadcast. i wouldn't sit through hours of footage after the rally.. im there, i know what happened. i just want to see the good suff.

and whilst im on the subject the box that keeps popping up advertising f**ing football is super annoying

and yes it was only the first day that got completely cut but thats one day too meny! The end of the last day was missing because someone playing tennis hit the other bloke playing tennis with the ball.. and then the bloke that got hit with the tennis ball wouldn't shake his hand... then people had to sit there talking about it 5 minutes into the time slot for WRC well boo hoo but i couldn't care less! the sky box is king these days! ether stop overrunning everything or just put it it on watch when you want internet. end of story.

[RS]

i wouldn't care because anything based around a LIVE broadcast involves ALIVE viewer's who can pick up the remote and change the fecking channel to carry on watching there LIVE broadcast. i wouldn't sit through hours of footage after the rally.. im there, i know what happened. i just want to see the good suff.

and whilst im on the subject the box that keeps popping up advertising f**ing football is super annoying

and yes it was only the first day that got completely cut but thats one day too meny! The end of the last day was missing because someone playing tennis hit the other bloke playing tennis with the ball.. and then the bloke that got hit with the tennis ball wouldn't shake his hand... then people had to sit there talking about it 5 minutes into the time slot for WRC well boo hoo but i couldn't care less! the sky box is king these days! ether stop overrunning everything or just put it it on watch when you want internet. end of story.

Next time tape Motors TV, if you can put up with the fuzziness!

[bubbaontour]

Next time tape Motors TV, if you can put up with the fuzziness!

No, if thats when they say its going to be on thats when it should be on!

[Leon]

i wouldn't care because anything based around a LIVE broadcast involves ALIVE viewer's who can pick up the remote and change the fecking channel to carry on watching there LIVE broadcast. i wouldn't sit through hours of footage after the rally.. im there, i know what happened. i just want to see the good suff.

and whilst im on the subject the box that keeps popping up advertising f**ing football is super annoying

and yes it was only the first day that got completely cut but thats one day too meny! The end of the last day was missing because someone playing tennis hit the other bloke playing tennis with the ball.. and then the bloke that got hit with the tennis ball wouldn't shake his hand... then people had to sit there talking about it 5 minutes into the time slot for WRC well boo hoo but i couldn't care less! the sky box is king these days! ether stop overrunning everything or just put it it on watch when you want internet. end of story.

I can totally understand your feelings. I felt the same sh@t during rally Finland 1999 when Eurosport was supposed to cover live the last stage of the event (3-2-1 points for the first three) and all we got was a looooong delay due to ping pong or snooker I think, and then a mere 20 min recorded coverage of the stage.

[GigiGalliNo1]

You need to find something online to get... Day 1 yes, Day 2 yes... Every round and day can be found online ;)

[Livewireshock]

Maybe the FIA can apply for a new Top Level Domain. It would be possible that by the end of the year a .RALLY could exist or better for the organisation a .FIA, so in the future we could go to www . WRC . fia or www . motoring . fia

Note:- Extra spaces included to stop the forum thinking they are exisiting websites.

[nashid_ashraf]

I don't want to talk about the live stages or anything, but I absolutely loved the NOS coverage. Paul King was a brilliant commentator and the power stage coverage coupled with Julian Porter made even more mouth-watering.

For me, Carlton Kirby is a big letdown after listening to Paul King's commentary for such a long time. The fundamentals of the coverage were also ****.

No split times, no virtual simulator (Simulcam is brilliant, but without split times, doesn't amount to much), no footage of the flying finishes (which gave comparative times of multiple drivers), no leaderboard after each stage, Carlton Kirby announcing the winner of the stage while footage of the first car on the stage is being aired (what the f***), loooong highlights of the previous days (amounting to a whopping 15-16 minutes in a 30 minutes show).........

