The End of the Blimp on Tour

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, dkolo said:

Just the opening zeppelins needed to grab market share in pro sports!

I fear Robert Plant is behind all this!

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

I fear Robert Plant is behind all this!

A zeppelin does look like a Big Log, so it all makes sense. 

[Shindig]

Too bad, I loved those shots.   Drones are still a weird thing to me, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about there being more drone shots.

[jkelley9]

I did like the blimp shots, really. Kinda bummed.

But I think I'm fine with this. I just hope they do try and push drones (or the skycams) more. Yes some cheaper drones have a noise, but some drones are nearly silent. Not just the "4k premium" drones that run $2k-3k... if a sponsor really wanted to "cover" and event they could drop $15k into a drone and it would be NUTS.

Skycams are more interfering with golf though, I would think. That could be problematic?

Of course, as @iacas has said, there are some governing rules still on drones. Some can be worked out though, I think.

[WUTiger]

I've volunteered at two USGA Amateur events at Old Warson CC in St. Louis: the 2009 Women's Amateur and the 2016 Senior Men's Amateur.

The TV set-up for 2016 had no blimps, but did bring in a couple of long-arm cranes that put a camera at least 150 feet into the air. These were used to capture some panorama shots, although I don't know to what degree the camera could be rotated and zoomed. (I can't remember the set-up for 2009).

Anyone who works in TV know the details and capabilities on such cameras?

[Pretzel]

I think the blimps were nice because they provided an overhead view of the course. That meant you could see the shapes of each hole and get a better sense of scale and distances than you got with the ground level cameras that followed groups around. It's too bad that won't be happening anymore.

[Papa Steve 55]

If the Goodyear blimp was there, it was an EVENT.

But I guess it didn't sell tires, and its all about ROI now.

[bmartin461]

[sjduffers]

That's a big loss for golf on TV, and therefore as a tool to grow the game, IMHO.

Just look at this week's coverage, at Pebble Beach. Maybe it won't be the greatest with the bad weather we have been having lately, but remember the images from last year? Really picture perfect!  In addition, the blimp's ability to follow a shot from the air was really impressive and added to the story too. Hopefully drones can replicate that functionality but it will take a while for the networks to do that, get the permits and train the operators, etc...

[boogielicious]

17 hours ago, bmartin461 said:

Lionel! 

[Braivo]

The blimp would always land an airport near my house growing up, that's how I knew a big event was in town like the Grand Prix or Hyrdro boat races or even the senior tour golf. I am sad to see this go, but as far as golf coverage is concerned it's a novelty more than anything. What people want to see time and time again is golf shots, as many as possible, for as long as possible, with as little interruptions as possible. 

[chilepepper]

Drones, remote controlled cameras on cranes, heck at some point they will use satellites 

[wannabe]

The blimp can usually be heard in the background when it's there during a broadcast.  It's relaxing to hear, like waves on the shore.

'Twill be missed.