NoMoreGears

Questions and motives behind ARD / ZDF pullout

July 20, 2007 on 9:21 am | In Uncategorized |

Standing at the finish in Marseille the whole ruckus with the German pull out unfolded. The next day at the start it continued. In the meantime the army of cars and staff (somewhere between 150 and 200 people) just set up again, business as usual, at the finish in Montpellier. Was it all bluff? Instead of German TV reporting, they were reported themselves. Instead of pointing their cameras on the outside world, the cameras were pointed on them. I don’t believe that is the place for a TV station to be. That is not what they are paid for. Other broadcasters thought their moves ridiculous and false. TV is there to report and sometimes to bring up subjects. But not to judge said one reporter. The Tour De France organization was perplexed. Riders were saddened as no TV coverage hurts their livelihoods. Eurosport, which saw a jump in their viewer-ship in Germany, did not know what the fuzz was about. Afterall the system worked and a cheater was caught. That was a good thing not? Others were far more damming and crude and I better not repeat what was being said.
I agree with all these sentiments. It seems that the over political correctness by some in Germany (in politics) was getting out of hand. If there was another case of cheating in say soccer or F1, would they also have puled the plug?
Yet I have many more questions?

German TV has a contract with ASO which obliges them to broadcast at least two hours of Tour de France a day. So what now? This sets a huge precedent in the world of TV rights. One TV executive who brought this up, was amazed what was going on and predicted that the lawyers would make a lot of extra hours before a save facing solution would be found.

One thing I never understand is the timing of these doping cases. This asshole rider was caught beginning of June during a training camp in Pau. Normally these tests take 72 hours before they give results. So why was it revealed all this time later, bang in the middle of the Tour de France? That behavior is almost as bad as the doping. The timing has been orchestrated to inflict maximum damage to the sport of cycling. And the livelihoods of the vast vast majority who do not dope.

So who is behind this? UCI, German Cycling Federation? I don’t know. I am at a loss what is happening here and why.

That is it for now. My prediction is that German TV will be back soon in the air. The have a contract and still have their army of trucks and reporters running around. They scored a huge black eye, Stop being a judge, just continue reporting. Politicians should stay out of these things.

More later on NuVinci at the Tour and Tour de France hotels. In the meantime I have to repair a burst tire and drive north unfortunately.