Yesterday morning in New York City I was live on the FOX morning show, Good Day NY. I was there to cover some of the newest and most popular sports & fitness technology gadgets coming onto the market, especially as many folks are trying to get a bit more fit for summer (which officially starts today). I know many of you watched live – which is awesome! But for those that didn’t have a chance to stream it online, you can watch the roughly five minute long segment here below:
For fun, here’s a bit of background on how the whole thing worked behind the scenes for the show. While the initial show date was set back a few months ago, the actual planning didn’t start till this week. Given a morning show like this has guests every 5-10 minutes or so for a few hours each day, they have a tremendous number of people to coordinate with, so doing coordination too far out wouldn’t make much sense.
On Monday this past week I had a conference call with a producer to outline the segment, which we sketched out to go through 4-5 products that I’d recommend for people to check out. I’d work with a specific producer during the week to finalize all the details. For example how would each product work during the segment, what would the audience see, and ensuring that there was a clear story and relevance tie-in to each product being presented. She had a slew of questions lined up for the anchors in the event those were needed to provide background or fill time, though for the most part they asked their own questions and we just had a normal conversation (especially since one of the anchors had a Jawbone UP and was familiar with the technology).
Yesterday morning they sent a car over to pick us up around 7:30AM at our hotel, for my 9:20-9:30AM slot. Because I was still on European time from the flight the night before I was up many hours before that, so The Girl and I went for a run in Central Park around 6AM beforehand. The car would drop us off at the station by about 7:45AM.
From there we went into the ‘green room’ (waiting room) for a few minutes before they brought me backstage to setup products on a table and walk through logistics. While we had initially planned a cycling product in there (the Edge 810), we decided that given the segment timelines it’d be better to talk more deeply about the others – so that got cut at the last moment.
Along the way they did a quick makeup job, though, it was just powder for me. Of course, on the other side of the wall the show moved along as normal. Even though my Dad works in TV (in Seattle) and thus I grew up with a bit of a TV background, it’s still mind boggling how many things they’re juggling at once on a show like this with so many guests coming in/out.
By this time it was around 9:00AM and it was back onto the main set to setup the area for the segment. They added a rug, a big screen TV for the iPad, and then a table for the devices. A bunch of folks (producers) were there discussing logistics, especially around the iPad display of both my heart rate and my weight from the weight scale. As they noted, anytime you add in live demo’s you have two components to be concerned with. First is whether it works on-air (less of a problem here), but second is that it doesn’t take too long. Seconds feel like minutes in TV-land.
After that was all sorted out, I waited for them to finish up the previous segment and then wander over to me following a commercial break, at which point – the session started per the video up above.
A few random notes on the segment:
My Heart Rate: My heart rate is normally not that high, obviously. Though, I was actually not really nervous – simply my HR decided differently. Beforehand standing around it was about 80-90BPM, and normally if I’m just sitting at my desk it’s in the 50-60BPM range. On a couch watching TV it would be 40-50BPM (resting heart rate). Though, with this HR I was still just barely below Zone 1 for running. :)
Weight Scale: While we contemplated showing it syncing via Bluetooth all live on camera, that would have simply taken too long in TV time (the extra few seconds being an eternity). So while I had a much nicer (5+ pounds lower) weight from earlier, they had me step on the scale one last time with clothes/shoes/mic/etc all right during the commercial break to get updated numbers. Thus, why I magically weigh more. I know…triathlete problems.
Squirt Guns: Seriously, that was a real threat. Had you watched the previous segments, you’d know that it was all out warfare in the studio this morning. Given it was the start to summer, and most US morning shows are a bit more relaxed on Fridays it was fun stuff.
With that, the segment ended before I knew it – time flew by! They had a bunch of other content saved up as well, but we didn’t need it.
We chatted for a bit with some of the studio staff (and one staff member even very politely/shyly asked to try out the weight scale to see his weight), and then we headed out to explore NYC for the day (we’d walk over 10 more miles…yikes!).
So with that – thanks for watching, and of course, thanks for reading too! And of course, a huge thanks to the FOX NY folks (especially Lew!) for having me on the show! Have a great weekend all!
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Great job! And after watching that segment, I don’t feel heavy at 6’2″ and 175 pounds! ;-)
At 5’9″ and 175lbs, I do!
so at 6’3″ and 200# where does that put me?!
At 5’9″ I hope to get down to 175-180 by summer’s end. I will consider myself “thin” by then.
Me too… at 5’7″ and 165lbs I definitely feel heavy… lol…
Good job! Looks like everything worked like it was supposed to!
Congrats! Nice job.
Nice Job! It seems like you were speaking a bit fast, but you had a lot of information to talk about. It must have been a lot different talking to regular people rather than other fitness/sports tech geeks like most of your blog viewers. I really liked when they asked the question: What’s the point of measuring heart rate anyway? Great question for TV viewers.
Ray, nice job. This might be the start of a reality show “Ray and The Girl”. Following you around the world, testing different devices and watching the girl make those super looking-and I am sure -tasting cup cakes. You could demonstrate all you can eat and, by being active, there is no stomach pouch. Enjoyed it.
Cool. Congrats!!!
Went well Ray. Congrats. Pity didn’t get a little plug in for the cupcakes :-)
Great job and congrats on the official TV fame time!
Funny though to hear your voice. We’ve only communicated via email, so now I have a voice to hear in my head while reading your blog!
I’ve said it many times – thank you for all the time, effort and research you bring to this community!
Don
Very cool. Nice job.
GREAT JOB…
so am i the only one with a resting HR of 80? dang!
Ray, you need more cupcakes!
Good job. Those two hosts are idiots.
