What needs to change to get more people using Livestreaming? (Read 9,655 times)

[cameraman]

I know over the last few seasons people have had good and not so good experiences of livestream services, some of the issues have been provider issues and some issues have been at the end users end.

I would like to know what people would like to change to make their livestream experience better including:

• Camera Angles (no driver shots allowed under snz rules but things like suspension, wall and pole line cameras etc)
• More interviews with drivers and crew
• Tech talk about parts of cars (live the V8 supercars do)
• More dvds and on demand services
• Any other ideas
• NO buffering due to the provider having the right systems in use to cope with large quantities of paying customers

I have worked in the industry a very long time and have worked on a lot of motorsport events. I am wanting to grow the national and international coverage of the sport but need the support of Tracks, supporters, drivers, SNZ, crew, other video providers to make this happen.

The more coverage the sport gets the more sponsors are willing to come on board and give more to our drivers and teams which inturn brings more drivers to the sport as it is more cost effective to run a car at the track.

Any other questions you have please ask and I will do my best to answer them

This thread is not here to bag companies so please keep the names of companies or individual providers staff names out of your posts.

[beachboy]

If doing a live meeting have the Cameras live on the track all the time, don't cut back to interviews or replay's in between races as this seems to create problems if the system isn't up to it and working right, then we end up missing half of the important races. Replays and interviews can be played before and after the meeting unless the provider has the equipment to do it without any delays at all. Maybe a live camera in the pits in between races.

[cameraman]

Jun 11, 2015 14:05:56 GMT 12 beachboy said:

If doing a live meeting have the Cameras live on the track all the time, don't cut back to interviews or replay's in between races as this seems to create problems if the system isn't up to it and working right, then we end up missing half of the important races. Replays and interviews can be played before and after the meeting unless the provider has the equipment to do it without any delays at all. Maybe a live camera in the pits in between races.

thank you beachboy that is helpful.

The system we have had specd and currently being built for us is exactly what nascar and v8 supercars have had built for them which gives us the correct technology for replays and the odd interview which will NOT interfere with the important racing or scenes on the track. Live cameras in the pits is going to be a huge focus with our business including live onboard cameras (not go pro, proper broadcast on board incar systems) which is where the question on camera angles comes from. we have developed a system for pole line and wall cameras which are smaller than a go pro but we can show these live not edited in later with the technology we have coming with them.

We have invested a lot of time and a S*** load of money into choosing the right technology for the sport. I fully understand the concept of speedway racing that sometimes its not the person leading that you need to be following and have knowledge of how the different classes run, I come from an international motorsport broadcasting background and will bring that experience into providing SNZ and other sports in nz a professional service. I want to build the exposure of SNZ around the world and have great plans to develop these into the next season.

The reason I am on a site like this is I want to be customer focused as it is you guys and girls who will keep my service running. I want to be involving you in our business so we can provide the best and most professional service. We are wanting these ideas from you so you can feel like as a customer you are receiving the product you have paid for and are willing to watch on an ongoing basis. The more suggestions we get from you the better our service can be tailored to speedway fans.

[busterbell]

my own opinion is if it is kept cheap enough people will tune in when they are not attending their local speedway or travelling to get their fix. quite often it is the club night that provides more action when competitors are not so much focused on championships and flag racing. if you can nail down a stable/reliable stream the confidence of past burnt customers may return. cheap and stable would be the top of most peoples thought's i would have suspected.
i may sound like a wet blanket but we have heard promises in the past. so far no-one has been able to master it.

[Speedway Central (David)]

CAMERAMAN Good post by dont you want to put your name to thread.

[SpeedwayLive]

We have worked on a number of options and have some ready to release.

As most people are aware we are more than happy to help any track or organisation to help move or sport forward.

The market is too small for everyone "to have ago" we need a coordinated approach in order for the product/sport to succeed ...

More than willing to talk to ya ... drop us a line or if you want to ring I'll past on my number.

Jason
SpeedwayLive

[Pirate Racing NZ]

Reliable feed, interviews and stuff can wait. I want the sole focus on the racing. Perhaps a ticker tape along the bottom of the screen with all field order. Also focus on close racing, not just on first when a lap ahead.

[mgninc]

The answer is probably ' fan demographic' ?

Speedways heart and soul probably lies in the sounds and smells, the over priced hotdogs, the people watching that goes with every event. Unless you can create smell o vision, you'll probably always get more of the negative than the positive as people seem to want a live experience that can't be achieved without being there (unless you somehow work out a 6th sense of seeing that big move/crash about to happen out of the corner of your view finder and can capture it)

I suspect you'd also need a huge shift in driver mentality in terms of willingness to speak and participate in a broadcast also

[theycallmewade]

If you ask the drivers (and I am sure most who have had a DNF and been parked on the infield will agree) the racing looks way faster from the infield! The pole line cam and wall cam are great ideas - a camera on the infield mid turn picking the cars up as they pitch into the corner and accelerate through is really good as well!

[cameraman]

Thank you to everyone who has posted so far. they are all valid points and have taken note of them.
In regards to been done before etc...that is our hardest issue we are finding at this time due to the issues other companies have had supplying this service.

