Rick is looking very competent on C4's live coverage this morning. No awkward pauses and he doesn't keep looking down at his notes. Has Otis been dropped?
Can't believe it took them so long to drop him - he should have been gone on Sunday. Rick really should have got the job in the first place if C4 had no intention of bringing in a sports broadcaster to front it.
Didn't see any live coverage today but the highlights show seemed a nice snappy package - Rick only really opening and closing with Sonja narrating the bulk of it - not sure if she's done that the previous nights or if it's down to Rick replacing Ortis.
Now all C4 need to do is sort the ads - we know to expect ads, but they seem much worse on this than on most sports we see. At the very least C4 should drop their own promos and shorten the programme and sponsor stings which would save about 30 seconds off each break.
Rick is looking very competent on C4's live coverage this morning. No awkward pauses and he doesn't keep looking down at his notes. Has Otis been dropped?
Can't believe it took them so long to drop him - he should have been gone on Sunday. Rick really should have got the job in the first place if C4 had no intention of bringing in a sports broadcaster to front it.
I guess they felt they had to give Otis a chance for a few days, I feel sorry for him though. Brining someone like Steve Rider in isn't really very Channel 4 is it? Rick was very good on the highlights programme I saw the other night.
I have been speaking to an insider at Channel 4 who has told me this was all to do with a mistake with the booking of talent, the person who's job it was to book was just told that they wanted Otis who used to be on CBBC.
Apparently since leaving CBBC he's anchored the Olympics for a channel in his native South Africa, as well as presenting their version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire for three years.
I haven't watched any of the coverage, but it shows that despite getting more money from Channel 4, the quality isn't there. Yes, BBC don't have as much money, but they are firmly experts in making quality sports programmes in terms of production and presenters.
On the "gaffes reel", my favourite is the last one.
Was that actually the end of a show, or has that been taken out of context? If it's the former, then that is a perfect illustration of how he can't cope with live television and being counted out of a programme!
Is it also true that he asked Michael Johnson if he had done the pole vault (as has been reported)?
Those two alone should be sackable offences, not to mention the rest (and that he seems to have no knowledge of athletics whatsoever!).
He's not a terrible presenter, he just can't handle this kind of broadcasting. I feel for him, he should never have been given the main job when his experience was so minimal, the added pressure plus the negative comments can't really have helped matters for him.