Re: New FEI standards -- Olympics coverage

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>Sorry Bette, but I do think that you are being naive. It's one thing to
>broadcast a show jumping contest which takes place in a small arena and
>quite another to broadcast an endurance ride that takes place over
>lord-knows-how-many square miles.

Couple this with the fact that we have to fight for any kind of equestrian
coverage!  Track and gymnastics are the big draws for viewers to the TV
stations...and the "horse sports" televised end up being segments of
dressage  and stadium jumping (easily shot by the cameras) and a bit of
cross-country because of it's "crash and burn" type of attraction.
Dressage gets the least since it's a bit akin to watching grass grow
(especially for the non-horsey crowd) and stadium jumping gets the most
coverage since it has a fair number of wrecks to amuse the general public.
The TV stations don't want you get bored and to start flipping channels and
they don't see equestrian events as a big draw.  The most we could probably
ever hope for is a brief recap of a day's events in endurance...or a shot
of the winners crossing the line and brief explanation of the course and
requirements.

Sue (an Olympics junkie <g>)

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.