Red Bull is the future of broadcasting Baja races

[trophygoat]

I figured this topic could fit in a few forum categories but I thought it would get the most discussion here. I'm sure all the forum regulars remember a massive thread that got popular after the last Baja 1000 about improving the live broadcasting of our favorite long distance off road races, mostly Baja and a few US/Mexico rally raids here and there. Many of the moto aficionados on here are probably aware that on Sunday the annual Erzbergrodeo took place. If you don't know what Erzberg is then give it a quick google search, its an awesome event. ANYWAY, I thought it was worth mentioning how well Red Bull was able to cover the 4-hour event, and here are a few reasons why I thought it was so spectacular:

• Multiple (at least 20 or more) HD cameras broadcasting live footage from different points on the race course
• One (maybe two) helicopters also broadcasting live HD footage
• A cable camera like you see in football stadiums that spanned a good 500 yards or so that gave a perfect angle on the most difficult section of the race course (Carls Diner) -- once again live HD
• Actual enduro racers as commentators who provided legitimate commentary for the full 4 hours
• Very few commercial breaks, they were also very short
• All the usual goodies like pre-race "tale of the tape" bits and live timing on banners, etc.
• The entire thing was broadcast live, for free, on Red Bull TV
• The connection only lagged/became static a handful of times, and lets remember this is being broadcast live from the mountains of Austria!!! In actual high definition format!!!

Now I'll admit that the Erzberg is no Baja 1000 distance-wise, but the race still covers a significant portion of area (and the course weaves around an active ore mine, for that matter) and I thought Red Bull's coverage was brilliant and I'm sure it was a real treat for enduro fans around the world as Erzberg is the biggest event of the year.
What I'm trying to say here is if we want our coverage of Baja to expand, I think we need to give Red Bull a call. They have the resources, employees, and international outreach to make it happen. I'm not sure who is going to call them or what they should say, but I'll let someone more qualified than me figure that out

And while I'm here I'm going to plug our boy Cody Webb who, on Sunday at Erzberg, became the first American to podium a hard enduro event, and placed 2nd behind the best enduro rider in the world (Graham Jarvis). This guy is young, smart, with killer skills on the bike and will be a huge rep for America in the international racing scene. Oh and he podium'd the toughest moto race ever conceived with the KC66 badge on his jersey!

 

[Stuck Sucks]

Agreed with Red Bull's exceptional coverage - I just watched the 2016 Erzberg Rodeo on AppleTV last night, also a few other really good race-rated videos.

 

[deano]

Yes, Red Bull does have the capabilities for this type of programming for sure - Their Red Bull Signature Series would be the obvious outlet. But there's a big problem .... Their main rival, Monster-Energy is the official energy drink of SCORE-INTERNATIONAL ....

 

[JayQC]

I do enjoy their coverage, but I find that sometimes they keep explaining and re-explaining the same things over and over again it's like just film the damn race and comment on what's going on, I've been watching hare scrambles for years and still can't figure out if Graham Jarvis is human or not so focus on the race and stop explaining the difficulty of Carl's diner, we got the point 20 minutes ago when you talked about it the first time.

Other than that, it's golden.

This year's live coverage of the mexican 1000 by Mad Media was exquisite though. A bit rugged, true to life, no bullshit. Either is good enough for me.

 

[JDDurfey]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Norra Mexican 1000 coverage was not done by Mad Media. It was done by Dave Combs of Hammerking. For the inaugural filming and live broadcast from Mexico on a shoestring budget, it was excellent. Those guys were flying by the seat of their pants everyday. You could see it and hear it, they were making decisions and trying to commentate at the same time. I know they learned a lot, you could see improvements each day in the broadcast. I am sure next year will be even better. Especially now that they have proof it can be done and sponsors of the broadcast will climb on board to help pay to make it better I am sure. An "if you build it they will come" sort of thing, I hope.

As far as Mad Media, that you refer to, their production of the Mint 400 this year was well done. It explained things to the layman without boring the crap out of those that know the sport. They also gave "love" to pretty much each class and both races were given pretty much the same air time. That was a first in my opinion and I am sure the limited guys love the exposure, especially since they rarely get any compared to a TT or Class 1.

The Red Bull Signature series is really cool. I like that they get announcers that know what they are talking about. Guys that have participated in the sport. I do find them a little redundant at times, but they are trying to fill the time with commentary, and that is needed for the layman, not necessarily for the followers of the sport. IT is much easier however, to film a 35K loop than a 500-1000 mile loop. Add the fact that the Baja races take place in Mexico, and the coverage that they provided this past weekend is almost impossible without a massive budget that I imagine they would not even spring for. They would need multiple trucks to access satellites while filming down the course to "beam" everything back to an editing and commentating location and then re-broadcast it globally.

Just my opinion, I may be completely wrong.

 

[baja619]

Plain and simple Red Bull has built the world class Content Creation and Media Distribution HUB.

They are and have not been a consumer product / brand company (which they still have in their portfolio and continue to dominate with) but have now excelled at creating events (made for TV / Online Viewing).

