No blimp over Jacksonville for MNF

An overhead shot of the sprawl of Jacksonville, or stock shots from around town, those I don't have a problem with. An overhead shot of a stadium at night when you're showing a night game? That is dodgy, I think.

 

Yeah, wouldn't argue with that.

 

I see your point, but I don't think it applies. Showing a palm tree somewhere else across the city is not the same as showing the stadium at which the event is taking place.

Even the ESPN exec in the story says he can "see why viewers would be under that assumption" that the shot was live. Viewers assume that it's live because that is the way it is being portrayed.

Usually a blimp is overhead for a prime-time national game and there's no reason for the viewer to assume the Jacksonville game would be any different.

 

I can see why the viewer might be under the assumption the palm tree shot is live, too. But the viewer is wrong, and if I'm the broadcaster, that's not my problem.

If they are, in fact, showing aerials of the stadium from a previous game, that gets onto very shaky ground -- particularly for Jacksonville, where attendance is an issue and people may be wondering how many people are in the stands.

 

To speak to the PCLL's general point, I distinctly remember one day in Beijing turning on NBC and they had an aerial shot that showed a beautiful sunny day when in fact it was raining and quite foggy outside.

 

I've seen the same two guys flinging salmon at Pike's Place in Seattle every time FSN does a broadcast from there.

 

Maybe I'm the only one, but ...

Canned shots from downtown and whatnot I expect to be file.
Blimp shots I expect to be live. Frankly, never even considered/thought that they might not be.

 

The blimp shots of the stadium in Jacksonville, with their franchise and attendance issues, ARE a big deal.

Its not the same as the standard intro/outro of the Santa Monica pier with games in LA.

 

The odd thing is that there was a blimp over the stadium Monday night, as I attended the game. I know the blimp is nothing more than an advertising mechanism for the sponsor (DirectTV on Monday) but I'd think it would be equipped with a camera at the least.

The stadium was near capacity and rocking, as it's been for the past two-plus years. Attendance issues in Jax have become a popular cliche while larger markets are struggling, some with even smaller stadiums than Everbank Field.

 

So there's a very good chance the shots of the stadium were live, while the scenics were not.

 

Hondo has a sock puppet.

 

I knew something was up when I saw fans in the stands at a Jaguars' game.

Here's the actual shot ...