Quiksilver Pro 2014 webcast

thermalben's picture
thermalben started the topic in Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 8:51am

Twenty minutes in and there's already been four ad breaks with three or four ads per break. This is the Broadcast TV model in full swing (will be interesting to see how they juggle it once the competition starts).

Been a few streaming hiccups but otherwise seems to be working OK.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 8:52am

But jeez, how's the corporate look they're going for? And the constant reference to people's official titles (ie "So Commissioner Perrow, what's the official call?") is giving me the shits. 

mitchvg's picture
mitchvg's picture
mitchvg Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 9:08am
thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 9:27am

Nah, it's here: http://www.aspworldtour.com/events/wct/640/roxy-pro-gold-coast

They're on hold until 9:30am local (10:30am Sydney time) to see if the dropping tide improves things. If they do kick off the contest it'll be the Roxy Pro.

mitchvg's picture
mitchvg's picture
mitchvg Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 9:37am

No wonder I couldn't find it on google; I was looking for snapper, not gold coast and/or ASP.
Yeah so if I search for "quiksilver pro 2014 snapper" i get the asp link as the first result, but with no mention of live or cast or stream. I went to the 3rd result, which says live, but has no stream...

mitchvg's picture
mitchvg's picture
mitchvg Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 9:42am

But I also found the official forecast, which has a link. Sheesh.
btw the "not bad" rating system isn't a bad idea, just super subjective and open to mis interpretation haha

mitchvg's picture
mitchvg's picture
mitchvg Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 9:39am

ahhhhhhhhhh and I still have to click "live" as well.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 9:56am

What does "Not Bad" mean anyway? I mean its one thing to use it in dialogue, but it's a ridiculous term to use in a forecast précis. Imagine if the BOM used those terms in their weather forecasts? Brisbane: Not Bad. Sydney: So So. Melbourne: Meh. Adelaide: Average. Perth: OK. etc etc.

sandspit's picture
sandspit's picture
sandspit Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 10:06am

surf looks pretty bad on the webcast i can't see them running for a few more hours

shoredump's picture
shoredump's picture
shoredump Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 10:07am

They'll probably run a bunch of half days across to low tide, I reckon, considering the 2-3ft with SE winds forecast day in day out they've got. @thermalben how do you know the girls are up first? Now that second cyclone is going to probably cross the coast there's less of a reason to wait. I guess they will run the men's tomorrow to capitalize on the weekend viewers across the pacific. I might go watch tomoz.

pointy's picture
pointy's picture
pointy Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 10:17am
thermalben wrote:

What does "Not Bad" mean anyway? I mean its one thing to use it in dialogue, but it's a ridiculous term to use in a forecast précis. Imagine if the BOM used those terms in their weather forecasts? Brisbane: Not Bad. Sydney: So So. Melbourne: Meh. Adelaide: Average. Perth: OK. etc etc.

it's no different to the rating out of 10 that this site uses. What you call 2/10 maybe someone elses 4/10.

If it's 6ft and cross shore is it 2/10 for being cross shore or 5/10 for being 6ft ?

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 10:50am
shoredump wrote:

@thermalben how do you know the girls are up first?

That's what Commissioner Perrow said on the webcast. Saw the skis dragging Roxy buoys into the water too.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 10:54am
pointy wrote:

it's no different to the rating out of 10 that this site uses. What you call 2/10 maybe someone elses 4/10. If it's 6ft and cross shore is it 2/10 for being cross shore or 5/10 for being 6ft ?

Fair point. However, a score out of ten gives a scale as well as some perspective. And, comparing one day against the next means that you can assess the trend - if yesterday was a 4/10 and today is a 6/10, then you know it's a little better today. Sure, it's still subjective but it's an easier reference point.

But if the surf is 'Not Bad' today, 'Average' tomorrow, 'So So' the next etc.. what's the difference between them all?

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 10:55am

...  and the Roxy Pro has been called ON for 10:30am. Surf looks pretty average right now but it should get better as the tide drops.

pointy's picture
pointy's picture
pointy Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 11:09am

"But if the surf is 'Not Bad' today, 'Average' tomorrow, 'So So' the next etc.. what's the difference between them all?"

exactly the same as the diference between 4/10 and 6/10 etc - They have replaced the numbers with words.

i.e. 1/5 = poor; 2/5 = not bad or similar and so once you know what they mean it is identical to the numerical system that you use.

same same only different.....

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 11:22am

This is really a convo for another thread, but we might have to agree to disagree. As it is I'm not a fan of rating systems anyway, but it was regularly requested many years ago so we included into our system. 

