What next for Robot Wars & bringing it back

[teamstorm]

I don't think you'll find it went off-air due to contestants losing interest ! It went off air because it cost £250,000 an episode to film. Producing something that is of suitable quality to air on TV takes a lot more effort than people think. Filming through the poly is almost a no-no as most people have discovered trying to film live events, and the lighting requirements for broadcast TV are significant.

Seriously - I really don't think the issue was anyone taking part that lost interest, that's not what makes the show happen.

Yes bring it back!

What i would change...

- Similar arena to Battlebots where robots can't be flipped out.
- Radically reduce weight limit (and maybe other aspects) for robots with heavy rotational weapons. (Flywheels/spinners)

I think the main reason contestants lost interest is the fact that their robots were being ripped apart by crude spinning weapons. If the rules were changed to make those INCREDIBLY hard to build and enter with additional limits, i think people will be interested again. This would also likely stop the majority of the thick metal "boxes" that were being entered around the same time.

Just my thoughts but I genuinely believe it was the "spinners" and "boxes" that killed the show.

[leorcc]

What killed it in the Netherlands is BNN kept messing with the showtimes and dates so in the end no one including the competitors knew when the show was on TV.

[psychostorm]

What killed it in the Netherlands is BNN kept messing with the showtimes and dates so in the end no one including the competitors knew when the show was on TV.

Similar story to the UK but with a twist. We always knew when it was on & it always clashed with Coronation Street, the UK's most popular serial drama.

Same story with Doctor Who. Sylvester McCoy was scheduled against Coronation Street.

Not a tactic that works anymore. On demand views also count for advertising revenue therefore scheduling is less important to advertisers. Plus ratings also count their +1 channels.

[Chris230291]

I don't think you'll find it went off-air due to contestants losing interest ! It went off air because it cost £250,000 an episode to film. Producing something that is of suitable quality to air on TV takes a lot more effort than people think. Filming through the poly is almost a no-no as most people have discovered trying to film live events, and the lighting requirements for broadcast TV are significant.

Seriously - I really don't think the issue was anyone taking part that lost interest, that's not what makes the show happen.

Thats ridiculous! I didn't know that!

Speaking without actually ever attending one of the current events, I don't understand why the organisers haven't bothered to properly film the battles. It wouldn't take much to set up a couple of protected cameras inside the arena, even if they are just relatively inexpensive ones. They could even have one on some kind of track around the top thats controlled remotely. After being filmed the footage could be edited together with all of the overlay eye candy Robot Wars had and thrown on a dedicated YouTube channel. If the channel was popular enough they could even see some revenue from it, though i'm not completely sure on how that works.

[craig_colliass]

I have to say there is perhaps mileage in filming the raw material of the fights with broadcast quality cameras as every fight is unique and having good quality coverage of the fights has to be an asset that could be sold in the future.

I am sure the broadcast quality cameras are expensive but not as expensive to buy or hire as they were 12 years ago. Lighting would have to be increased but i am sure the lighting people would be able to adjust this. (speaking as an old man I could do with a bit more light in the arena anyway!!)

I am not saying the video footage has much commercial value at the moment, what I am saying is it could have in the future.
If Robot Wars goes back on TV the raw footage could be sold to the public as robot wars the early years, or even made into specials to be shown on any media. these can be edited into different formats, documentaries following the robot movement, or particular types of robots, or teams, or how things happened through the year or years or at particular venues, the list goes on!

The bottom line is the shows happen anyway so why not record them as best as you can?

[Lewisb]

I think it should be an internet show like combots was. Also I think the format needs redeveloping maybe get rid of the house robots and make it more sport than spectral.

[psychostorm]

Spectral? Relating to a ghost or derived from a spectrum?

[Lewisb]

*spectical

I hate auto correct