FIRST Championship: Made for TV?

[mtaman02]

Check with your Cable / Satellite Company to see if they carry the NASA Channel. If they do then ask which channel it's on / If they do carry the channel does it come with your subscription.

For Dish Network (Satellite) NASA TV is on Channel 213

[Josh Goodman]

Check with your Cable / Satellite Company to see if they carry the NASA Channel. If they do then ask which channel it's on / If they do carry the channel does it come with your subscription.

For Dish Network (Satellite) NASA TV is on Channel 213

Thank You

[Nawaid Ladak]

I don't think FIRST knows what the want, neither do you guys, all we know is that we want something else more noticeable than NASA, i mean even on the program it doesn't even mention FIRST.

we will see how the Discovery Channel does with their coverage of GTR, maybe if there is a good audience, we could see the championships, (is it too late for this year...) on the Discovery Family channels, (Discovery, Discovery Kids, Science, Discovery Times, TLC) etc. channels.

wait and see.....

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by FreedomForce

I don't think FIRST knows what the want, neither do you guys, all we know is that we want something else more noticeable than NASA, i mean even on the program it doesn't even mention FIRST.

I've got a pretty good idea of what I'd like to see in the telecasts (see the first post in this thread). I'm very interested in seeing whether Discovery Canada does something like this.

If you've watched the prior year telecasts, sometimes they show close-up action on the field that is not part of the crucial play in the match. The play-by-play announcer is excitingly describing something other than what the viewers are seeing. That's more than just a little distracting - you know you've missed something big. With replays, you can see the action that might be the turning point in the match, maybe even in slow-motion and multiple angles. This is pretty standard for football, basketball, and other sports telecasts. It seems to me that FIRST competitions really need this kind of coverage because action occurs simultaneously all over the field. A wide-angle shot of the whole field might be OK for scouting, but not for general viewership.

I don't understand your statement about "on the program it doesn't even mention FIRST."

The NASA TV schedule lists:

April 13, Friday
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. - FIRST Robotics Championship, Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Public Channel)

April 14, Saturday
9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. - FIRST Robotics Championship, Georgia Dome, Atlanta - GSFC (Public Channel)

If you mean the program guide on Dish Network, DirecTV, or your cable, NASA probably hasn't yet provided that schedule information to the broadcasters.

[mtaman02]

Usually you won't see the upcoming program listing until its a week before its actually aired. I guess the reason behind this is because "Everything is subject to change". Nothing in life happens on a perfectly made schedule, Everything happens on a "To Be Determined" basis & Pre-Recorded Basis. Whatever the case may be its up to the satellite & cable companies to carry the channel and up to the subscriber to ensure they have that channel to be viewed. I'm gonna try and setup my laptop at the hotel to record the NASA broadcast and see how many fields I can record at one time. Hopefully the SDP Program (which acts like a VCR Timer) will allow multiple recordings.

[Nawaid Ladak]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

I've got a pretty good idea of what I'd like to see in the telecasts (see the first post in this thread). I'm very interested in seeing whether Discovery Canada does something like this.

If you've watched the prior year telecasts, sometimes they show close-up action on the field that is not part of the crucial play in the match. The play-by-play announcer is excitingly describing something other than what the viewers are seeing. That's more than just a little distracting - you know you've missed something big. With replays, you can see the action that might be the turning point in the match, maybe even in slow-motion and multiple angles. This is pretty standard for football, basketball, and other sports telecasts. It seems to me that FIRST competitions really need this kind of coverage because action occurs simultaneously all over the field. A wide-angle shot of the whole field might be OK for scouting, but not for general viewership.

I don't understand your statement about "on the program it doesn't even mention FIRST."

The NASA TV schedule lists:

April 13, Friday
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. - FIRST Robotics Championship, Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Public Channel)

April 14, Saturday
9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. - FIRST Robotics Championship, Georgia Dome, Atlanta - GSFC (Public Channel)

If you mean the program guide on Dish Network, DirecTV, or your cable, NASA probably hasn't yet provided that schedule information to the broadcasters.