There were one of the first to adopt the new format of all content available online and it helped them launch a whole media mogul machine for them. No it has been perfected, is scalable, and easily transformed for multiple types of coverage.

 

[JayQC]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Norra Mexican 1000 coverage was not done by Mad Media. It was done by Dave Combs of Hammerking.

You are correct, my bad

 

[trophygoat]

Well I totally missed the whole Monster Energy sponsoring SCORE thing cause that's obviously a problem.
I also enjoyed the Mad Media Mint 400 broadcast, so maybe if Mad Media led the production with assistance from Red Bull (equipment/resources/manpower, etc.), something great could happen. We all know that Red Bull has become a gargantuan effort and they operate with a multi billion dollar budget. Thats why I think they are the perfect organization to tackle this job.
Someone with a Red Bull connection make this happen!

 

[06Chevy4x4LT]

As far as network coverage goes... I can't help but think that it would be worth a try to contact someone from Google or Facebook regarding their laser internet projects(Google project Loon or Facebook laser drones). Providing Internet support to broadcast live desert races would probably be a good test for their systems. Not sure if they would be interested, but might be worth a try.. I may be a little biased though

 

[Dirty Harry]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Norra Mexican 1000 coverage was not done by Mad Media. It was done by Dave Combs of Hammerking.

Did Dave Cole and Jessi Combs have a baby? Just a little ribbing, I totally agree with everything else you wrote.


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[JDDurfey]

Did Dave Cole and Jessi Combs have a baby? Just a little ribbing, I totally agree with everything else you wrote.


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Ha Ha, That's who I meant, thanks for the correction. I mixed Dave Cole and Davey Coombs of the MX scene together.

 

[Kilian]

Personally, I would love to take our high production value Mint 400 format to Baja and create a mega film on the Baja 1000. Imagine the Mint 400 TV show .. but on the Baja 1000. I'd love the opportunity..


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[MADMEDIA]

Good topic. Totally doable but no one sponsor should control a culture. The people from the culture should drive the boat. Red Bull has supported off-road for years, but it's up to us to create the type of coverage and story telling we want the world to see as a representation of our culture.

 

[JaysinDesignz]

No one sponsor should be but, offroad racing coverage is way behind the times. ASP (now WSL) professional surfing was and still is the godfather of live remote coverage. Which I worked with in the beginning stages years ago.

Bagging this site. RDC had to be the worst and Im not talking about bugs and glitches. The last one I tried to watch was SF250 by RDC, the commentators didn't even have the start order correct. Let alone a professional vantage point to stream.

But, with CBS in the mix right now with SCORE live race day is almost handcuffed....

I still see SCORE able to put out a killer live show. With a sports anchor desk calling the action using tracking and submitted video footage from areas of the race with cell signal. Im sure placing people along areas with a cell signal can upload clips as filler material. With key locations of live feed to edit in live. Not just stream a long boring no angle live stream.

WSL professional surfing is constantly editing in live time with replays, crowd shots, multiple camera angles in the water, on the beach and on boats. And KEY POINT a sports anchor desk calling the action on location!!!

Dave Cole has done an amazing job but again everyone needs to start watching the WSL live surfing events to see the real pros cover live sports.

PAB knows what Im talking about with pro surfing coverage...

World Surf League - The global home of surfing
they will be live from Fiji in about 2hrs!!!!!! Jaw dropping HD coverage all over the world.

 

[baja619]

500 Mile course of Baja seems a bit more difficult than a 1/4 mile of beach coastline. Yeah?

 

[biffgnar]

500 Mile course of Baja seems a bit more difficult than a 1/4 mile of beach coastline. Yeah?

This!

And also isn't it all about budget? Dave talked about this in his thread about NORRA. Didn't he do NORRA for about 10k? And he specifically acknowledged that he would be limited in what he could do. Take a look at his KOH production. What did he say he spends there? 100k? Pretty damn good for that. I bet WSL (and Red Bull) well in excess of that.

It's no secret or surprise that there are people out there who know how to do this. It is just paying for it.

 

[trophygoat]

I think Jaysin is trying to say whoever covers the event should strategically place their cameras and take in fan-submitted videos so it looks like you are covering the full 500 miles when in reality you aren't. That would lower cost as well

 

[biffgnar]

I think Jaysin is trying to say whoever covers the event should strategically place their cameras and take in fan-submitted videos so it looks like you are covering the full 500 miles when in reality you aren't. That would lower cost as well

Is it the camera locations or is it actually the live editing and production that is expensive?

And speaking of live, is WSL really live or is that a post-production edited show that's presented as "live"? Given the locations around the world where they are it seems unlikely those times would line up well with TV airing consistently.

 

[trophygoat]

I don't know much about action sports film production and post-production but I would guess that live editing costs a lot more than putting a guy in the desert for a day with a big camera.

 

[TMorford]

And speaking of live, is WSL really live or is that a post-production edited show that's presented as "live"? Given the locations around the world where they are it seems unlikely those times would line up well with TV airing consistently.

Its live. They play everything as it happens no matter where they are. Look up their most famous clip from JBay last year and you can hear Martin Potter say, "Holy I failed spelling!.. Excuse me," when Mick Fanning got bumped by great white.