Triathlon Reality Show
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Sully800 posted 1 year ago.
hobbes7;82568 wrote:
I have a good friend who works in programming for a cable network. we were arguing about the possibility of a triathlon reality show.He told me that nobody would watch, because there aren't enough people out there into the sport.
What do you think?
Would you watch a triathlon reality show. I am trying to show him that there is interest? Maybe I'm wrong:)
Dave
Of course we would watch it. Whether it would have mass appeal is the real question and I don't really know how to answer it.
People watch The Contender though most people are not especially into boxing. It certainly has a bigger niche than triathlon but if The Contender works this might as well. It's just a little bit harder to follow the athletes since they are constantly moving instead of standing in a ring, which would make the filming more difficult (especially in races, and that would be crucial for the show).
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stewarba posted 1 year ago.
The sport is definitely growing as should be evident by things like IM Championship live feed being overly clogged this past weekend, but has it reached a point of critical mass where the networks could make some money off of it. If they aren't televising Kona live then probably not and those guys have more statistics than you can shake a stick at.
In order for a reality show to work, it would need to be setup in a way that would draw ordinary people in which in my mind would be something in line with the biggest loser type format where you take some ordinary out of shape types and follow their progression towards achieving a triathlon of some distance. I'm not sure that that would appeal to the real triathlete so much but may appeal to the ordinary person. I would think that most ordinary people can't relate to a triathlete in terms of the amount of commitment and the distances involved and while they may be fascinated, I doubt they tune in. But, if you put ordinary people in, who knows.
My .02 worth
Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body!
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Socket posted 1 year ago.
I think it could be pretty cool to watch as long as they keep the training parts to montages a-la Biggest Loser; it's lot to keep track of though. Weekly competitions with average joes of single splits or bricks, mid-season sprints, and olympic finally.
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jbird2131 posted 1 year ago.
it could be good exposure for the sport. it could also be very entertaining. PS where do i sign up?
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trainDaBrain posted 1 year ago.
I think triathlon is for the 2000's like marathons were for the 1980's and 90's.
There's a larger percentage of people that are doing these kinds of races because of it's social benchmark quality. The trick is to keep these once-timers interested enough to make fitness and racing a lifestyle choice and not a watercooler-one-time-bragging right.
Reality TV in general (IMHO) is fairly lame, especially when it comes down to actor/participant compensation, but there's definitely enough interest out there to keep people watching for a season.
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deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
A lot of Survivor contestants were also triathletes. This helped them with the physical aspects of the challenges which often include swimming.
I think that as entertainment value, watching endurance sports is not the most thrilling TV. It's more entertaining to watch tennis for an hour than someone run for an hour. Same thing with biking - without the thrill of peloton sprint finishes, the bike leg is pretty boring to watch.
You would need to add a lot more drama and direct competition to make it "good tv"
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stewarba posted 1 year ago.
deepbluex;82608 wrote:
I think that as entertainment value, watching endurance sports is not the most thrilling TV. It's more entertaining to watch tennis for an hour than someone run for an hour. Same thing with biking - without the thrill of peloton sprint finishes, the bike leg is pretty boring to watch.
Whats interesting is when you think of a sport like golf, you wonder how anyone could watch something like that, but if its done right it can be very entertaining to watch. The key in golf is that they never focus on the "non-action" aspect of the sport. They only show you guys actually taking a shot or a put and never focus in on all of the dead time while slowly letting the story unfold. This requires that cameras be put at key spots on the course. You mentioned biking and the peleton, that is a fairly easy thing to keep track of. One helicopter in the air filming the peleton and a guy with a camera on the back of a motorcycle that covers the breakaway - In a Triathlon (especially a IM or HIM) you would need alot of equipment to cover all of the racers as they spread out but how much more equipment would you need to cover a triathlon?
Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body!
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psychosyd posted 1 year ago.
This is a funny thread because we were trying to pitch this idea to a network in Canada. We found little interest in the idea, except for the OLN network (versus) and they have no money to produce new shows. THey would pay to run it, but nothing to help produce it.
We wanted to take a bunch of athletes from all levels, and give them the opportunity (full sponsorship like the pros) to train for an Ironman (IMC) with full support of a coaching team, bike and gear companies, etc. . .
It is still a possiblity, but on a much smaller scale. We would probably have to foot the whole bill to get it done, and I don't have that sort of cash floating around. It might just be a web based thing.
Working on it for you guys though!
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Tikal Dog posted 1 year ago.
sign me in psychosyd :D
Hyperactive Trifueler!!!! (I refuse to let the status go :p)
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jbird2131 posted 1 year ago.
well good luck and i hope you are successful, keep us in mind
I have a good friend who works in programming for a cable network. we were arguing about the possibility of a triathlon reality show.
He told me that nobody would watch, because there aren't enough people out there into the sport.
What do you think?
Would you watch a triathlon reality show. I am trying to show him that there is interest? Maybe I'm wrong:)
Dave