WOW!!
Thanks very much for all the feedback, the emails, private messages and posts. All feedback is important in any new project and we've spent today absorbing much of that.
We will use this post to give you a few of our thoughts from
a production point of view and answer directly some of the points that have been brought up by people who have been in contact.
Firstly, the viewing numbers were outstanding. We don't have Shoreline's permission to release them yet but when they are made public it will be quite a surprise to many. We can say that the show was watched online in 57 countries within the first 24 hours of going live. All the data available to this point far exceeds the projects targets.
The show was exactly as was stated that it would be. A show that was aimed purely at existing people in paintball with nothing really for new players. That was always the plan, that was what was stated in public over and over and that is pretty much what the show was.
There is an interview with Tim Barnett of Shoreline on the website which we have linked below. This interview was released well in advance of the first show airing but it does rather succinctly explain what the show is all about and address in advance many of the points that have been raised since it aired.
Positive feedback is always easy to address and thank the hundreds of you who took the time to send us your thanks, those are great to receive.
However, negative feedback is often much more useful. There was a fair bit of feedback that was not wholly positive, more than we are used to, which we take as a good sign that the paintball industry clearly watched the show, are passionate and are engaged enough to provide thoughts. Some of the negatives we've had back are based on viewers simply not having all the facts or the knowledge of a given situation so we are quite used to filtering those.
From the negative feedback, a couple of things jump out:
The use of swearing in the show is probably the most contentious and controversial so we'll tackle that head on.
The use of swearing is very much a personal taste issue. We have received many messages from viewers saying they do not understand why people are making such a fuss about a few swear words and that the more natural and 'every day' style of conversation and language used by the presenters and panel actually made the show more accessible and less stuffy. But it is also true to say that far more people who have raised the issue of swearing thought it unnecessary and gave an impression of being unprofessional.
There are two points to make are about that:
1) The presenters and panel are briefed on the use of swearing and language and were briefed that the show was not designed to be 'vanilla' so the use of colourful language was permitted if it came naturally. We did not want the panel or presenters to act in a way that was not natural to them, given that none of them are professional media presenters. The way the panel and presenters spoke and conversed on the first show was exactly the way they speak and converse off camera - which is what they were briefed to do.
2) Over a dozen panel, guests and presenters are used in the show. In terms of the panel, most swear at some point over the course of the series. Nearly all the panellists are high achieving people. Some own or run large companies and in fairness we don't think anyone would question the professionalism of people who we have come into contact with like Simon Cole, Tim, Sid, Yorky, Ledz, Greg, Frank, Paul or any of the others who appeared on the show. Swearing is a matter of personal taste. The presenters and panel performed according to the brief they were given.
However, we have received a request from Shoreline today in light of the feedback to bleep out any 'F-words' from future shows. We have advised editorially against it. Shoreline have agreed to wait until they see a final edit of episode 2 later this week before taking a definite decision. That is their call and it may be a decision that they make against the advice of production if there appears a greater sensitivity within this paintball audience. It is our belief that as the audience is not used to seeing any content relating to this activity on television that there is a 'hyper sensitivity' regarding this issue. We have seen similar in the past. Ultimately, Shoreline will have the final decision as owners of the show but from a production and channel broadcast point of view, we are very comfortable with the quantity and use of language in the first episode for a show of this nature and format and for the channel and time it was broadcasted.
So that covers the hottest feedback topic - swearing.
A couple of other feedback notes also reappeared consistently:
Quite a few people asked why a team of professional presenters were not drafted in to present the show with several people suggesting Gary Lineker! The answer is very obvious but probably worth us explaining.
Gary Lineker is a professional media presenter. In television, you simply don't just book him, pay the fees and then expect him to anchor 6 hours of television to a very niche and knowledgeable audience. In reality, it would take months of intensive media and knowledge based training and hundreds of thousands of pounds to turn a presenter into someone who can be a plausible presenter of a very niche and technical activity. Even if the show had the budget to do this (which it certainly did not), then it is likely much of the feedback would have been "..why didn't you get a paintballer to present the show and be the panel..?" so it is a bit of a no win situation from a production point of view and possibly a reality gap between a small niche show for a small niche activity and mainstream programming.
However, we will say this. The panel and the main presenter did a fantastic job under circumstances that an average viewer would simply never appreciate. On episode 1, the panellist Andrew Steele
stepped in to do the show with only about 24 hours notice. The autocue machine developed a technical problem during ep1 which meant that for 50% of the show, the main presenter Tim was forced to ad lib on the hoof as the autocue repeatedly failed mid-presentation whilst filming 'as live'. These sorts of faults are commonplace and we work with both professional presenters and amateurs on a daily basis and these are the sorts of problems that can unsaddle even the most experienced. But all of the panel and presenters throughout the entire series performed at a level that we did not expect. Naturally, they relax more as the series progresses, but from a production point of view and also on behalf of the channel we are totally impressed with the level of ability and professionalism displayed by all those involved.
Some comments regarding poor sound quality on some parts of the show are fair and valid. Some of the VT's were supplied by external parties over which we had no control. There was wind noise on the team VT in episode 1 and the Two Minute Drill VT in episode 2, both VT's were externally provided (i.e. not made in house by the show). In an ideal world all VT’s would be produced internally but clearly for a program of this nature that is never going to be the case. When compared to the quality of the VT’s in many other small niche activities that appear on television, the show actually punches well above its weight.
Comments regarding the set, VT quality etc are very much related to budget as one might expect. I believe Shoreline as the owners of the show have gone on record to say their total investment in the show has exceeded £100,000 which in television terms is very small. This has to manifest itself in some ways and things like a sparse set are probably the most obvious. An element of reality has to be accepted in that there is a reason why there is no paintball on television and that is because it is a very small niche activity. Anyone expecting Top Gear production and set values was always going to be disappointed. Again, there were some extenuating technical reasons why some aspects of the set were not used (i.e. flooring).
Lastly, some people have pointed out that the audience was very small during the first show. This is 100% correct. Some shows had a large audience and some had a very small audience. At times, as many as 70% of the audience who had booked seats and denied those seats to others who wanted to come - simply did not turn up. In hindsight, it was an error to show the audience shots that we did as it made the room look sparse, but we were aware that audience members who did turn up were excited to be involved and seen on the show. So it is a question of balancing audience disappointment at not being shown with the aesthetic of the shot. However, those comments are fair and correct and for episode 3 and onwards we have made a change to the editing to take that feedback in to account.
Really, that covers the main points that have been raised regarding episode 1.
1) Swearing - the presenters and panel were briefed and did what they were told. Shoreline have asked for future high end swear words to be bleeped and a final decision will be made on that later this week.
2) Presenting - it does not work that a professional media presenter simply will jump into a chair and anchor hours of technical programming without massive investment. We are all very impressed with the presenting and panellists on the show.
3) Set, audio quality - externally provided VT's and an element of realism regarding where paintball is in the TV world probably address most points raised
4) Audience - why paintballers and teams would book seats and then consistently just not show up was a bit of a mystery and disappointment which did create some challenges. However, we will adjust the editing from ep3 onwards to be more sympathetic and take on board the feedback provided about this.
Conclusion:
Any production can be better and we value feedback.
Some will always hate a show. Some will always love a show. That’s television. For this project we just wanted the majority of people to look at it and think: “…this is not perfect, but its not a bad start and I can see where they are trying to go with it over time…”
Judging by the feedback, that seems to be an accurate reflection of the first episode.
Thank you.
Production.
Have checked today channel 191 and is not listed for Saturday around 9pm
