26 replies to this topic

[Pabags]

This is probably directed at KT but would be interested to see what other CR's think.

As most of us know there is very little TV coverage on marathons, funs runs etc so wondered if it was worthwhile starting a heading on this site for anyone who knows that a particular run is going to be shown on TV at some stage. Could also include triathlons etc.
The reason this came to mind was last Saturday we got home from shopping and as usual checked this site (which i do  EVERY  day and saw on one of the threads that the Sydney half was on CH10. Quickly turned on the tele and was lucky enough to catch the last 20 mins or so. I know that some of you will say I should check the TV guide, and your right, but for some reason this is one website that I check every day.
Anyway, just a thought. What do others think?  :)  

Ian C

[Jogger]

I think its a good idea (I usually miss most of the televised events myself).

Runners World (USA) has a VCR alert which is similar.

The issue is that I cannot be relied upon to scan the newspapers etc to check frequently enough. (I rarely read newspapers and am not a TV freak).

If someone were to volunteer to coordinate this, I can work with them on the best way for them to update the site directly.

Its not a big job, but with anything that is web-related, the issue is CONSISTENCY and RELIABILITY - week in week out year round (there are some other good topics on very late at night sometimes) and you could include pay-tv (not that I have access to that ..)

Any takers ?

[Luckylegs]

Just a question.......do you think there would be many/any notices to find, concerning TV coverage, to warrant someone spending perhaps hours searching for what isn't likely to be there?  :unsure:

[Niftyone]

If I find something of interest on the moving picture box I usually send in a mesage but not all these shows are nationwide.I don't think the Bridge to Brisbane was shown anywhere else but Bribane so that could be a problem. Maybe we could get the T.V. stations to send in a monthly or weekly  program with any athletics events to  Coolrunning and then we would all know what was going on.Again the different states may pose a problem but thats something we would have to puy up with.Anyway you could get someone to videotape you out on a run then play it back on a Sunday arvo(no ads either)Ah well keep on runnin'  B)

[THE GOOD DOCTOR]

For all you CR'S out there the World Half Marathon Championships will be shown this Sunday on SBS at 11am. This is about the 6th year in a row they have broadcast this event. Always good viewing. ***** Look out for Aussie runner Bennita Johnson

[Colin]

Thanks,
looking forward to it.

Kevin, possibly it could be a heading/topic at the top that anyone can add to. makes it easier than one person.
The moderators can then edit/delete when no longer applicable.

[AndrewFF53]

Hi Kevin

I am prepared to volunteer to scan the TV guides for running related events in Sydney on free to air and Foxtel for the group. However no guarentees that I will find every event...

Andrew

[Pabags]

My thoughts on this were along the lines that Colin has suggested. That is make it a heading/topic and then anyone who is aware of something coming up on TV can add to it. Moderators can do their thing with the info from there.
That way Andrew can put in his info he gets from his sources and anyone else can add to it.
Already it has paid off for me with the Gooddoctor letting us know about the world half marathon on SBS.
As Niftyone says there will always be events shown only in particular states but if we know they are on we can at least check.
Good stuff everyone.

Ian C   :)

[Niftyone]

The good doctor has beaten me to it on the half marathon.However SBS also has Pink Floyd on at 7.30 that night for all you rockin' runners.  There is also a new series on SBS soon that features a 90 yearold athlete training for the Masters Games.Stay tuned on that hi-carb low fat exercise T.V.  Otherwise keep on runnin'  :D

[Alex]

Great Idea. I would say there would be running related programs on tv most weeks. For example Tuesday Oct 7 1:30pm - Reflections of Summer - 1964 Olympic Games from Tokyo...

[Pabags]

Anyone aware of anything coming up on TV?
Anyone with any thoughts on the TV coverage for the World Half Marathon champs? For mine, it would have been good to see more of Benita particularly when she began picking up the runners ahead of her to finish 3rd.
Also goes to show that style isnt a major factor with Paula Radcliffe. She is amazing the way she just pushes on regardless and she doesnt always look like she's doing it easy. Nevertheless a pretty good coverage.

KT - Are we gong to pursue this one or just leave it for CR's to put in this thread?

Ian C   :)

[Jogger]

Absolutely I will pursue it. It will be called "tvalert" and there will be a little section on the homepage which will show when it was last updated (like the thing about the calendar - on the right hand side). I am just working out the best way of allowing other people to update it, then I will contact AndrewFF53 and invite him to update it also (as a backup it will be me or one of the other helpers).

People will be able to send emails to tvalert@coolrunning.com.au (but not yet) to add in stuff that we haven't seen.

