Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2020/02/28/mailbag-much-video-dgpt-livestream/
Welcome to Ultiworld Disc Golf’s brand new mailbag! You don’t necessarily see my byline around here too much — I am more often behind the scenes as the publisher, but I’m still here as a co-host of the Upshot podcast with Jamie Thomas and I generally report from Worlds and USDGC every year.
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Q: At Las Vegas Challenge, it was great that I could watch all of Nate Sexton’s rounds, but it seems like there was more coverage than I could possibly take in. Thoughts?
– Daniel D.
A: So much coverage. Truly, I doubt there are many people out there that watched every available round from LVC. But isn’t this the problem that we want to have?
Nobody said that you have to consume every bit of disc golf video. While that’s honestly been realistic in past years, I think we’re entering a world in which now you’ll pick and choose your favorite rounds or players to watch. The increase in the depth of coverage (there’s already been good breadth across tournaments) is going to make for more of the best moments to get captured. Sometimes, magic happens on the third card.
And if that means that there’s just too much to take in, that’s OK. Honestly, that’s why I believe so much in the power of live coverage long-term. Because then you get the best of all worlds. You get to watch the leaders battle it out, and you get to see the guy who catches fire on the fifth card with an ace and an eagle. You get to watch one program and see all of the best moments of the round.
Now I know we’ve got a ways to go to create that reality — more cameras, more production personnel — but I honestly believe we will see strides in the next couple of years towards true multi-card, multi-hole coverage.
Question of the Week: Thoughts on the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s livestream from Memorial? I feel like it’s a lot better this year.
– Jack A.
A: Oh, boy, what an improvement over a year ago! Much smoother all around. Nice, crisp video, decent sound, and lots of hyzers 🙂
I want to comment more on the thing that I think will make the most difference this year and seems to have gone off to a great start: having FPO lead card take the course as MPO lead is on the back nine. Here’s why that’s great:
#1: It offers multi-card coverage. Instead of looking at the guys in the booth, we can bounce back and forth between shots from each of the lead cards, even if MPO gets the focus. More golf, less downtime.
#2: It gets people watching FPO, instead of skipping the morning rounds. There are great stories and shotmaking in FPO and this highlights it in a much more effective way. This will raise FPO’s profile.
#3: It improves the experience for spectators at the course, who don’t have to stay at the course all day to watch the best players play at 10 AM for FPO and 2 PM for MPO. All the best are on the course at the same time.
This change seems so obvious that I can’t believe it’s taken this long. I hope that non-DGPT tournaments follow suit.