I'm disgusted, absolutely DISGUSTED with Eurosport's coverage. They least they can do is hire Paul King. Then they could do some work with the format that NOS used to work with. Paul King, being a scriptwriter for the daily highlights in NOS, will be an immense help.

Fingers Crossed

Nashid

[RS]

I don't want to talk about the live stages or anything, but I absolutely loved the NOS coverage. Paul King was a brilliant commentator and the power stage coverage coupled with Julian Porter made even more mouth-watering.

For me, Carlton Kirby is a big letdown after listening to Paul King's commentary for such a long time. The fundamentals of the coverage were also ****.

No split times, no virtual simulator (Simulcam is brilliant, but without split times, doesn't amount to much), no footage of the flying finishes (which gave comparative times of multiple drivers), no leaderboard after each stage, Carlton Kirby announcing the winner of the stage while footage of the first car on the stage is being aired (what the f***), loooong highlights of the previous days (amounting to a whopping 15-16 minutes in a 30 minutes show).........

I'm disgusted, absolutely DISGUSTED with Eurosport's coverage. They least they can do is hire Paul King. Then they could do some work with the format that NOS used to work with. Paul King, being a scriptwriter for the daily highlights in NOS, will be an immense help.

Fingers Crossed

Nashid

For the first time I am going to take after N.O.T. and simply say, LOL.

[Franky]

For the first time I am going to take after N.O.T. and simply say, LOL.

Come on. It's enough that there's one guy on here like that, no need for another one.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and your comment shows no respect for that opinion. That kind of a reaction is narrow minded and childish.

[Jake Stephens]

I don't want to talk about the live stages or anything, but I absolutely loved the NOS coverage. Paul King was a brilliant commentator and the power stage coverage coupled with Julian Porter made even more mouth-watering.

For me, Carlton Kirby is a big letdown after listening to Paul King's commentary for such a long time. The fundamentals of the coverage were also ****.

No split times, no virtual simulator (Simulcam is brilliant, but without split times, doesn't amount to much), no footage of the flying finishes (which gave comparative times of multiple drivers), no leaderboard after each stage, Carlton Kirby announcing the winner of the stage while footage of the first car on the stage is being aired (what the f***), loooong highlights of the previous days (amounting to a whopping 15-16 minutes in a 30 minutes show).........

I'm disgusted, absolutely DISGUSTED with Eurosport's coverage. They least they can do is hire Paul King. Then they could do some work with the format that NOS used to work with. Paul King, being a scriptwriter for the daily highlights in NOS, will be an immense help.

Fingers Crossed

Nashid

Hi Paul :)

[bluuford]

I can totally understand your feelings. I felt the same sh@t during rally Finland 1999 when Eurosport was supposed to cover live the last stage of the event (3-2-1 points for the first three) and all we got was a looooong delay due to ping pong or snooker I think, and then a mere 20 min recorded coverage of the stage.
Nowadays there is Eurosport player and with very low cost you can watch it. And they have many additional channels there. It was possible to look even the eye on the sky between stages when the helicopter was flying across the stages and hills during rally Scotland. And it was in special channel that was named "Rally of Scotland" or smth. The cost of Europsort Player is not too much for hardcore rallyfan and normal viewer does not mind when they can see the whole action in more concentrated coverage a little bit later in TV.

[RS]

Come on. It's enough that there's one guy on here like that, no need for another one.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and your comment shows no respect for that opinion. That kind of a reaction is narrow minded and childish.

Sorry.. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion and Paul King must have a few fans out there but my opinion and I think that of many others is that I don't want Paul King back. I want to see a daily rally report, not a comedy show. The post I was referring to sounds very much like a plant from NOS, maybe reviving WRC.COM is a desperate bid to cling on to the promoters rights too.

An article in Autocar magazine today pointed out that NOS have presided over WRC at a time in which UK viewers for WRC events have fallen from around 2 million to 10,000.

