IAAF had a big seminar in Athens last weekend regarding track & TV. Good account of some of the action on sportscal.com, which is a subscription service so I can only excerpt some small bits here. One of the prime speakers was NBC's Peter Diamond, Senior Vice-President of Olympic programming (and longtime T&FN correspondent). Among things he said:
<<.....Diamond said that athletics' 'primary problem' is the length of most
athletics meetings: usually at least four hours, compared with two and a
half hours for American football, basketball or ice hockey matches.
He said: 'Nobody has that kind of time, or attention span. You might
suggest that spectators show up late, or that television starts its
coverage late. But what kind of sport has events it doesn't want people to
see?'......
Diamond also argued that the presentation of athletics needs to be
simplified, saying: 'I've always had the feeling the sport has been
developed and presented by people with an expert mentality, and that it
takes a semi-expert to watch it. The amount of activity on the field is
dazzling - too dazzling in fact.'
Diamond advocated fewer finalists and fewer attempts at a height or
distance in field events, an end to track and field events being scheduled
concurrently, 'lines and coloured landing sectors' that enable spectators
and viewers to judge for themselves the success of a throw or jump, and
distinctive national team uniforms to enable them to identify athletes....>>
<<.....Diamond said that athletics' 'primary problem' is the length of most
athletics meetings: usually at least four hours, compared with two and a
half hours for American football, basketball or ice hockey matches.
He said: 'Nobody has that kind of time, or attention span. You might
suggest that spectators show up late, or that television starts its
coverage late. But what kind of sport has events it doesn't want people to
see?'......
Diamond also argued that the presentation of athletics needs to be
simplified, saying: 'I've always had the feeling the sport has been
developed and presented by people with an expert mentality, and that it
takes a semi-expert to watch it. The amount of activity on the field is
dazzling - too dazzling in fact.'
Diamond advocated fewer finalists and fewer attempts at a height or
distance in field events, an end to track and field events being scheduled
concurrently, 'lines and coloured landing sectors' that enable spectators
and viewers to judge for themselves the success of a throw or jump, and
distinctive national team uniforms to enable them to identify athletes....>>
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