RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
Berri

My alternative Trackside criticism post...

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I would be very tempted to execute a number of survey trials to find out why there have been a number of derogatory comments made in respect of all presentations of content Trackside television in an attempt to understand why such criticisms are continuously made.

Very recently a presenter of this commercial television station was introduced to the racing audience on one of the major race days in New Zealand and Australia, To put the race day into perspective, there were no fewer than 12 group or stakes races during the day, including the historic $1.5m Newmarket Handicap, a championship sprint race over 1200m. Included in the field were two New Zealand bred race horses, champion sprinter Levante, and Rock N Horse, owned by well known breeders Little Avondale Stud, who also own Rock N Horse's sire Per Incanto. Part owner, Catriona Williams, a tetraplegic ambassador for the now famous Catwalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust, started the journey at 1.30am on the race day to travel to Flemington to watch her horse run and win. Despite being an historic occasion, coverage of the challenge to win such a race by New Zealand owned and bred horses didn't hit main stream media until after the historic win. What a shame there wasn't any content of this challenge in mainstream media leading up to the event. If you had put $1.00 on Rock N Horse, you would have received $101 back and that is news worthy in itself. The presentation of that event doesn't need NZ presenters (their face is the entire screen shot) to try and tell us what is going on in Australia when the Australian coverage has the energy and professionalism to cover the event appropriately.

The life of a media presenter is a difficult one, with the audience scrutinising all aspects of the presenter, including their physical appearance and what they wear. At the very least, because of this, management of any television station should ensure that all presenting staff should be formally and professionally educated on all matters, but should include such aspects as accent, diction and inflection of the tone of the voice the presenter projects to the audience. In relation to the subject matter, the presenter should also be well versed and rehearsed in respect of the content spoken about. Prompting cards to ensure the presenter keeps on topic is often a good idea, for the occasion they lose track of the storyline they are trying to convey and maintain.

In respect of management, a young presenter should be carefully introduced to the viewing community through presentation initiatives during time slots that are not prime slots such as the Newmarket race meeting. During this educational period, the presenter should be coached by management on aspects of their presentations based on market research and continuous polling of the audience. Failure to do so will see new inexperienced presenters receiving criticism, that may be well founded, but presented to them in a raw form of expression. In most cases this criticism should not warrant any apology, as the customer is normally right and wouldn't make comment if things were different, but in some cases an apology may be in order if that presenter in known to have suffered because management didn't look after her entry into the cruel world of presenting.

In this instance, this critic unreservedly apologises for the colloquial introduction of presentation criticism to that new presenter. Hopefully Trackside management will ensure that this presenter isn't over exposed in the future.

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Sports presenters on TV (and radio/live casts) have dropped to the lowest of standards in the last few years. It is embarrassing the dire levels of being "formally and professionally educated on all matters", and the almost barbaric delivery of "accent, diction and inflection of the tone of the voice the presenter projects to the audience". As for being "well versed and rehearsed in respect of the content spoken" then you can bet your bottom dollar you wont learn anything new from them. Sad, very sad. People say its the sign of the times. Well cancel your subscriptions and when they survey you because you are an ex-customer, tell them why in a very direct way and say you look forward tot he said changes.

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I think the main issue at the moment is working out exactly what the purpose of Trackside is. Is it to cram as many races in as possible, or to provide good coverage of less meetings? Are the presenters there to have proper discussions about racing? Two channels is just not enough given the amount of races they are trying to show and make it a decent and entertaining product. The presenters are an easy target but I think management is to blame for the output and direction of Trackside. Until they prioritize quality broadcasting over quantity of races then viewers are going to continue to be frustrated.

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30 minutes ago, mckenzie said:

I think the main issue at the moment is working out exactly what the purpose of Trackside is. Is it to cram as many races in as possible, or to provide good coverage of less meetings? Are the presenters there to have proper discussions about racing? Two channels is just not enough given the amount of races they are trying to show and make it a decent and entertaining product. The presenters are an easy target but I think management is to blame for the output and direction of Trackside. Until they prioritize quality broadcasting over quantity of races then viewers are going to continue to be frustrated.

