Crufts Tv

[Beerhound]

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Haven't seen this anywhere so apologies if it has been. What did you all think of the BBC coverage this year?

 

[Lynn-Alexandria]

It was ok. Id prefer if they did two hours everynight. An hour each night and then two hours for Best In Show isnt enough. There is so much to see and do at crufts they could easily fill another hour into the first three nights.

 

[wilfred]

This is a difficult one really ... because most dog-showing folk would prefer to see more of the dog showing, but I guess the BBC are trying to draw in as wide an audience as possible and so you get bits of the flyball, the obedience etc.

At least now, they do show (if only briefly) every dog in the group and its name, before they show the shortlist for the group.

Sweet though Ben Fogle is, I do sometimes wish they would get someone more knowledgeable to present the programme. I realise there must be lots of "odd moments" to fill but I got the feeling a couple of times, that Ben was floundering a bit.

I do think though it has vastly improved since the days with Philippa Forrester (it was her, wasn't it?) and the other girl, a few years ago.

So all in all, my opinion was that the coverage has improved, but there is still room for improvement.

Oh and before I shut up and let someone else have a go (!!), just wanted to say that I thought the little lad Daniel and Yogi, his assistance dog, were marvellous and I was so pleased they won ... but I was surprised that whoever had organised this particular bit, didn't allow each contestant to have a supporter in the ring with them. That must have been such a nerve-wracking bit for them, and Daniel was obviously emotional when told he had won, I would have thought all contestants should have had a supporter stood with them out there in the "big ring", but especially the 2 children taking part.

 

[Beerhound]

Maybe they could do an extra programme for Agility/flyball/obedience etc (didn't they used to?) so that they could devote more time on the show evenings to the breed judging.

I thought that parts of the programme were good and others dreadful, do we really need to see Ben and Matt feeding their dogs easter eggs? Also the Labardoodle blunder !! Unfortunatly I do not have the red button so could not watch the extended coverage of the groups.

 

[Lynn-Alexandria]

I agree. They should get rid of that big bubble thing and have them out and about in the crowd rather than sitting in there talking. Maybe keep that for interviewing the group winners and what not...but not spend most of the time in there. Extra coverage of the obedience agility and flyball would be great. Also show the HTM aswell.

 

[Lynn-Alexandria]

This is a difficult one really ... because most dog-showing folk would prefer to see more of the dog showing, but I guess the BBC are trying to draw in as wide an audience as possible and so you get bits of the flyball, the obedience etc.
At least now, they do show (if only briefly) every dog in the group and its name, before they show the shortlist for the group.

Sweet though Ben Fogle is, I do sometimes wish they would get someone more knowledgeable to present the programme.  I realise there must be lots of "odd moments" to fill but I got the feeling a couple of times, that Ben was floundering a bit.

I do think though it has vastly improved since the days with Philippa Forrester (it was her, wasn't it?) and the other girl, a few years ago.

So all in all, my opinion was that the coverage has improved, but there is still room for improvement.

Oh and before I shut up and let someone else have a go (!!), just wanted to say that I thought the little lad Daniel and Yogi, his assistance dog, were marvellous and I was so pleased they won ... but I was surprised that whoever had organised this particular bit, didn't allow each contestant to have a supporter in the ring with them.  That must have been such a nerve-wracking bit for them, and Daniel was obviously emotional when told he had won, I would have thought all contestants should have had a supporter stood with them out there in the "big ring", but especially the 2 children taking part.

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Did Gabby Rosalin host crufts at one point? Im not sure.

 

[wilfred]

Yes I think she did (and the least said about that, the better!! :rant: ) Apologies to any Gaby Roslin fans out there

Yes, Beerhound's post has just reminded me of the obvious blunders we winced at (Labradoodles, dog easter eggs, all sorts of stuff!).

I know Jessica Holm is a busy girl, but we really need someone like her presenting it, IMO. Someone who knows the subject of dog showing inside and out, and able to put across factually and knowledgeably, what it is exhibitors are doing, etc etc.

 

[Beerhound]

I think that maybe the BBC employ a presenter who is going to pull the viewers regardless of their dog/animal knowledge. At least Ben was better than the silly, giggly, blondes that we have been subject to in the past as at least he knew one end of a dog to the other.

I also wish that when showing the clips of each BOB winner they could find a bit where the dog is moving well and not shaking or leaping around, fair enough most looked good but some didn't.

Still whatever they do they are not going to please everyone.

 

[doris]

I also wish that when showing the clips of each BOB winner they could find a bit where the dog is moving well and not shaking or leaping around

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I felt exactly the same - how disappointing to get that far, just for them to show, on national telly, a clip of your dog while he is slipping, shaking or sneezing!

and they didn't have much info on the ticker tape this year, its usually full of info like the dog's pet name, where he lives, how many cc's he's won, stuff like that

 

[jok]

I thought Ben Fogle was utter crap. There is a very funny piece in the Sunday Mirror today in Carol Malone's column about his Crufts Presenting skills. If you've got a copy, read it :lol:

Phillippa Forrester has been doing the presenting for the last couple of years but i think she's pregnant or just had a baby. Im almost certain Gabby Roslin has never done it. Phillippa is pretty good :thumbsup:

 

[chelynnah]

Up to this year my general review of the Crufts coverage (though I missed last years but heard it was better) was a couple of BBC Barbie Dolls running round doing doggie shopping and gushing over how cute this was and that was.....