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 12:05pm

Anyone else getting a patchy stream? Stopping and starting here a lot, and skipping between sections. I'm on the 480p stream too which should be easy to maintain.

lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 12:06pm

Anyone else's streaming stop starting? Mine is still doing it even when I drop down to 240 pixels.
And goes back and forwards occasionally too.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 12:09pm

Snap!

lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 12:12pm

You win.

mitchvg's picture
mitchvg's picture
mitchvg Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 12:40pm

Ok last comment on this, I think it serves a purpose as a quick, "am I missing out on anything good" check. Then directly underneath is details

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 12:50pm

Almost five minutes difference between the live vision and live scores. This is very annoying.

many-rivers's picture
many-rivers's picture
many-rivers Saturday, 1 Mar 2014 at 5:20pm

Have I missed a link on the comp website?
Went for a lower tide surf then the wind suddenly went easterly so now there is a break in the rugby and the heat review might be interesting..........
except I can only find an edited review.Is this the new normal?
the review isn't too bad , quite OK sort of thing and I might go out and buy a new phone who knows
but I don't mind having the heat review available.
The heat one review of the women's comp only showed the drop in which was called an interference too.

braithy's picture
braithy's picture
braithy Sunday, 2 Mar 2014 at 8:36am
thermalben wrote:

What does "Not Bad" mean anyway? I mean its one thing to use it in dialogue, but it's a ridiculous term to use in a forecast précis. Imagine if the BOM used those terms in their weather forecasts? Brisbane: Not Bad. Sydney: So So. Melbourne: Meh. Adelaide: Average. Perth: OK. etc etc.

haha ... made my day.

Clay clay's picture
Clay clay's picture
Clay clay Sunday, 2 Mar 2014 at 11:49am

Haha!
And it's all go !!

goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot Sunday, 2 Mar 2014 at 4:56pm

Already had enough of American accents.. Gunna be a long year
Apparently jjf just did a " nose poke tail slide fin waft"

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Monday, 3 Mar 2014 at 7:15am

So what's with the birth-certificate naming convention? So far we've seen Michael Fanning and Jordan Smith (displayed on the scoring panel, during their heats). Any other name changes?

braithy's picture
braithy's picture
braithy Monday, 3 Mar 2014 at 7:19am

Clinton Hobgood!

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Monday, 3 Mar 2014 at 7:22am

Oh wow. Did they really display that? Gotta get a screen grab in the next round.

I bet Robert Slater didn't make an appearance though!

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Monday, 3 Mar 2014 at 10:32am

Well, the ASP are obviously watching the Swellnet forums closely, as they changed "Michael Fanning" to "Mick Fanning" on the scoring panel shortly after I posted the above comment.

Nice to see our hard work is being appreciated :)

blindboy's picture
blindboy's picture
blindboy Monday, 3 Mar 2014 at 8:51pm

goofy I will take a nose poke over a backside air any day!

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 10:33am

Another website design problem in full effect. Having watched the Quik Pro all morning, they've switched over to the Roxy Pro. The live stream is still working fine but the scores won't change over to the Womens - everyone has to click through to the Roxy event site. However, I don't know if anyone knows this (no-one is told, there's no prompting on the site either). The link to the Roxy Pro webpage is at the top of the screen, which is 'above the fold' because of how far down the YouTube window is. So most people will probably just assume that the scoring system is buggered (expect to see lots of Facebook commentary to this effect).

carpetman's picture
carpetman's picture
carpetman Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 11:08am

And then when you do realise and switch over you've gotta watch a start up ad again. Potentially missing some of the action but increasing ad revenue. So maybe its deliberate?

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 11:11am

Nah, they can trigger ads through the primary webcast feed if need be (and jeez, aren't they giving it a good crack!).

I think it's a design issue.

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 11:21am

I've actually just clicked on to the webcast for the first time this morning and despite the obvious (justified) gripes about the 'Americanising' of it, I don't think it's too bad. The ads don't seem to be too intrusive and the camera work is pretty sharp. Commentary is ok, but I'm used to seppo accents.

the things that annoy me are that stupid desk. Are they going to cart that thing around the world or comission another one locally for each event? And the reference to 'Commisioner Perrow'. What a fucking wank that is.

As an aside, looks like Alana has remebered her pants this year. Maybe she's going to have a serious crack at it. (no pun intended).

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 12:33pm

Yeah there are lots of good things about the broadcast (although to be honest many of these things are not new to WT event webcasts). The slow-mo replays are really good - seems they've invested in much better quality hardware this year - and they're switching to 'em really well. They seem to have a much better production routine too, which is good.