On Trackside it is the endless back-slapping for tipping one winner in 3 months that gets me. Also its the same trainers and jockeys being interviewed. That in itself might tell us other things to about the station and/or industry members perception of it. Geographical bias has also seeped from head office to Trackside.

In other sports (notably rugby) its the low level professionalism that is most annoying. It seems irrelevant if you are knowledgeable or presentable as a commentator. Its all about ex-players and gender equality now. Isnt that a prime example of actioning inequality??!!  Defies belief.

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49 minutes ago, JJ Flash said:

The TABNZ has made record distributions to the 3 codes - go figure that out given all the moaning on here about them and now  their presenters.🤔

There was a rising tide for all bookmakers world wide during Covid.  

I somehow do not feel like these record distributions have filtered down to grass roots yet.

Their website and app still under perform and crash.  But the solution is to "just reload the app".

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5 hours ago, mckenzie said:

I think the main issue at the moment is working out exactly what the purpose of Trackside is. Is it to cram as many races in as possible, or to provide good coverage of less meetings? Are the presenters there to have proper discussions about racing? Two channels is just not enough given the amount of races they are trying to show and make it a decent and entertaining product. The presenters are an easy target but I think management is to blame for the output and direction of Trackside. Until they prioritize quality broadcasting over quantity of races then viewers are going to continue to be frustrated.

Definitely the former Mac….it is all about betting churn and giving the inveterate punter as many options to lose as possible, 

The presenters are continuity rollers..no real need to know anything with form and visuals in front of them….they seem to forget we see exactly the same.

Watching Trackside today, you have the choice of Nicole Sims on Ch 1 or nice soothing music and Aussie presenters on Ch 2.  Not difficult…..🙄.

 

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6 hours ago, shaneMcAlister said:

I somehow do not feel like these record distributions have filtered down to grass roots yet.

The money was paid out and some recent stats suggests codes have improved balance sheets instead of paying out higher stake? Thats my take on it 

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12 hours ago, THE TORCH said:

Sports presenters on TV (and radio/live casts) have dropped to the lowest of standards in the last few years. It is embarrassing the dire levels of being "formally and professionally educated on all matters", and the almost barbaric delivery of "accent, diction and inflection of the tone of the voice the presenter projects to the audience". As for being "well versed and rehearsed in respect of the content spoken" then you can bet your bottom dollar you wont learn anything new from them. Sad, very sad. People say its the sign of the times. Well cancel your subscriptions and when they survey you because you are an ex-customer, tell them why in a very direct way and say you look forward tot he said changes.

Maybe bring back Glyn Tucker .....over the years many very knowledgable and talented presenters like Luke and Liz have been criticised freely on here .Several have moved on to greener pastures where they no doubt better appreciated in more interesting roles. Some have got into law careers , training , jockey managers , syndicators etc etc.

You Torch should consider a change of career. I'm sure you'd enjoy a bit of travel around NZ , working weekends often cooped up in a padded cell starring at a camera with heavy make up on , dressed in  a suit , pissing in a baked beans can while a race from Chile or Korea is on and learning all the hundreds of animal names plus the jockeys and trainers and venues. No Taranaki or South Island bias from you !

Like many on here you would be great and you are young enough to learn fast and appeal to the future punters out there.

Give it a go TORCH !

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9 hours ago, Leggy said:

What exactly do you think that has to do with Trackside?

I read where they are closely associated......Trackside is the Broadcasting arm of the TAB !

But that may have come from someone who doesn't watch Trackside , so wouldn't have the foggiest idea !🙂

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The thing that makes he reach for the mute is the inane spruiking of the odds. Like Knobblyknees has gone from 9s to 10s and he is more value.

No Stupid, it just that less people think he will run well.

Only successful punter I know says," Dont back favs, dont back outsiders, back winners!". seldom more than 4 bets a day.

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18 hours ago, tasman man said:

I read where they are closely associated......Trackside is the Broadcasting arm of the TAB !