With that in mind, I have to say that actually I was quite impressed with the coverage this year in comparison.

My main gripe is that they can inconvenience everyone for weeks and weeks of snooker and darts and all sorts, but they can't do 2-3 hours a night over FOUR DAYS of Crufts?? Before showing ever entered my mind I LOVED watching Crufts. Yes, I liked the flyball and agility and stuff, but the showing interested me as well - getting to see breeds you don't see that often. So it's not just the show people that want to see SHOWING.

It wasn't till the final night that I was home and was able to click the 'red button' to see the additional stuff after the show - but that was more like it - many of the breed rings, and a lot of the breed showing was there.

I see no reason we can't have fuller coverage for a few days, but going back to the point, the coverage was 100% better this year than I've seen in the past.

Wendy

 

[wilfred]

I couldn't remember when Gaby Roslin presented Crufts, so had a quick search on Google and it seems to have been around 1999-2000, some time round then.

 

[Strike Whippets]

Haven't seen this anywhere so apologies if it has been. What did you all think of the BBC coverage this year?

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Crap just about sums it up IMO

 

[EMILY]

Wasn't the best coverage, but there again at least it got on the telly! Being into horse riding, it is VERY rare to find any coverage of the big events such as HOYS and Olympia and so I did quite enjoy the crufts coverage albeit far too short! I was able to get the "extended viewing" coverage and so did get a better overall view of the judging rather than the shortened down version - still not enough of the agility or obedience though.

 

[Indee]

I thought it was crap. The presenter had nothing about him, and seemed not to know what he was saying or doing. Phillipa Forester was always good and what happened to Richard Hammond? It's improved from Gaby Roslin and Shauna Lowrey, which was just running round the stands going "ooh" and "ahh". I agree that Jessica Holmes should have the main job of presenting. I hate how the show the agilty and obediance as you never know what is going on as they show two clips from here and one from there then tell you the winner so you end up just going "EH?". There is not enough coverage of the showing and generally they only like to show the last of bit of best of group. All in all it seems like the BBC think we all have the attention span of a fish.

I have to bite my tongue on the "Friend for Life" presentation as what a load of utter b******s, who ever thought it should be shot. Daniel and Yogi were brilliant, it was their moment so why all that utter crap singing and waving people with dogs, it just reminded me of "crufts on ice". Oh wellk, thats all I'll allow myself to say.

 

[dessie]

Crap! Especially with a presenter whose father is a VET!!!

But the thing that REALLY annoys me is Jessica Holm when she talks about Heebie-Jeebies, sorry my pet name for PBGVs and every time she says

VendI-AN

it's not, it is VendEEN

and she owns the bloody things!! You would think she would know how to pronounce their names!!!!

 

[quintessence]

Bring back Claire Balding. I was watching her on the Commonwealth Games coverage and she shows the same no nonsence sensible approach that she demonstrated when she presented Crufts. Why is common sense so difficult to achieve when they stick people in front of a TV camera.

Jenny

 

[Beerhound]

But the thing that REALLY annoys me is Jessica Holm when she talks about Heebie-Jeebies, sorry my pet name for PBGVs and every time she says
VendI-AN

it's not, it is VendEEN

and she owns the bloody things!!  You would think she would know how to pronounce their names!!!!

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I pronouce it VendEEN as well!

It is annoying that we only get a few hours a year for our sport when other sports get a lot more coverage. I suppose other sporting events have a lot more followers than dog showing though.

 

[Kane]

I agree with everyone else! The worst thing though, I think, is the way they waste so much time with those silly montages of brief images from around the show and totally inappropriate backing music and also by telling us what we will be seeing next. If they cut out all those pointless links though, they would only have about 30 minutes of decent footage!

I'd much prefer one programme for each of the groups, presented by someone absolutely passionate about that particular group. If it lasted an hour or more, we could see something about the showing side and the breed standard and also get to see some dogs actually working and have people from a working background explaining how construction and temperament are important from their perspective.

Each programme could still end with the group judging (although we'd already know the results of some groups beforehand as they have 2 most days) and then we could have a totally separate obedience and flyball programme.

It is so frustrating every year, waiting for something doggy on tv, then finding out it has been 'dumbed down' yet again. Having the red interactive button is just wrong! Why should anyone have to pay extra to get half-decent coverage?!!

 

[boothros]

Haven't seen this anywhere so apologies if it has been. What did you all think of the BBC coverage this year?

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Really liked Ben Fogle. Didnt Kno he was Bruce Fogles son. Did anyone see extended showing after pressing the red button?