Referring to last year and this years kickoff, even when i was tuning in, the only thing it said was "Education File" Those come on EVERYDAY, maybe if they bothered changing that listing, i think we could get anouther 1,000-2,000 other people

[KTorak]

I think at least Championships should be televised. You could definitely draw a good viewer base from the thread starters method. You could also make a series where you follow a few times through their whole season, then replay this in the fall in preparation for the upcoming season.

[ahecht]

As other people have mentioned, the real thing that is needed here is better coordination between the play-by-play announcers and the video directors. In a real televised sporting event, the play by play guy can see not only the final TV output, but several other camera shots as well. He then typically choses to describe something which is caught by one of those cameras (or, in the rare occasion that he mentions something not on one of his monitors, he'll very carefully describe exactly where it is happening so that the director can tell one of the camera guys to cover it). The director then choses which shots to cover based primarily on what the announcer is saying.

I've never seen this sort of coordination at a first event.

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by ahecht

As other people have mentioned, the real thing that is needed here is better coordination between the play-by-play announcers and the video directors. In a real televised sporting event, the play by play guy can see not only the final TV output, but several other camera shots as well. He then typically choses to describe something which is caught by one of those cameras (or, in the rare occasion that he mentions something not on one of his monitors, he'll very carefully describe exactly where it is happening so that the director can tell one of the camera guys to cover it). The director then choses which shots to cover based primarily on what the announcer is saying.

I've never seen this sort of coordination at a first event.

Professional football telecasts have the multiple angles, graphical "telestrators", slow motion replays, and play-by-play analysts - all orchestrated by a director. This is not going to happen instantly with FIRST, but moving in that direction can really improve the public's interest in the game. Right now, the games sometimes appear chaotic and the strategic aspects are almost completely lost in the televised coverage. I'm looking forward to the GTR coverage by Discovery Channel Canada to see how they do (and to watch a really great regional)!!

[George A.]

Originally Posted by ahecht

As other people have mentioned, the real thing that is needed here is better coordination between the play-by-play announcers and the video directors. In a real televised sporting event, the play by play guy can see not only the final TV output, but several other camera shots as well. He then typically choses to describe something which is caught by one of those cameras (or, in the rare occasion that he mentions something not on one of his monitors, he'll very carefully describe exactly where it is happening so that the director can tell one of the camera guys to cover it). The director then choses which shots to cover based primarily on what the announcer is saying.

I've never seen this sort of coordination at a first event.

I can see where you're coming from, but speaking from an announcer's standpoint, I don't think it's ever going to happen. Namely because of the way that FIRST differs from sports. In professional sports (whether it be football, baseball hockey...etc) the cameras are fixed on the ball and they move with it.

In foot ball it starts with a wide shot of the two lines, then cuts to the quaterback, follows the ball through the air, and cuts to the wide out that catches it.

In baseball, it starts behind the pitcher, then cuts to the camera that has the angle where the ball will land, and then cuts to a wide view of the action on the field.

The reason the play-by-play syncs so well with the cameras is that there's only one scoring object to follow, and only a certain number of players interacting with it. Whereas in FIRST, there are (at least in this years game) 6 robots, all trying to score at once, so trying to orchestrate a pattern that both the announcer and the camera man can follow is HIGHLY difficult, if not near impossible.

But to get back on topic, I'd love to see coverage like they have at the Olympics. Maybe where they have commentators describe what's going on at the event in full...and only show highlights of key/really exciting matches.

Just my two cents though

[KTorak]

Regardless, FIRST needs to get out more. There are so many parents and relatives who have no idea what it REALLY takes. We amazed the parents of so many rookie team members this year with what the build season takes and what it takes during competition.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by KTorak

Regardless, FIRST needs to get out more. There are so many parents and relatives who have no idea what it REALLY takes. We amazed the parents of so many rookie team members this year with what the build season takes and what it takes during competition.

TV coverage of a regional or the championship won't help.
A reality show is more likely to cover that.