But that may have come from someone who doesn't watch Trackside , so wouldn't have the foggiest idea !🙂

OK read on. Any evidence of the connection? I do over seven figures a year turnover on NZ racing at a small profit. Don't watch trackside (actually hardly ever watch tv - better more constructive things to do)  and do less than 1% of that on the NZTAB. You are not really making much sense at all.

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1 hour ago, Leggy said:

OK read on. Any evidence of the connection? I do over seven figures a year turnover on NZ racing at a small profit. Don't watch trackside (actually hardly ever watch tv - better more constructive things to do)  and do less than 1% of that on the NZTAB. You are not really making much sense at all.

Well good for you......

You sound a curious sort of guy !

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On 3/16/2022 at 12:23 AM, tasman man said:

Maybe bring back Glyn Tucker .....over the years many very knowledgable and talented presenters like Luke and Liz have been criticised freely on here .Several have moved on to greener pastures where they no doubt better appreciated in more interesting roles. Some have got into law careers , training , jockey managers , syndicators etc etc.

You Torch should consider a change of career. I'm sure you'd enjoy a bit of travel around NZ , working weekends often cooped up in a padded cell starring at a camera with heavy make up on , dressed in  a suit , pissing in a baked beans can while a race from Chile or Korea is on and learning all the hundreds of animal names plus the jockeys and trainers and venues. No Taranaki or South Island bias from you !

Like many on here you would be great and you are young enough to learn fast and appeal to the future punters out there.

Give it a go TORCH !

Heck you make them out to be coal miners who have a handful of gravel for lunch! They definitely dont eat humble pie after tipping 40% of the card to lose every meeting. How is that possible?? Maybe they get a commission for every failed tip.

Hundreds of names and jockeys?! Please - its not a game of Memory. Its their job - a job where they see and meet those participants every week.

Venues? Well the powers that be are making that easier by the day with the Messara bollocks.

South Island? Yeah do us all a favor and cut us off from the north and we will run our own industry quite happily and successfully. No need for us to keep propping up you lot.

Heres a question - Why do we really need presenters? 

They add nothing. They go over the same old rubbish every week, every meeting, every hour in fact. The same jocks and trainers get interviewed. The same questions get thrown out. We never learn anything new, let alone worth. We have a 5 minute build up - whoopty. And again we get tipped tripe - in fact if you've had a bet you pray Pops, Sweens, or The Shark have not picked your horse. If so you may as well write it off.  

Walk into a Ladbrokes or the like in England. No presenters on their loop. Just one person announcing the next from Bangor goes in 2 minutes. Easy, simple, no fuss, and letting the punter get on with what he/she does best: backing their own judgement!

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2 hours ago, chevy86 said:

Perfect summation!!

Exactly.....hence I for one hardly notice them.

But they provide a basic service of filling in gaps and coordinating and introducing whats next up with any changes or last minute possibly important information.

Yet posters on here seem to get mesmerised by  every word some of them speak.

Overall IMO they add something to the basic broadcasting package......not a job I'd wish on anyone.......these  negative opinions could be directed at at most live sports events.

Racing is presenting some stuff that is good viewing on video thats freely available.... the video on Verry Eleegant's daily life , Pro-cam on winning Harness drives , Nowell's brief chat with jockeys post-race , NZTR jockey room chats  etc all items I enjoyed past week but others may hate these !

Racing overall is quite boring , thus finding it hard to attract new ,young customers....horses running around in a circle  once every 35 minutes  , plus 85% of Kiwis think it corrupt !

 

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38 minutes ago, Leggy said:

If presenters don't add anything, why have them or indeed why have Trackside at all?

Now you are being really silly...we need trackside so the owners and public can get to see their horses race as well as many other reasons ...still dont know why they cut trackside radio...and I agree most presenters would give an aspirin a headache if you watched them all the time.

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5 hours ago, JJ Flash said:

Cost over 3 mio per annum and was not seen as revenue positive when TAB had to cut costs after the Allen/Hughes debacle

Yep...they didn't mind blowing $50,000,000 plus $17,000,000 per year on the dog TAB web-site that is worse than the original.

That's the root cause of the cost cutting to prevent potential bankruptcy !

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