[nashid_ashraf]

Sorry.. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion and Paul King must have a few fans out there but my opinion and I think that of many others is that I don't want Paul King back. I want to see a daily rally report, not a comedy show. The post I was referring to sounds very much like a plant from NOS, maybe reviving WRC.COM is a desperate bid to cling on to the promoters rights too.

An article in Autocar magazine today pointed out that NOS have presided over WRC at a time in which UK viewers for WRC events have fallen from around 2 million to 10,000.

For me, the main problem with the Eurosport coverage is that the coverage is quite boring. Most of the results are announced before the actual footage is shown. I know that it's quite difficult to get live footage and that's precisely the reason why I liked the NOS footage. They made something that's not live appear pretty interesting. For this reason, I never looked up the results on the internet and the NOS coverage gave me a perfect opportunity to watch this as live.

I can't think of the NOS coverage or the Paul King commentary as comedy under any circumstance.

Nashid

[makinen_fan]

For me, the main problem with the Eurosport coverage is that the coverage is quite boring. Most of the results are announced before the actual footage is shown. I know that it's quite difficult to get live footage and that's precisely the reason why I liked the NOS footage. They made something that's not live appear pretty interesting. For this reason, I never looked up the results on the internet and the NOS coverage gave me a perfect opportunity to watch this as live.

I can't think of the NOS coverage or the Paul King commentary as comedy under any circumstance.

Nashid

In my view, what NOS was doing was nonsense. The majority (if not everyone) watching the review already knew the results. I personally follow the rally very closely using internet, and by the time I watch the review I already know every detail what happened during the event. There is no point in listening to Paul King being surprised that a certain driver crashed his car... i already know that, just show me what happened, that's what I am interested to see.

Also another thing I couldn't stand in NOS coverage was the virtual spectator, what nonsense. If I remember correctly it began by an application to follow the rally live in early 00s, and you had to pay for it. Then the used it to show that thing in TV with graphics dating a decade ago... look at what graphics BBC is using for F1. Thing like these show the NOS commitment and competence to promote the sport, they promised so much over the years, and they fulfilled nothing of those promises.

Part of me is happy that NOS is no longer an 'obstacle' in the development of world rallying and hopefully Eurosport will deliver something we all wanted these years.

[cali]

Don't forget that Eurosport did Monte coverage in a very short notice, hence the lack of some features. Also S1T couldn't provide their timing service - no split times etc.

Now, Eurosport please install those onboard cameras we have seen in Mads Ostberg testing videos and everything will be great!

[Franky]

An article in Autocar magazine today pointed out that NOS have presided over WRC at a time in which UK viewers for WRC events have fallen from around 2 million to 10,000.

I think you are wrong there. How much coverage has there been in the British press about WRC (since the ITV days)? If it is quite a small amount, then your point isn't valid. The reason in that case is that there is a general lack of interest in GB (from the media companies). For last few years in the Estonian press rally has had only small bulletins, now with the rise of Tänak the amount of press coverage has increased. I guess the decline in ratings is because there isn't a British driver who'd challenge for wins/podiums -> media companies predict a severe decrease in ratings because of that and don't renew/invest in the contract -> then a channel like ESPN buys the viewing rights and we've got the 10 000 viewers.


In my view, what NOS was doing was nonsense. The majority (if not everyone) watching the review already knew the results. I personally follow the rally very closely using internet, and by the time I watch the review I already know every detail what happened during the event. There is no point in listening to Paul King being surprised that a certain driver crashed his car... i already know that, just show me what happened, that's what I am interested to see.

No offense, but die hard rally fans are a minority. I'll bring you an example and explain why you are wrong. "Who wants to be a millionaire?" is one TV format that has been sold to numerous countries and over 100 different nations have seen the show. Every time a new player starts to play, the host explains the rules. Even if there are 4 different players in the same episode they still repeat the rules. Here's why. There is a very simple principle when it comes to TV; Keep it simple and stupid, meaning you repeat the rules because you can't expect all the viewers to know it (kind of 'the viewers are stupid' approach). If you don't do that then it is likely that the person, who tunes in later and isn't a die hard fan, won't understand what he or she is watching or what's going on.