As for the ads - they now seem to be running at around 50% of what they were on Day 1 (seems the ASP has taken on board a lot of the feedback the received about this.. and that's certainly a positive step too). 

welcomeguest's picture
welcomeguest's picture
welcomeguest Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 4:07pm

best day of womens surfing since last years roxy pro !
think i'm in love with courtney c.

barley's picture
barley's picture
barley Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 5:22pm

@thermalben..why are you whinging about the website and the streaming when you and your website had and still have problems? I woulda thought you would have some sympathy for the teething probs??

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 6:02pm

Huh? Bit of a difference between me and the ASP, Barley. Not sure if you're aware, but the company that owns the ASP (ZoSea) is funded by a bloke that last year was valued at US$4.6 billion. Just a couple of rungs up the ladder from me.

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 6:19pm

I thought that would have gone without saying. But there you go Ben. you said it.

Overall, I think Zosea have done a pretty good job so far, a few glitches aside.

wellymon's picture
wellymon's picture
wellymon Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 8:07pm

All you fellas saying stuff about the glitches etc.

Pretty much you're helping them sort their shit out,

Who cares about Samsung. Zosea, let them sort their own shit out.

Not the help from SN and all their followers....?

Hope that makes sense. A couple for sure...............:)

grazza's picture
grazza's picture
grazza Tuesday, 4 Mar 2014 at 10:33pm

After three days I'm now prepared to move to judgement. Here it is:

All things considered, not too bad.

The positives:

Direction - someone is doing a better than previous job of focussing on the surfing in the water rather craps going on around the edges of it. In particular, much less crossing to ads or interviews or other such stuff when someone is about to take off on the best wave of the heat. I like the way that we actually get to watch the surf at the end of a close heat. Thanks for that, keep it up. Watch the changes of camera mid wave though - that's just hard to follow.

Crass commercialism - seems to be at a much lower level. We are looking at a sports broadcast, not thinly disguised advertorial delivered by Marketing department hacks. GT and his ilk are but a distant and unpleasant memory. Many, many thanks for delivering us from this evil.

Production values - It just looks better. Slo mo replays are delicious. Graphics are generally good (though that graphic of the thruster fins and tail that sits behind various pieces is soooo wrong). But there's been effort put into getting the look right.

Not so generous on commentary, though. Most of the team aren't too bad, but Turpel is BOOORRRING. Joey, maaate, learn to a) shut up sometimes and b) say something worth hearing when you do talk. It's not radio, bro. Dead air is fine.

And sorry Pottz, but you're missing the mark in my book too. If you're the expert commentator, be prepared to dissect and inform us. If someone does something cool, get excited. If someone does something bad, pick it apart. If someone (including you, Pottz) does something stupid, laugh. Where's the personality?

And please, the cliche count is through the roof. "Caution to the wind" and "ticking the boxes" are particularly annoying, and for crying out loud, if you hear yourself saying "back in the day" just stop talking immediately. It's not about you, mate. Go and ask Blakey how it's done, if you're not sure.

Don't mind the rest. Rosie Hodge is really good, and the other yanks (Mel, Kline, Parnell) are decent enough.

Overall, I think I like the new world order. I'm giving it three and a half stars.

welcomeguest's picture
welcomeguest's picture
welcomeguest Wednesday, 5 Mar 2014 at 8:00am

for me day 001 was unwatchable...commercials count and placement killed it for me.
and what's the new deal with floatation device on towed-out surfers ?
safety 101 ? hmm, prevention...good move

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Wednesday, 5 Mar 2014 at 8:30am

Agree with much of your post Grazza. It is certainly getting better day by day as they iron out the bugs.

Really not keen on those graphics either. 

spencie's picture
spencie's picture
spencie Wednesday, 5 Mar 2014 at 10:15am

Very disappointing to hear semi-illiterate surfing commentators on the ASP event website. Some are good but others cannot even pronounce the contestants names properly. Surely that is not too much to expect from a professional organisation. The commentary seems to be drifting towards mainstream sports-type presentations. Are the ASP trying to capture a non-surfing audience? It is becoming boring for us long-time watchers. Don't know why the ASP website was changed. As a senior citizen I find it harder to navigate. Bring back GT. Loved his creepy manner and a real persona out of the norm.

freeride76's picture
freeride76's picture
freeride76 Wednesday, 5 Mar 2014 at 12:52pm

GT was pretty fruity....easy guy to hate on but actually a top bloke in person.

Surfing's picture
Surfing's picture
Surfing Friday, 7 Mar 2014 at 12:32pm

Not the best commentary so far. Preferred last years guys. When's it back on?