Busterbell - reliable, cost effective and club nights are 3 of our top priorities our first so many will be offered free as a this is what we can provide type service then work pricing into it that way once we have proven ourselves as a stable system. One place we really want to try with our system for free is Rotorua as it is a notorious track location for this service but we want to trial it with our technology to see what happens. Also Harrisville due to all the air-force technology will be interesting to trial.

Pricing will be very cost effective. the only issue with pricing is that the track promoters dictate the price generally. we are working on another approach at this time to offer the tracks a different deal than previous services.

Camera angles are a little difficult for in field stuff which is why we are going for the pole line camera technology we have developed due to SNZ rules on people on the infield and positions of these people. We would love to have a camera operator on each corner of the track infield but is not possible. (work in progress)

Driver interviews - something to think about going into the future of the sport...all other broadcasted sport have interviews with people. its another way to connect their sponsors to the public as well. We would never force an interview on anyone but is a great thing for people to try develop the skill into the future.

Cody
Multicam Live
(Phone number pm if you would like a chat very open to talk about what we are doing and what we can offer)
email directly at: [e-mail]

[busterbell]

i think most people are understanding and tolerant of hiccups at a reasonable $ but when the price gets jacked up for premium events and the quality remains the same (stability etc) that's when people lash out with unkind opinions. yes i know the finger gets pointed to the promoter but it is a hurdle that needs addressing from a consumers point of view for you to consider.

[cameraman]

I too have been a recent customer and I know how it feels to become a customer paying good money to look at a black buffering screen and no audio. Sometimes we have issues in professional motorsport broadcasts but we fix them and get messages to the viewers informing of the issue. Technology can go wrong at times but you can always do something to keep the show going.
We are wanting a one price fits all approach for our streams so weather its a club night or a teams champs or a national title we will have one fair set price. We will also look at season pass rates (suggested by go slideways). The quality will be at a level that we could sell broadcast to sky, tvnz, mediaworks etc on their HD network for every event that we do. (yes I know promises promises time will tell and macgors viewers will be first to receive a link to our first free livestream even if its not speedway but at least its something to start looking at.

[Go Slideways]

I agree with what's been said on here and appreciate the opportunity for input.

I like it when the stream flows constantly with no jerking or freezing, I also like it when the camera operators or live editors that switch from camera to camera can "read" a race - harder than it sounds I know. I've never subscribed to the Palmy live stream but going by MacGors screen shots on here the operators at Palmy seem to capture most of the action.

I'd like more interviews with drivers to explain their cars, set ups, and about the engines as I'm a bit ignorant in this area.

I'd like a cheaper price for streaming, no really I would - this could be achieved by having a major sponsor on board or by viewers subscribing to more than just one night, a series, or a season subscription.

I'd like the commentator to refer to the car number as well as the drivers name, although the worst commentary I've heard is from the international Lucas Oil program that covered the Palmy Teams Champs where they just said "a massive hit from the blue car on the red car.."

My biggest bug bear though is that I'd like the commentary to match what is being shown on the screen.

I am also a fan of Sprintcar racing and I watch a lot of video's on-line that generally only have just 1 camera covering a meeting, other than the Knoxville Nationals, and that seems to work OK for the class. They do sometimes go to another angle if there's been a crash and the race has stopped giving time for replays.

Here's a 1 camera highlights video from the World of Outlaws at I-80 Speedway on the 5th June 2015

[busterbell]

mcfall use to film in palmy with one camera and his work is the best i have seen. there was more action then too, just before the hotrods came onto the scene.

[knownotmuch]

Good question. I have not as yet considered purchasing live-stream for a few reasons. We are committed to being at our local track every time they run, we travel to as many major meetings as we can so the ones we would most consider streaming, we are already at. We are of the generation that tends to be slower at taking up new technology. If we happen to have a weekend when we are not at Speedway we tend to be out at one of our other hobbies.

I think the service that you could provide that would most interest people like us would be, coverage available at a later date at reduced cost and of course DVDs to add to our extensive collection.

[thewatcher]

I agree with knownotmuch , as say I was at My local track and Palmy had a good meeting on and knowing it was lived streamed I could purchase and watch it at the track which I have done before , but would be good knowing that if I did purchase it and didnt get to watch the live stream I could watch it on sunday or when I got home from My local meeting ect , like on demand type thing

[cameraman]

We will be creating DVDs of every event we do including a on demand service online for a small monthly fee which gives you unlimited access to the videos.

[busterbell]

curious as to what events and venues you intend to cover and if the plan is to compete with existing streamers?

[mgninc]

"My biggest bug bear though is that I'd like the commentary to match what is being shown on the screen."

The reason this happens is because it's usually a feed from the venue call and the commentary are rarely watching the stream footage, they are calling what's in front of them and I suspect as 2 pairs of eyes can watch most of the track and pick up incidents unfolding which a camera/director team struggle with in real time . You either need a fully separate team, OR a choice has to be made that live stream call comes first and the punters at the venue get a call that doesn't match what they are seeing

This was a learning for us this year as we did livestream for D1NZ, but our battles are easier to work through as you can simply follow camera 1/2/3 for the sections as opposed to trying to scan an oval with things happening everywhere

[beachboy]

another thing to beware of is that it is all well and good to have all the modern cameras and tech gear but you need to be 100% certain the internet feed or satellite you are using to broadcast live from the track is up to the task otherwise it will just turn to custard which seems to have been the biggest killer so far.