And about the NOS approach. One friend, who is also a die hard rally fan, can't follow the rally on the internet, so he watches the reviews and for those people the NOS approach is far better because it is structured better.


Also another thing I couldn't stand in NOS coverage was the virtual spectator, what nonsense. If I remember correctly it began by an application to follow the rally live in early 00s, and you had to pay for it. Then the used it to show that thing in TV with graphics dating a decade ago...

That's something that I agree with.

[MrJan]

For me, the main problem with the Eurosport coverage is that the coverage is quite boring. Most of the results are announced before the actual footage is shown. I know that it's quite difficult to get live footage and that's precisely the reason why I liked the NOS footage. They made something that's not live appear pretty interesting. For this reason, I never looked up the results on the internet and the NOS coverage gave me a perfect opportunity to watch this as live.

The 'as live' style of presenting of NOS made me want to throw a brick at the telly. Everyone watching knew that the commentator already knew the result, so when he feigned "oh, he's off" it just sounded false. I always considered it a complete joke. I rarely follow any rally while it's ongoing, generally catching up with the whole event during the following week (just watch all the highlights in one go on YouTube), but I would far rather watch a round up akin to Eurosport than the trash that NOS peddled.

The Eurosport coverage still has a long way to go though. I was delighted not to have Virtual Spectator and I loved the Simulcam thing, but the commentary was wooden and amateurish at times, the Simulcam thing was perhaps overused (the music was also crap and there is no way that it's needed when rounding up the previous day). I'd also like to see more SWRC/PWRC footage instead of so much time re-viewing the previous day...but on the plus side they didn't show hours of footage of Matt Wilson just for being British. I'm interested in British/Irish drivers, but only promising ones like Meeke and Breen, that may actually win a rally at some point.

[fatshaft]

Long time Rally (and motosport) fan, and having just watched the new Motors TV coverage from Monte Carlo, colour me disgusted to such an extent I searched for and signed up here. I presume these North One chappies were the ones behind that terrible nonsense as I couldn;t find a specific posting on it.

Good grief, sort it out WRC before your already paltry viewing figures drop even lower!

[MrJan]

Long time Rally (and motosport) fan, and having just watched the new Motors TV coverage from Monte Carlo, colour me disgusted to such an extent I searched for and signed up here. I presume these North One chappies were the ones behind that terrible nonsense as I couldn;t find a specific posting on it.

Good grief, sort it out WRC before your already paltry viewing figures drop even lower!

Not exactly. North One Sport have been 'promoters' of the sport for the last decade or so. Their parent company went into administration at the beginning of the month, leaving the sport in somewhat of a hole as the season begins with no promoter organised. Subsequently the Monte Carlo highlights were done by a group of people that weren't expecting to be doing them the week before it went out. I don't know about you but I think it's pretty impressive to have coverage at all, bearing in mind that it had to sprout from nothing.

Expect the Sweden coverage to be a bit better, although where we go from there I don't know...

[fatshaft]

Not exactly. North One Sport have been 'promoters' of the sport for the last decade or so. Their parent company went into administration at the beginning of the month, leaving the sport in somewhat of a hole as the season begins with no promoter organised. Subsequently the Monte Carlo highlights were done by a group of people that weren't expecting to be doing them the week before it went out. I don't know about you but I think it's pretty impressive to have coverage at all, bearing in mind that it had to sprout from nothing.

Expect the Sweden coverage to be a bit better, although where we go from there I don't know...Ah right, under the circumstances then, yeah a fair effort.

Promoters eh? Well not following things too well, I'd have to say they must be just about the worst promoters I've ever come across, but I imagine you guys have had that all covered already. :p

[bobby88]

Personally think we should just buy a few Go Pro cams, rig them to the roll cage and grab a few handhelds. Got to be better quality than what we have had ;)