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5 minute read
TWBC
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Every water skier on the planet should know those four letters by now! You don’t know it yet? Well, hurry up and get on YouTube! The Waterski Broadcasting Company is giving us the most entertaining show that a camera can bring to a waterski tournament. Every weekend or so during the season, you can watch thevery best skiers on earththanks to the TWBC team. It started with just one man and a camera. Well, it is a little more complicated than that today.
The mind behind the show, TWBC’s CEO Vincent Stadlbaur, agreed to walk us through their journey.
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GD - Vince, I know you never doubted that you could achieve such a great product, but are you enjoying where you are right now?
VS - Since day one, we strove to deliver the best possible product. It takes a long time to be knowledgeable enough to be at the point we are right now. This season has been very good for TWBC for two reasons: first, the fact that we had a lot of events to webcast; and second, the one that I am the most proud of, is that we consistently delivered a good quality product. I am satisfied with the product we delivered this year, but we continuously strive to improve the quality of our webcast.
GD - The standards you set when you entered the business a few years ago have been pushed constantly ever since; do you still see some details to improve upon in order to bring a better show?
VS - Our goal at TWBC is to constantly improve. For next year, we would like to add new featureswith more graphics and camera angles for the audience to have a better viewing experience.
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GD - I already know the answer, but the figures are so impressive that I want you to tell the world: the show runs so smoothly on our screen; it is not hard to imagine the amount of gear you have to travel with all the time. Give us some data.
VS - In orderto have a smooth-running show during the weekend, a lot of pieces need to come together, such as equipment, crew, transportation, lodging, etc. The TWBC crew traveled a total of 200,000km, split between planes and cars. When we fly, we carry anexcess of 500kgs of gear, spread over 17 checked bags and 10 carry-ons. In the United States, we drive our broadcast trailer throughout the country in excess of 22,000kgs. The number-one expense for TWBC is the traveling costs for both crew and gear.
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GD -Amongst allthe features around the actual broadcast (Skier of the day, Podium prediction to win a ski etc.) one of my favorite features is now the pre-show. This looks so professional; I wonder if you already have something new in mind for next year?
VS - We try to connect more with our audience by creating ways for them to interact with the webcast. Last year we added the TOYOU Skier of the Day and the Audience Prize, which allows the viewers to be involved in the event. We also added a pre-show before the broadcast starts in order to give a feel for what to expect from the tournament. For next year, we are currently working on having more additions outside the webcast. These will be revealed at the 2023 Swiss Pro Slalom.
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GD - TWBChas been agame changer in the industry with the rise of the Waterski Pro Tour, the engagement of skiers on social media, the will of the IWWF to bring World titles to sites we can expect for such an event, and all the tournaments growing across the world. Do you see an increased interest for the sport, maybe with the number of viewers rising?
VS - Tournament waterskiing is at a very healthy place, with the establishment of the Waterski Pro Tour, the will of tournament organizers to put on events, and TWBC covering all of these events, we can see the viewership rising. Having Pro Tour stops every weekend webcasted by TWBC creates excitement for the waterski fans and allows them to follow the sport in a moreorganized manner. Over the past five years, our viewership has almost tripled. Industry partners are more excited to support or even organize Pro Tour stops, knowing that it will reach a larger audience worldwide.
GD - I noticed that the show, hosted by Tony Lightfoot, has had more co-hosts lately (Matt Rini, Aaron Larkin, Kyle Eade, Freddie Winter, Matteo Ianni, Robert Hazelwood and more), as well as Wade’s World (Wade Cox in the USA) and Lorenzo’s Land (Lorenzo d’Alberto in Europe). I believe this gave another dimension to the show and I loved it. Notwithstanding that Tony is the best waterski speaker of all time, it just adds to his performance. Did you feel that it was well received by the audience? Do you think this will continue next year?
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VS - Aside from our main announcer, Tony Lightfoot, we are grateful to have skiers or former champions helping us announce during the webcast. Their perspective adds a lot of insight and a better harmony to the webcast. We are grateful to have legends like Wade Cox doing dockside interviews. Having Wade at the dock allows us to get better insights from the skiers. Multiple announcers and dockside interviews have been well received by the audience and added to the webcast, so it will definitely be part of it next year as well.
We are happy with what we achieved, but it would have not been possible without the support of skiers, event organizers, webcast sponsors, and mostly the crew. To webcast an event takes a lot of people and a lot of effort and we are grateful that TWBC can bring all this together.
Keep on watching!
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Tony Lightfoot - announcer of TWBC
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