In reply to liamlonsdale:
The below relates to bouldering only – I have no interest in lead or speed climbing comps.
1) What is your opinion of competition coverage at the moment?
I tend to watch them all, CWIF, Legends Only, ABS finals, Psicobloc, IFSC etc and generally enjoy them all. I think showing quali’s is a little pointless. But standards are on the up.
It’s one of those things that when it’s done well it’s a fantastic event to watch
2) Would you watch/listen to a "Match Of The Day" style round up that encompassed climbing competitions around the world?
I might if it wasn’t just comp highlights. Would be great to have interviews with competitors, coaches, route setters, officials etc. to give a more human element to the whole production.
I also think it would be of merit to include non-comp related news e.g. a chat with Pooch as to why she’s not competing, or any significant rock problems that have been done. Heck put in a product news section too – if you can get people excited about buying shoes, mats and chalk, sponsors are more likely to put money your way (as long as it’s not in return for positive reviews!).
3) What would you say is the best thing about competition coverage right now?
The quality of the picture has gone up – think the last one was 1080p. Generally they’re available live, or if not, pretty quickly after the event so don’t need to be in social-media purgatory trying to avoid the results.
4) What would you like to see improved the most?
Right.. where to begin!
Some of this is IFSCs-specific, other points more general.
Cameras – Commit to split-screen and make sure the cameramen/producer is on the ball. As others have mentioned, the amount of times someone tops whilst the camera is looking at someone resting, or they’ve climbed out of shot is infuriating. More than one angle is always welcome, but if they’re showing the wrong one, it’s pointless. When this happens, it just suggests that the producer isn’t paying attention at all as they’ve not noticed they’re showing the wrong thing.
Production – The IFSC have recently tweaked their on-screen graphics. But aside from the climbers’ name, the other text is illegible (I assume it says country, height, DOB etc?). On-screen scores – no real reason for these not to be on-screen the whole time, at least for the current climber. Timing with live events is tricky, but pre-show interviews, analysis/walk-throughs of the problems (with the route setters?) and suchlike would fill the time better than just waiting for people to come out.
Sound – A minor bug-bear, but you need to ensure the crowd and arena is mic’d up as this too adds to the atmosphere. Easier in indoor venues, and some of this might be cultural, but in Kazo and Chongqing there was hardly any noise from the audience which makes the whole thing feel a bit flat. Not sure if this was because they were a quiet crowd though? I read somewhere that at Chongqing the crowd were cheering when competitors fell, rather than topped, but hey-ho…
Commentary – Something IFSC have always been criticised for. I liked Daniel as he showed genuine excitement at the climbs but crucially kept up a nice positive patter throughout. I also think you commentate really well as it’s obvious you’re passionate about the sport and know what you’re talking about. It’s a tricky job, as often there’s not actually anything happening on screen. But if two climbers are sitting on the mat, saying “The two climbers are just sitting down” isn’t engaging. Take the opportunity to talk about their climbing, strengths/weaknesses, achievements on rock, past seasons, or even just analysing why their attempt failed – conditions, weak on pinches, too short/tall. The commentary for me is what makes the whole show engaging or not. When Sean McColl was co-commentating, his geeky stats and impressive knowledge of the comp scene was great to hear and really added depth to it, but even then – there was long periods of time when no one was saying anything. Again, I appreciate it’s hard, especially having commentated on the quali’s and semi’s beforehand to keep wittering on, but it is a job! Compare it to commentary from other sports where there’s rarely radio-silence.
I think 2-3 commentators is a must for each comp too – surely there must be some non-competing ex-comp climbers (Killian, Jon Partridge?) who would be interested in doing this? You could then have a permanent set-up of anchorman, ex-competitor and then guest-spot of someone who either missed out on the final, or is a local to the scene.
Obviously however, the key factor here is £££ as these people wall all need to be paid + expenses.