They were both pretty nice, and, it was cool that she actually had a Jawbone UP and that he recognized offhand live that one of the core issues with some activity trackers without a time display. It was interesting because that was NOT on the list of discussion points. So that was purely was their own observations.
It can’t be easy to be entertaining and informative to a wide range of audience, including the sedentary beer bellied grandmas that are probably their biggest audience. I don’t envy the hosts, but I was cursing them when they started messing around the the water guns at the end. Just too cutsie for me to tolerate.
Anyway, great to see you getting more widespread recognition as a leader in sport technology reviews. You deserve it!
Well done, Ray. Hope it drives even more traffic to your excellent site.
But not before the big give-away :)
Hear hear.
Nice behind the scenes report.
Hi Ray I’m glad you wrote another post on this one as it is interesting to see it all.
Living in Australia I don’t know much about US morning TV but I watched from 9 and there is lots of products, websites, info etc. it got me wondering how much of this viewers take in, quite a bit I would say.
What was your main reason for doing the slot? To promote the site I guess. Have you seen a significant increase in site visits from New Yorkers since the show?
The main reason was pretty simple: They asked me to come on, and I thought it’d be fun. :)
As for a traffic spike from NY’ers, a little one – about a 20-30% rise in NY area readers over any given random day.
Cool, Ray!
Did you learn how to make tequila popsicles anyway?
Great job! Very cool to see you on tv.
You rock Ray. I can’t tell you how much you have helped me in using sports tech gadgets. I had a Timex world trainer for 3 years and never could get I to work. Now I have a 910xt and with your help it rocks. Hopefully it can accompany in my next Ironman at age 75.
Nice Job. How much impact had your appearance on the morning show in terms of visits on your blog? Was there a noticeable spike right after it aired?
Ray – I hadn’t previously known you are so ‘statuesque’ at 6’2”. You did a great job on TV. I really enjoy your website so much. Keep up the good work.
YAY! Congrats Ray! Since the girl didn’t get air time you could treat us to a homemade cupcake segment! <3
ahaha The HR thing, I remember in nursing class, One teacher knew I was an avid fan of cycling so she pulled me up in front of the class to show everyone someone with a naturally low HR, (normal human HR being around 60-100 but I’m usually around 50 at rest) somehow, it ended up being totally the other way around with an HR around 140-150 and we couldn’t get it down. It was funny ;)
Great job dumbing down your speech to the masses. I think it’s weird how dumb the hosts “act”. It’s as though they think their audience is uneducated and unwilling to think about what they are saying.
I love your blog, because it seems to strike a perfect balance between educational and intelligent without getting too heady and pretentious. I love the reviews, help, and the community you’ve built on your site. Thank you!
Fitness is tough, as the audience is across a wide range of people with very different expectations. I think they asked the right questions to allow me to try and bridge the gap as much as I could in the couple minutes I had.
Very true.
As soon as I hit submit, I thought my comments were a little harsh on the hosts. (Still, I do agree with another commenter that said they were too “cutesie”). I guess it is good just to get out there and get your brand/site recognized; which, is well-deserved.
Have you thought about vlogging? I think you have a lot of great material to have video reviews to pair with your technical writeups. Sounds time consuming, but it seems like you have the following that would be ready for this.
Well that’s pretty damn cool. Good for you, you’ve certainly earned it. Congrats.
Congrats Ray. Did a great job. Hope it gets more people interested in your site because you have interesting articles/stories and great advice for anyone interested or starting out.
Great stuff Ray! With this you’re going to become super famous and start chilling with celebs – let’s hope you still find time to continue your awesome blog!
Nah, people that know me know I don’t much like chilling with celebs. :) No worries there.
How absolutely cool! It must feel pretty good that you’re being called on as an expert for some of these cool tech products. Maybe one day they will call me in as a Zumba expert? Is that a thing? :)
Nice one Ray!
Congrats Ray!!
Congratulation, that was really awesome. You definitely should make more video reviews, you are a natural. You do such an amazing job with this site and you certainly deserve the success.
That was awesome! I am glad that you are getting this type of recognition. Not only because you are a good person, as I’ve decided based on reading a good portion of the blog, but also because you are telling the industry what we want. And doing a great job at it.
Great job Ray. Cool to see you actually “walking and talking” and to be able to put a voice to the words I have read these past few years.
A View From Above
Awesome!!!
Great job Ray. Very cool !
Great job Ray! And again, thanks for all the exceptional work you do!
Great job! Hopefully, you can do some more of these — assuming you have the time!
Excellent job! I think the cycling computer would have been great, but with your time constraints, the basic GPS watch with HRM technology and some of the new tech out there was the best way to get people quick.
They can be worn running or walking and day to day, whereas cycling computers are more specific and people may think “Nah, I’ll never need that…” and ignore the rest of the piece.
I think you may have found ur next career. Great job ray.
Awesome segment! I think you are spot on when they hit the segment of their audience with the gadgets and the questions/comments that they have about those gadgets. The cycling computer probably would have been too far above their audience and it made sense to cut it but the FR 15 and the Tom Tom Cardio Run were spot on!
It was great to finally put a voice to the face that we see all the time, although in all honesty, not quite what I envisioned as how you would sound!
Thank you for your continued time and effort that you put into this blog as I know it takes many hours to put this all together!
Great job Ray! Very cool!
Great job…though I was expecting you to bring the rolling pin….:-)
I like seeing behind the scenes pictures from TV. Nice of you to share yours. On heart rate, I believe it’s really normal to see a spike if you’re not used to being on TV. Nervousness is a daily fact of life.
Congrats Ray! it’s strange to think how often we watch videos from you and never really hear your voice or see you moving. The behind the scenes part was also very interesting.
On a partially unrelated note, if I may ask, is that your normal posture or just because of the situation? I don’t remember ever noticing your neck being so forward.