At the moment the slow getting going stage is par for the course when I am involved.....

[AndrewC]

A few thoughts:

1.  It would be worth contacting the sports and publicity people at all the metropolitan TV stations and Foxtel/Austar to let them know we are setting up TValert - and asking them to let us know of anything athletics related coming up in the next week.  They'd be delighted for the free publicity.  Often TV schedules change after they have been published - and in general sports programmes the daily line up is not always publicised - so simply scanning the printed/online programme guides won't necessarily give us all the information we're after.

2.  This is a service that would be better off as an e-mail product - people register to receive an e-mail alert of upcoming TV coverage.  This way you don't build up a (mostly) useless online database of past TV coverage and you don't need to update the website every day (even if only to remove last nights coverage alerts).

3.  To the extent we want to scan online programme guides for athletics coverage, it is possible to automate the search with some simple web scripts - whereby we specify the terms we're interested in (such as 'athletics'), identify a range of web sites we want scanned (eg all the TV station sites, newspaper sites, AIS, AA and other media sites) - and then let the script do the rest every couple of hours.  The scripts will deliver an alert of any occurrence of any one or more of the search terms.  These results could be mailed out automatically to the registered TValert users, or sent to the administrator who can filter out any irrelevant or redundant results and then send out the alerts/update the site.

Happy to help out with this if required.

- AndrewC

[AndrewFF53]

OK, the November Foxtel program has arrived and I have had a quick skim through the first couple of weeks. The following might be of interest. Given that some of the programs are at 2:00am it is likely that they might be repeats.

5th Nov 2:00 to 4:00am, Fox Sports 1 Ch 11, Athletics IAAF Stockholm

6th Nov 2:00 to 4:00am, Fox Sports 1 Ch 11, Athletics IAAF Helsinki

6th Nov 11:00am to 12:00pm, ESPN Ch 16, Triathlon 2003 Iron man, Lake Placid NY

9th Nov 9:00 to 10:00pm, ESPN Ch 16, Triathlon Nice France

I have not seen anything listed in the free to air.

[Pabags]

As the instigator of this thread it is great to see the link now operating. Thanks Kevin for getting it operating and any others who may have been involved.
This site just gets better and better! Once again thanks to the great work of all involved.
Now its up to us to make sure that anything we know is coming up on TV post it under TV alert..

Ian C  :)

[Niftyone]

Here is another one for tonight. SBS at 7.00pm AEST (Proper time) All about 90 year old Masters Athlete doing his thing.Should be interesting.That gives me something to think about for the next 35 years. Ah well keep on runnin'  :D

[queen_bee]

Another one for the subscribers to foxtel:

Monday 10 November 2003  
Marathon Man
8.30am -9am | BBC World (Channel 37)

"In June 2003 explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes suffered a heart attack and had emergency bypass surgery. Four months later Sir Ranulph has set off to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents for a heart charity. Marathon Man follows his progress."

[Jogger]

Just a quick word of thanks to AndrewFF53 who has been updating the tvalert page to save us having to read the tv guides.

Seems like a lot of stuff on pay tv (that I don't have), and not much on free-to-air.

People power at its best!

[SportyChick]

Nice work in setting this up guys! Now, if we can get onto our local Uni's to actually cover some local races in Ch. 31 etc. we won't ever need to leave home to go for a run!

[Pabags]

Seems to be working well, although it would be good to see more athletics etc on free to air TV.
I did notice on the TV alert link that it still shows that the page was last updated on 19th October. I'm sure its been updated since then.
Kevin, I have got the dates that the Accenture triathlon series is on CH10 but it goes well into next year.
Wouldnt be worth adding this yet?
Thanks to all involved

Ian C   :)

[Pasty]

quote:

---

I did notice on the TV alert link that it still shows that the page was last updated on 19th October.

---

Thanks IanC, yes it has been updated since then. This is a known problem that Kevin has been trying to resolve, but is kind of low priority at present given his 6ft track envelope-stuffing committments.

Pasty

[Spud]

Channel 10 Sunday 14th December.
Noosa Triathlon festival 3pm-5pm.
Includes New Balance 5km Bolt.

Cheers

Spud   :D

[Jogger]

We have a new page for the TV alerts - the advantage is that any logged in forum user can make their own changes.

[Stu Mac]

Very nice Kevin a nice improvement!

[John Dawlings]

Telstra A Series at 4.00 pm on Sunday 25th February.

[dave1678]

No World Cross on SBS?

[dave1678]

If no news soon I'm reading who won.