A modest proposal to the BTN - Let FSD produce our hockey home games next year
February 18th, 2012 at 8:45 AM ^
So the FSD crew eats babies?
February 18th, 2012 at 9:38 AM ^
but the BTN anouncers do. they are the wurst.
February 18th, 2012 at 9:12 AM ^
February 18th, 2012 at 9:36 AM ^
I didn't see it because I was at Yost, but ordinarily, it's customary for the broadcast crew to actually be in the same state as where the game is taking place.
February 18th, 2012 at 9:39 AM ^
BTN can't afford to send a crew to Ann Arbor? Really?
And this is the second time they've done this for a Michigan game (first time was at Munn last Friday)
February 18th, 2012 at 9:39 AM ^
I was at the game live blogging but got several messages from Michigan and NMU fans about the horrid announcing throughout the evening. They referred to NMU as "UNM," Ferris State University as "State Ferris University," kept talking about Michigan's small ice rink for some reason (it's NHL size), and just sounding overall bad. Not to mention the announcers were NOT even at Yost for the event but rather at their Chicago studio (same thing with the game at Michigan State last Friday). They also presented their keys to the game and for Northern they said they needed to score goals and get shots. Thanks, Captain Obvious! Yes, they pay someone to come up with this stuff.
February 18th, 2012 at 3:09 PM ^
Actually, they were comparing Yost to NMU's rink, which is Olympic size, so Yost is smaller.
February 18th, 2012 at 9:22 AM ^
I didn't see anything terribly wrong with it but then to be fair I was too busy screaming about the officiating to really notice one way or the other.
February 18th, 2012 at 10:09 AM ^
I've gone to many Michigan Hockey games over the years, and I'm pretty sure they descended to a new level of bad in this game. The "interference" calls around the net were atrocious. The gem of the evening was Bennett's clean hit where he led with his shoulder, and they called it a "cross check."
WTF were these idiots looking at? Bring on the B1G.
February 18th, 2012 at 11:58 AM ^
Agreed. And in defense of the announcers, they were all over the officials for that call.
February 18th, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^
Personally I think it's improved a bit. The BTN is still learning how to do hockey. Sometimes the camerawork is awful which drives me nuts but generally the announcing is ok. I think I'm just happy that I can watch Michigan hockey on TV. I'll take BTN over nothing every day of the week
February 18th, 2012 at 10:22 AM ^
It helps if the game call crew is actually in the arena... This simulcasting shit needs to stop. It is lazy and cheap. Furthermore, it causes both the PBP and colorman to miss action that may not be caught on camera. However, that is besides point that the BTN needs to actually learn the names of the universities playing in the game. Seriously, it is Northern Michigan University, not the University of Northern Michigan.
At least the BTN has Aaron Ward in the studio.
February 18th, 2012 at 10:11 AM ^
Probably because BTN broadcasts to an audience all over the country while FSD only does Michigan, so if FSD were to have all the games, a large amount of Michigan fans located all over the country wouldn't be able to watch a single game.
February 18th, 2012 at 10:32 AM ^
February 18th, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^
Exactly. Pretty sure it's a lot of the same technical crew anyway, there's no reason why BTN couldn't use a local announcing crew instead of a few talking heads watching the game on a monitor in another time zone.
February 18th, 2012 at 10:17 AM ^
They wouldn't get much airtime anyways. Friday and Saturday night, there's usually Pistons basketball or Red Wings hockey. It'd be the rare Friday or Saturday that neither of those teams play that they'd get a game broadcast (like last weekend). Or if we had a game at an odd time (like today).
February 18th, 2012 at 11:48 AM ^
He is saying since FSN and BTN are both owned by Fox, they could essentially have a FSN crew (Broadcasters, cameramen, etc...) doing the game while the game is aired on BTN. Thus a national audience can still watch.
February 18th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^
This year is better than the last few, but FSD seems to prefer UM in standard definition.
February 18th, 2012 at 1:43 PM ^
It won't be long (maybe next year) before pretty much all FSN productions are in HD. It's reached a point financially and equipment-wise where there's no reason to do stuff in standard definition anymore.
February 18th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^
It doesn't really work like that. The two are technically "owned" by FOX but operate from different budgets and with different contracts. It's not nearly as clear-cut as FOX just taking a chunk of money from BTN and giving it to FSD to produce a game for BTN (I can't really explain why in this space); that's something BTN would have to work out if they felt it made more sense logistically/financially.
From FSD's standpoint, the amount of people and equipment required to run a production like a Michigan hockey game is substantial, and with a Pistons or Red Wings game usually taking up FOX Sports Detroit's staffing, they would likely have to bring in a crew at a significant cost. There's no way they'd do that without either (a) the benefit of broadcasting the game and getting the ad revenue or (b) a check for the full amount of production from BTN, which wouldn't be practical for BTN since they presumably can produce the game at a lower cost using their craptacular off-site announcing team.
February 18th, 2012 at 2:03 PM ^
To me, it seems like BTN brings twice as much equipment and crew as the other networks (Comcast local and FSD) that cover games at Yost. Is it completely necessary to have like 4 or 5 cameramen? I personally prefer FSD when the Wings aren't playing b/c Ken Daniels usually covers the game. Saw him and Mickey getting some coffee a few years ago before heading upstairs to the pressbox.
February 18th, 2012 at 2:21 PM ^
I'm not directly involved in production, but I think 3-4 cameras for hockey is the norm. You have the main game-action camera, a secondary camera or two (depending if you want to be able to spotlight particular players) and a roving cameraman with the talent person.
You might have more if you want to get in-the-arena scenic stuff or if there is a pregame ceremony or something you want to be able to get footage of from a particular spot.
Anyway, BTN's 4-5 might be a little many but not crazy. The extra camera feeds probably make it easier to have the announcers off-site since they can see more of what's going on, so maybe that's a cost-benefit thing.
February 19th, 2012 at 2:42 PM ^
I just have noticed that BTN in general has a lot more equipment than FSD and Comcast.
FSD seems to do the main camera, a corner (either by the band or 3rd floor by north stands) and maybe an extra one on the ground level. BTN had like 2 in the corners ice level along with the ones up top.